Reviews

This Year It Will Be Different: Christmas Tales by Maeve Binchy

nancidrum's review against another edition

3.0

This is a lovely collection of short stories by Maeve Binchy. If you've never read any of her books, this would be a good way to see if you like her style of writing. Even in these short little vignettes, Maeve has a way of personalizing and bringing to life each character. Typical of Binchy style, most of the stories have a happy ending. Although it's called "A Christmas Treasury" and the stories have something about Christmas in them, it's a book that can be enjoyed year round. I always have said, "Binchy writes the kind of books you can give to your grandmother without hesitation." This book follow suit with that sentiment. There are some stories of affairs, but no graphic details or curse words. Just good, almost old-fashioned, stories with struggling characters who, in the end, make the right decisions.

deborah_ann's review against another edition

4.0

Christmas short stories. My favorite in this collection of Christmas themed short stories was the title story, ‘This Year It Will Be Different’ in which the matriarch of the family is just worn out from the effort of many too Christmases past. She does the majority of the work getting ready for Christmas. This year she lets her family take over planning Christmas with interesting results. I also liked ‘Season of Fuss’, where sometimes the joy of the season is in all the fuss.

kevinmccarrick's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

bookhussy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

shannanhicks's review against another edition

5.0

Maeve Binchy is a genius. Her presence on the writing scene is sorely missed.

jenniferlwatson's review

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

dkammy's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

shoesmcdaid's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

erush's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective

4.0

chronicreader96's review against another edition

3.0

Rounded up from about 2.5 ⭐️

This year it will be different is comprised of 22 short Christmas stories. Focusing on various people, relationships and difficulties.

I often find short-story collections difficult to get stuck into, and unfortunately I had the same issue with this book. It was enjoyable enough but none of the stories stood at to me. I didn’t particularly like or dislike any of the characters or plots. It just felt rather average, and isn’t memorable for me.

However, It was nice to be able to quickly pick up and put down during the busy Christmas period. I will definitely try more by this author as I liked the writing. I just don’t think this book was really for me.