Scan barcode
wardenred's review
hopeful
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
5.0
“This?” Haruto said. “Best Christmas ever.”
“Nah,” Nick said. “Just the best so far.”
I'm not even sure why the first days of spring made me crave reading a Christmas romance, but I'm sure glad it happened because otherwise, this novella would still be chilling on my TBR and I would be seriously deprived of a good mood.
Handmade Holidays is what I call a "warm blanket" book: a quick, gentle read that reminds you of all the good that still exists in this complicated world. In so few pages, it covers a decade and a half of Christmases, slowly showing change after change in the protagonist's life, but mainly focusing on the constants, and how those constants evolve yet stay the same in essence. It's an absolute celebration of found family. It's also a beautiful slow burn friends-to-lovers romance, where the relationship takes its sweet time to evolve because sometimes, you move through lives in somewhat different trajectories and it takes time and change to arrive at a place where you both look at each other and think, "Yes. This is it. I want to try."
It was delightful to meet/see mentions of characters from other Little Village books, and just to delve into this whole atmosphere of acceptance and comfort 'Nathan Burgoine does so well. There are no doubt some sad moments here, but love and friendsihp always win.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Medical content
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
merryfaith's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Homophobia
pucksandpaperbacks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Holy shit. This was phenomenal! We're taken through Nick's fifteen Christmases with his group of friends "The Misfit Toys" as they start a tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve together and creating their own queer chosen family. The found family in this novella is beautiful and I loved getting to see the characters progress every year. This was such a fun, quick read yet, super impactful. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to read a queer holiday story that is bookish and swoon-worthy! This is set in Canada, there's a trans woman side character, which was awesome to see! Overall, such a great read and I'll be recommending it from here on out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
Medical content specifically a ruptured appendix, mention of a character being racist toward Asian people, grief, death of a parent, mention of a parent suffering a heart attackeicart_reads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Transphobia
More...