Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Blame it on the Mistletoe

Title: Blame It on the Mistletoe
Author: Beth Garrod
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: 3.5
Pub Date: October 1, 2020

T H R E E • W O R D S

Cute • Predictable • Festive

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Elle is determined to win a social media challenge, and in order to gain more followers, she comes up with the idea of swapping places with someone for the holidays. Just one thing to sort out: finding someone willing to trade places with her.

Christmas-lover, Holly, is in desperate need of a change of scenery after her holiday plans unravel before her eyes. The perfect opportunity arises when her favourite social media influencer posts that she's looking for someone to swap places.

The two girls get more than they bargained for, and this holiday season is full of surprises.

💭 T H O U G H T S

What I like:
• the Christmas vibes. All the of the Christmassy things were done right. It was also interesting to see contrasting holiday traditions in the two countries.
• the true meaning of Christmas. It really explores how Christmas changes and transforms over the years, but that it is the people that make it special.
• Nick. Definitely my favourite character as he felt genuine and honest.

What I didn't like:
• the social media aspect. I think I am just too old for this type of thing, but understand the appeal for a younger crowd.
• the mean girl vibes. Again too old for that stuff.
• the cheesy names. Noelle, Holly, Nick... enough said.

The writing is pretty simple and not much happens, but if you're looking for a holiday read that is light, fun, and definitely cheesy, than this is the one. There's lots of social media terminology and content, so if that's not your jam I'd probably skip it. Blame It on the Mistletoe will likely put a smile on your face, and put you in the spirit of the season.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Hallmark Christmas movie lovers
• Young Adults

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Christmas wasn’t about doing things perfectly, it was about having the perfect people to do them with."

Content Warnings

theespressoedition's review against another edition

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2.5

While I loved the idea of this book in concept, the execution made me cringe. Hard.

My biggest complaint about this story was it felt clear as can be that the author wasn't aware of how social media influencing works in the slightest. The entire storyline for Elle was way off base and it irritated the daylights out of me. As someone who has worked in the blogging/content creation/influencing world for 8 years now, it drives me bonkers when people misrepresent it as well as make their characters super shallow. Massive red flag that really affected how I read the book.

I wish the story could've been just about Holly, who was cute but also a bit naive. I enjoyed her love of Christmas and her relationship with Nick. They were entertaining and fun to read about (even if the misunderstanding was ridiculous).

This book was long without needing to be and just felt like a huge letdown.

Content Warnings

danileah07's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

writtenbydnicole's review

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

bookrecsbyjess's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Source Books for giving me this free ARC for review.

I chose to read this story because the premise sounded interesting, and the cover is so cute!

Even though this is young adult, I would say that this book would fall under the younger side of YA based on how the characters act. They were a little too immature for my taste, but I think someone in their early teens would enjoy this book.

One thing that I loved was the two different points of view, especially because one was from an American perspective and the other was British. It made it fun to read two English dialects.

This story reminded me a lot of a Hallmark movie if it was marketed for teens. It had that cute Christmas-y atmosphere and predictable yet still fun storyline.

Out of the two main characters, I enjoyed reading more from Holly’s perspective because I felt that she was more likable. I didn’t dislike Elle, but I found her obsession with social media and followers to be very unrelatable.

There were quite a few moments throughout the book that had me laughing because they were so ridiculous.

I think my biggest problem with this book was actually the ending because it left so many loose ends that weren’t really tied up.

Overall, I think you would enjoy this book if you are looking for a light-hearted Christmas romance.

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