Reviews

Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger

a_sanders77's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

mtronnier's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

fairlyoddhippie's review against another edition

3.0

Thank you to netgalley for this (unfinished) arc.


You better watch out cause Santa is coming to kill your ass.


I was all in for the book and expected big things. It was going really well even though I felt like the ending was revealed near the beginning with some not so subtle foreshadowing. But I was still trucking along thinking maybe I had it wrong. Nope. The very last chapter ruined it for me. I almost threw my kindle across the room. It was extremely anticlimactic. The ending was lackluster and seemed to take sort of a romantic twist and lost the thriller aspect.

jmoura01's review against another edition

4.0

Madeleine is the victim of a heinous attack that left one of her friends dead and two missing. Years later, she is still reliving the horror. Although her attacker is serving time in prison, women are still going missing and she is receiving anonymous gifts every Christmas.

This was a straightforward, fast-paced thriller that had little to do with Christmas. Great narration by Jennifer Pickens. I was a little thrown off at first by the dual timelines, since the different times weren’t announced at the beginning of each chapter, but I soon picked up the flow. Good suspenseful listening for those looking for a shorter book. 3.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for this complimentary ALC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

darklitwithnic's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 ⭐️ My first book by Lisa Unger and it was a great way to start off. This Christmas novella is anything but peace and joy. I enjoyed the audio of this story but I will say the timeline was a bit difficult to follow. Of course my initial thought of Evan Hardy was that I would’ve fallen for him just like Maddy did

mcoatesrn's review

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

_lilbey_'s review

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

katydailey's review

4.0

Finally! A Christmas book that’s also a good read. Even though I called the killer pretty early, it was still exciting to follow along as the character caught up.

cblunier's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

lysabel's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0