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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
It's always a pleasant surprise when a book takes place in Western MA. It's funny hearing places I know named, even if they get fabricated a bit. This was a good queer Christmas romance. The conflict with the dad felt a little forced and in some instances felt very counter to who the dad had been built up to be. I'm glad I found this book though—it was cute for this time of year.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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:
No
this was so cute and so much fun! a perfect little holiday romance that will put you in that cheery Christmas mood. Cam and marco have such a good dynamic the whole time and i loved watching their relationship grow and it was sort of enemy to lovers but one sided lmao 😭 this was just fun and sweet and manages to say a lot ab being yourself and having confidence in your skills and abilities that are unique to yourself! I rlly liked this 🤭
medium-paced
You know you're too old for a book when the mean old manager character is revealed to be 36 - two years younger than yourself. Finding My Elf is that classic story: boy fears losing scholarship, boy considers dropping out of college, boy participates in a $5,000 mall elf competition in his home town to keep his college options open, boy catches the eye of fellow elf. Tale as old as time.
Finding My Elf may be written from the perspective of a late teen (and it's refreshing to read a book about younger people who have escaped the grasp of high school), but David Valdes is somewhat older than that, and the language used is often more racialised than you might expect in 2023. It's surprising that Valdes' editor allowed him to describe someone as a "Korean teen" or "an Indian woman", because it's just not really de rigeur any more. Valdes means no offence by it, but it's the sort of old-fashionedness that an even slightly socially conscious teen would cringe at. It's not a deal breaker but it's definitely noticeable. Valdes may have written a time warp book in the past, but this isn't it.
Cameron, the titular lost elf, is one of those characters who is too arrogant for his hometown for no real reason, and every time he says something overly rude to one of his coworkers you have to wonder why. Internally he is having a crisis of confidence but there is nothing about this that should come out the way it does. Valdes doesn't build Cameron up as enough of a big city slicker to act like this, false bravado or no. When a lead's unlikeable nature is entirely fabricated, it's easy to see, and Cameron strains at these parameters.
When you find out why Cameron is in academic jeopardy, it's a forehead slapping moment. It services these themes that Valdes has been trying to get at, but the character isn't defined enough for that, either. His love interest and rival, the impossibly nice Marco, has a more reasonable back story, but it's important to know that they both have justifiable reasons for wanting the $5000 and it's stupid to think that either should give it up for the other. (It's also worth pointing out that the elf competition is stupid, immoral, and illogical. What planet is this mall on?)
Yet Finding My Elf has the capacity to surprise, such as its acknowledgment that sometimes people aren't bad friends to one another but that they can naturally drift apart over time. It's a nice melancholy touch and one of the least confected things about the book. Much other YA would have lead to a very quickly glossed over friend showdown, and that's not to be seen here. Valdes, showing both his age and own priorities, also makes a big deal of shoring up the relationship between Cameron and his father - the real character that he has to worry about letting down, more than any fly by night elf.
Finding My Elf feels suitably Christmasy, even if "Cookie Party" is a completely made up event that no one would ever celebrate. Though flawed, it's a suitable seasonal read that makes few promises for the future and it goes down easy.
The one question is: do any of these modern "rom-com" books have any of the "com" in them? It gets tiresome to be told a character is funny and to find no evidence of this on the page.
Finding My Elf may be written from the perspective of a late teen (and it's refreshing to read a book about younger people who have escaped the grasp of high school), but David Valdes is somewhat older than that, and the language used is often more racialised than you might expect in 2023. It's surprising that Valdes' editor allowed him to describe someone as a "Korean teen" or "an Indian woman", because it's just not really de rigeur any more. Valdes means no offence by it, but it's the sort of old-fashionedness that an even slightly socially conscious teen would cringe at. It's not a deal breaker but it's definitely noticeable. Valdes may have written a time warp book in the past, but this isn't it.
Cameron, the titular lost elf, is one of those characters who is too arrogant for his hometown for no real reason, and every time he says something overly rude to one of his coworkers you have to wonder why. Internally he is having a crisis of confidence but there is nothing about this that should come out the way it does. Valdes doesn't build Cameron up as enough of a big city slicker to act like this, false bravado or no. When a lead's unlikeable nature is entirely fabricated, it's easy to see, and Cameron strains at these parameters.
When you find out why Cameron is in academic jeopardy, it's a forehead slapping moment. It services these themes that Valdes has been trying to get at, but the character isn't defined enough for that, either. His love interest and rival, the impossibly nice Marco, has a more reasonable back story, but it's important to know that they both have justifiable reasons for wanting the $5000 and it's stupid to think that either should give it up for the other. (It's also worth pointing out that the elf competition is stupid, immoral, and illogical. What planet is this mall on?)
Yet Finding My Elf has the capacity to surprise, such as its acknowledgment that sometimes people aren't bad friends to one another but that they can naturally drift apart over time. It's a nice melancholy touch and one of the least confected things about the book. Much other YA would have lead to a very quickly glossed over friend showdown, and that's not to be seen here. Valdes, showing both his age and own priorities, also makes a big deal of shoring up the relationship between Cameron and his father - the real character that he has to worry about letting down, more than any fly by night elf.
Finding My Elf feels suitably Christmasy, even if "Cookie Party" is a completely made up event that no one would ever celebrate. Though flawed, it's a suitable seasonal read that makes few promises for the future and it goes down easy.
The one question is: do any of these modern "rom-com" books have any of the "com" in them? It gets tiresome to be told a character is funny and to find no evidence of this on the page.
Can’t handle the writing. It’s so childish
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.0
perfect winter break christmas read! esp cause im a freshman on winter break too LMFAO
i liked how they let cam be a vain asshole, the true grinch of christmas lol
perfect winter break christmas read! esp cause im a freshman on winter break too LMFAO
i liked how they let cam be a vain asshole, the true grinch of christmas lol