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julibug86's review
3.0
Short story collections are always tough to rate. Some stories were 5 stars, but there were definitely a few duds as well.
sphinx_'s review
3.0
It's hard to rate a book that consists of 12 very different stories. So I counted how many stories I liked and based my rating on that. I like 7 stories out of 12 so that's 58%. I opted for a 3-star.
First and foremost, I think anyone who expected this book to be all about Christmas would not really get what they want. I think the design of the book cover or the foreword really did not claim that it would be a Christmas-themed book. It's just simple stories that had the "12 days of Christmas" as their prompts. I was fine with that and was even impressed by how diverse the stories are and how each author interpreted the prompts so uniquely.
The very first story, A Partridge in a Pear Tree, was a difficult story to get into and it's hard to push through the other stories when you start with that. The only thing I can remember of this story was the kitchen floor love-making, and maybe a princess.
Still, I managed to finish the book, so here are my short thoughts on each of the stories:
Two Turtle-Doves was fine.
Three French Hens was spicy and as always with stories like this, it made me roll my eyes at any men and their infidelities.
Four Calling Birds was good for me. I don't know if that one uncalled scene was necessarily needed for the plot or if it was just there for a grittier effect.
Five Gold Rings was a sad story, especially since it was based on a true story.
Six Geese a-Laying was my favorite! It had enough mystery and spook.
Seven Swans a-Swimming was not so memorable to me. I'm not even sure if I understood every part of it. Did Nick cheat on Lola? I am not sure.
Eight Maids a-milking, I am not sure if the prompt was well applied here but I enjoyed the story mostly because that one line about a lingering sadness that the protagonist claims is something he can survive or live by resonated within me. I also liked that Jim questioned if there's any purpose of his living normally in contrast to his venturous past now that he claims he wouldn't meet people like Scott and Eva anymore and then the story proceeds to show a purpose for him anyway. At least I perceived the story that way.
Nine Ladies Dancing was a nice touch of fantasy, but I don't easily root for the unwarranted saving of a damsel out of love at first sight.
Ten Lords a-Leaping was a hard read. I didn't like it that much as well.
Eleven Pipers Piping - couldn't care about it. I just can't agree on some points about that story.
Twelve Drummers Drumming - this one made me teary, thanks to it's last sentence. This is probably my second favorite.
First and foremost, I think anyone who expected this book to be all about Christmas would not really get what they want. I think the design of the book cover or the foreword really did not claim that it would be a Christmas-themed book. It's just simple stories that had the "12 days of Christmas" as their prompts. I was fine with that and was even impressed by how diverse the stories are and how each author interpreted the prompts so uniquely.
The very first story, A Partridge in a Pear Tree, was a difficult story to get into and it's hard to push through the other stories when you start with that. The only thing I can remember of this story was the kitchen floor love-making, and maybe a princess.
Still, I managed to finish the book, so here are my short thoughts on each of the stories:
Two Turtle-Doves was fine.
Three French Hens was spicy and as always with stories like this, it made me roll my eyes at any men and their infidelities.
Four Calling Birds was good for me. I don't know if that one uncalled scene was necessarily needed for the plot or if it was just there for a grittier effect.
Five Gold Rings was a sad story, especially since it was based on a true story.
Six Geese a-Laying was my favorite! It had enough mystery and spook.
Seven Swans a-Swimming was not so memorable to me. I'm not even sure if I understood every part of it. Did Nick cheat on Lola? I am not sure.
Eight Maids a-milking, I am not sure if the prompt was well applied here but I enjoyed the story mostly because that one line about a lingering sadness that the protagonist claims is something he can survive or live by resonated within me. I also liked that Jim questioned if there's any purpose of his living normally in contrast to his venturous past now that he claims he wouldn't meet people like Scott and Eva anymore and then the story proceeds to show a purpose for him anyway. At least I perceived the story that way.
Nine Ladies Dancing was a nice touch of fantasy, but I don't easily root for the unwarranted saving of a damsel out of love at first sight.
Ten Lords a-Leaping was a hard read. I didn't like it that much as well.
Eleven Pipers Piping - couldn't care about it. I just can't agree on some points about that story.
Twelve Drummers Drumming - this one made me teary, thanks to it's last sentence. This is probably my second favorite.
balancinghistorybooks's review against another edition
2.0
12 Days has been very poorly reviewed here on Goodreads, something which I found out after picking up a copy in a charity shop. I liked the central idea, in which twelve authors each choose one of the lines in 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', and adapt that into a short story. 12 Days is rather a mixed bag; a few of the tales here were interesting or entertaining, but others were confusing or downright weird. The concept would have worked far better, I feel, had all of the authors been ones I had heard of; as it was, many of them were unknown to me, and I do not feel prompted to pick up the novels or plays of any of them after finishing the book.
likejennybutwithad's review against another edition
3.0
Some Notes I made after reading each story:
"Partridge in a pear tree - I have no idea what is going on in this story."
"2 turtle doves - this one is quite good."
"3 French hens - was ok"
"4 calling birds - didn't like was stupid."
"5 gold rings - good but sad"
"6 geese a-laying - fun story. best so far"
"7 swans a-swimming - meh"
"8 maids a-milking - yeah it's ok"
"9 ladies dancing - a nice story"
"10 lords a-leaping - I enjoyed this one"
"11 pipers piping - a sad but good story"
"12 drummers drumming - enjoyed this one"
I was expecting more Christmassy stories to be honest. Only a few were Christmas themed. Some of the stories were awful, some were ok and some I really enjoyed. I don't normally like short stories but these ones were generally ok, not too highbrow where I didn't have a clue what was happening..
"Partridge in a pear tree - I have no idea what is going on in this story."
"2 turtle doves - this one is quite good."
"3 French hens - was ok"
"4 calling birds - didn't like was stupid."
"5 gold rings - good but sad"
"6 geese a-laying - fun story. best so far"
"7 swans a-swimming - meh"
"8 maids a-milking - yeah it's ok"
"9 ladies dancing - a nice story"
"10 lords a-leaping - I enjoyed this one"
"11 pipers piping - a sad but good story"
"12 drummers drumming - enjoyed this one"
I was expecting more Christmassy stories to be honest. Only a few were Christmas themed. Some of the stories were awful, some were ok and some I really enjoyed. I don't normally like short stories but these ones were generally ok, not too highbrow where I didn't have a clue what was happening..
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