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mishale1's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I enjoyed this Christmas story about two Black teenagers working at a Black owned, family run bookstore. It had depth but that also meant I found it a bit heavy sometimes. I’ll go into a little more detail and hope it doesn’t veer spoilerish. If it does, let me know, I can always fix that.
Trey’s family owns Wonderland books. It’s been in his family for generations. And it’s a big deal to Trey’s family but it wasn’t really a big deal to Trey until the day he thought his family might lose it.
Ariel knows Trey from school, she had a crush on him years ago but he’s been dating someone for two years.
Ariel dreams of being an artist. She’s very talented, she got her artistic side from her father who passed away suddenly last year.
Now she has the opportunity to go to art school but isn’t sure if she’ll get a scholarship and if she doesn’t she’ll need a lot of money to go.
Ariel decides to look for an after school job and winds up at Wonderland right in the midst of Trey’s father having a minor accident and being unable to work. She’s also there right at the beginning of the drama about potentially having to sell the bookstore.
Ariel is pretty amazing because she immediately jumps into “save the day” mode. She decides that her and Trey are going to find a way to save this bookstore before the Christmas Eve deadline.
I loved all of that.
Here’s what I was less of a fan of:
Ariel has an eating disorder that’s just minorly touched on. It felt kind of out of place in a Christmas book.
Also, the amount of money they had to raise before Christmas Eve seemed astronomical in my opinion.
I liked Ariel best. I liked Trey most of the time. Sometimes he was a bit short with Ariel and of course I wasn’t a fan of that. But otherwise I liked him.
I liked how each chapter was introduced with a Christmas song and I believe they were all by Black artists.
I’d also say that Ariel’s grief for her father was not overly sad in the story. I appreciate that. I wasn’t looking for a sad story and definitely not one where the father dies. But this book kind of goes the line between adding depth and adding heaviness. Overall, I’m a fan.
Trey’s family owns Wonderland books. It’s been in his family for generations. And it’s a big deal to Trey’s family but it wasn’t really a big deal to Trey until the day he thought his family might lose it.
Ariel knows Trey from school, she had a crush on him years ago but he’s been dating someone for two years.
Ariel dreams of being an artist. She’s very talented, she got her artistic side from her father who passed away suddenly last year.
Now she has the opportunity to go to art school but isn’t sure if she’ll get a scholarship and if she doesn’t she’ll need a lot of money to go.
Ariel decides to look for an after school job and winds up at Wonderland right in the midst of Trey’s father having a minor accident and being unable to work. She’s also there right at the beginning of the drama about potentially having to sell the bookstore.
Ariel is pretty amazing because she immediately jumps into “save the day” mode. She decides that her and Trey are going to find a way to save this bookstore before the Christmas Eve deadline.
I loved all of that.
Here’s what I was less of a fan of:
Ariel has an eating disorder that’s just minorly touched on. It felt kind of out of place in a Christmas book.
Also, the amount of money they had to raise before Christmas Eve seemed astronomical in my opinion.
I liked Ariel best. I liked Trey most of the time. Sometimes he was a bit short with Ariel and of course I wasn’t a fan of that. But otherwise I liked him.
I liked how each chapter was introduced with a Christmas song and I believe they were all by Black artists.
I’d also say that Ariel’s grief for her father was not overly sad in the story. I appreciate that. I wasn’t looking for a sad story and definitely not one where the father dies. But this book kind of goes the line between adding depth and adding heaviness. Overall, I’m a fan.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Bullying
Minor: Cancer and Grief
iamjenbrooks's review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Love in Winter Wonderland is an easy breezy Christmas story that gets the holiday nostalgia started early.
Being a small, Black-owned bookstore owner, (Asè Book Boutique) I have to say that I was just a tad biased going into this book. I assumed that I was going to like it. My assumption was accurate (thankfully).
Wonderland is a Black- Owned bookstore in London that's failing. Trey, whose parents own the shop, and Ariel, the other main character, come together to save the shop. With the help of their community and influence, the two work together to keep the bookstore open and possibly (😉) fall for each other during the process.
This was such an easy read. The buildup was slow, but not slow enough to lose interest. There is an obvious attraction between the MC's that I wanted them to hurry and act on. Right when they would get close, Blair, Trey's girlfriend from the pits of Mean Girl-ville would show her fangs and get in the way.
The main conflict in this book is between the main character's girlfriend, Blair, and Ariel. Blair is a major irk, across the board. She lowkey knows that her boyfriend has a thing for Ariel, who is the antithesis of Blair's how existence. So unfortunately, Trey and Ariel couldn't immediately act on their emotions, but the chemistry was clearly there.
There were some moments in the book that felt a little random but worked for the story. There are moments where we get a peak into Ariel's eating disorder that has been triggered due to grief. Those moments felt dropped in and somewhat random. I would have liked more on this or none of this.
Overall, this YA romance was innocent and very wholesome. It was a cute story and a great way to warm up to the upcoming Christmas season.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Eating disorder
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