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shadow_reader12's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Emotional abuse
teniamonet's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
The Christmas Swap (a fake dating sapphic Christmas romance) was an easy to follow story but it wasn’t what i was expecting from a Christmas themed romance book. I felt like it was lacking in the cheese and romance to be honest. I wanted to like this, but I just couldn’t get into it and I felt like the characters were flat. The audiobook experience wasn’t enjoyable to me, but I know I would have DNF’d if I was physically reading.
The two redeeming factors of this story was Grandpa Moe and the friendship between Ben and Margot (extra .5 in the rating because of this).
The story definitely had potential to be something greater but lost its way. Personally I kept forgetting how old the character’s were because I felt like they acted very childlike and immature. Also, there wasn’t any real tension or stakes to make me want to keep going.
This wasn’t the book for me, but it might be for someone else.
Spice Level: *reserved for the romance genre or books with an appropriate substantial romance subplot* this rating is meant to categorize the level of spice not how much i enjoyed it. this is a completely subjective thing.
0 🌶= it's zero spice.
The two redeeming factors of this story was Grandpa Moe and the friendship between Ben and Margot (extra .5 in the rating because of this).
The story definitely had potential to be something greater but lost its way. Personally I kept forgetting how old the character’s were because I felt like they acted very childlike and immature. Also, there wasn’t any real tension or stakes to make me want to keep going.
This wasn’t the book for me, but it might be for someone else.
Spice Level: *reserved for the romance genre or books with an appropriate substantial romance subplot* this rating is meant to categorize the level of spice not how much i enjoyed it. this is a completely subjective thing.
0 🌶= it's zero spice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Cancer and Dementia
arlaubscher's review
emotional
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Dementia, Grief, Alcohol, Cancer, and Stalking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, and Death of parent
lauren_reads_outside's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5🌟 for vibes, it turns out that the only thing better than fake dating to love trope is fake dating to being in love with his sister trope (on a sample size of 2, this one and Kiss her once for me)
Heavier than expected with the past relationship abuse and I did mentally scream why on earth did you not just say you were bi instead of straight in your fake dating ruse, but all the couples and characters were so cute and it was on the whole a great Christmas read
Heavier than expected with the past relationship abuse and I did mentally scream why on earth did you not just say you were bi instead of straight in your fake dating ruse, but all the couples and characters were so cute and it was on the whole a great Christmas read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death and Cancer
meheehee's review
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer
booksandteatime's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Dementia, and Emotional abuse
njh_books's review
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was really hoping for a cute cheesy queer Christmas story and it was that at times, but it fell flat quite a lot as well.
I did enjoy the POV switching, was fun.Misti the dog was great. Give me a book on Ben and Roberta as kids and now having reconnected.
The book also examined aging & memory issues as an older person and abusive relationships well and had some insights that were touching and well-written.
The ending with Ellie just asleep in Margot's arms was cute, but just felt kind of strange with all the other chaos around at that exact moment. The ending felt rather rushed...
Actually, a lot of these major scenes felt rushed or cut off to quickly, to the story's detriment. While I did see some bonding before Ellie and Margot got together, it still was quite quick and kind of left you wondering why they we into one another (besides the physical attraction).
The epilogue, to me, read like a bad summarize the last year of your life in two pages...it was lackluster, not really satisfying, and could've been left out (don't get me started on the vegan cheese in the burrito part).
Probably won't ever read again, but did at least one Christmas-y read this year...
I did enjoy the POV switching, was fun.
The book also examined aging & memory issues as an older person and abusive relationships well and had some insights that were touching and well-written.
The ending with Ellie just asleep in Margot's arms was cute, but just felt kind of strange with all the other chaos around at that exact moment. The ending felt rather rushed...
Actually, a lot of these major scenes felt rushed or cut off to quickly, to the story's detriment. While I did see some bonding before Ellie and Margot got together, it still was quite quick and kind of left you wondering why they we into one another (besides the physical attraction).
The epilogue, to me, read like a bad summarize the last year of your life in two pages...it was lackluster, not really satisfying, and could've been left out (don't get me started on the vegan cheese in the burrito part).
Probably won't ever read again, but did at least one Christmas-y read this year...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Death
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