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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Honestly, I don’t even know what to say about this. It’s like if Alexander’s Horrible, Very Bad Day became an adult Christmas novel based on the twelve days of Christmas as a gift. It’s a quick read, but I bizarre story.
I listened to his interview with Brenda Novak for her bookclub (why I read it) and he mentioned his co-author came to him with this idea, and was a producer of A Series of Unfortunate Events. I can see that reflected in this book.
“If ever you are in trouble with your parents—real trouble—you should try surprising them with a half dozen waterfowl with bad attitudes and sharp beaks. You will find that it quickly takes the focus off of your indiscretions.” Ch 32
“FROM THIS POINT onward, the gifts and the days blended together like eggnog and brandy.” Ch 48
I listened to his interview with Brenda Novak for her bookclub (why I read it) and he mentioned his co-author came to him with this idea, and was a producer of A Series of Unfortunate Events. I can see that reflected in this book.
“If ever you are in trouble with your parents—real trouble—you should try surprising them with a half dozen waterfowl with bad attitudes and sharp beaks. You will find that it quickly takes the focus off of your indiscretions.” Ch 32
“FROM THIS POINT onward, the gifts and the days blended together like eggnog and brandy.” Ch 48
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My expectations were a bit high going in on this one cause everybody kept calling it hilarious. It was silly funny but it wasn’t what I was expecting. After reading the book description I had pictured something like Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, which I loved. This book is about a family kind of being forced into celebrating Christmas again too but it has a different spin.
Henry is a widower with a 12 year old daughter and 14 year old son. Henry’s wife died 5 years ago. It didn’t bring the family closer together, it pushed them further apart. Henry’s kids need him but he’s too sad and miserable up to realize or to do anything about it.
Henry’s kids sign him up on a dating app without telling him. They’d like him to get married again because they lost Christmas when they lost their mom. Henry hasn’t celebrated a thing about the holiday since losing his wife. His kids would like a tree, decorations and most importantly they’d like presents. They figure if Henry was happy again they’d get to celebrate Christmas again.
They get more than they bargained for. The first, and only, woman who contacts Henry before he finds out about the dating app starts sending surprises to the house. The presents line up with the song The Twelve Days of Christmas. As it turns out, most of these are actually pretty inconvenient presents and require a lot of work from Henry and his kids.
To state the obvious, I don’t know why they were surprised every day with what the present was. If someone started sending you the gifts from the song, wouldn’t you Google the lyrics so you’d know what to expect atleast?
This won’t be on the list of my favorite Christmas reads this year but I did love the ending. The ending surprised me and it was incredibly heartwarming.
Henry is a widower with a 12 year old daughter and 14 year old son. Henry’s wife died 5 years ago. It didn’t bring the family closer together, it pushed them further apart. Henry’s kids need him but he’s too sad and miserable up to realize or to do anything about it.
Henry’s kids sign him up on a dating app without telling him. They’d like him to get married again because they lost Christmas when they lost their mom. Henry hasn’t celebrated a thing about the holiday since losing his wife. His kids would like a tree, decorations and most importantly they’d like presents. They figure if Henry was happy again they’d get to celebrate Christmas again.
They get more than they bargained for. The first, and only, woman who contacts Henry before he finds out about the dating app starts sending surprises to the house. The presents line up with the song The Twelve Days of Christmas. As it turns out, most of these are actually pretty inconvenient presents and require a lot of work from Henry and his kids.
To state the obvious, I don’t know why they were surprised every day with what the present was. If someone started sending you the gifts from the song, wouldn’t you Google the lyrics so you’d know what to expect atleast?
This won’t be on the list of my favorite Christmas reads this year but I did love the ending. The ending surprised me and it was incredibly heartwarming.
This book is filled with magic. The title correctly calls it "Topsy Turvy, Very Messy". I liked this book. BUT, if you are looking for a thriller like you are used to seeing when Patterson's name is on a book, this isn't that book. Instead, it is a heartfelt story intertwined with thus mystery of gifts... It actually reminded me of a chaotic Hallmark Christmas movie.
funny
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:
Complicated
Really bizarre and unbelievable. But not in a good way. It should have been funny but it was pretty dry and predictable even though it was just strange. I suspected the ending and hoped I was wrong. I wasn’t.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
Yes
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced