Reviews

Eight Winter Nights by Liz Maverick

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mimikins34's review

2.0

Cute short rom-com. Pretty predictable. Characters are frustratingly oblivious, but that’s to be expected..

I was looking for a good holiday listen, and this was a great one. It's so great to see more diverse holiday reads and movies out in recent years. It would be great if kids and adults of all religious identities and other identities could see themselves in media. The narrators really brought the characters to life, and I connected with them so much.

I hope to read more by this author soon! You should absolutely read this if you're looking for a short, light holiday romance.

Content Warnings: Adult Situations, Adult Language, Religion

corvusdeam's review against another edition

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3.0

Hallmark cute, nothing crazy special but I definitely liked it. It’s a little high school drama for me but I love love stories. Especially pining stories/slow burn. 3.5 ⭐️

davansa83's review

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lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

3.0

alainaj's review

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2.0

Nothing special. The MMC made me feel icky and gross and the FMC was pathetic. Hypothetically, if Oz and Rachel hadn’t spent copious amounts of time together, the story could have a chance in my opinion. Rachel is his second choice.

xabbeylongx's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Spoilers Ahead:

Another fantastic read from Maverick, who is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. After reading ‘Still Hung Up on You’, I was so impressed, and I desperately wanted the rest of her books to not disappoint, and, luckily, this one gave me again exactly what I wanted!

We follow Rachel and her friend Tamara as they head to a party together. Rachel’s mother has been trying to set her up with a partner for ages now, and she tells Rachel that there will be an extremely attractive guy at the party. When she spots the said ‘hot guy’, and they get stuck on the balcony outside. Her and Oz quickly bond, and Rachel thinks she might fall in love with him. However, Tamara starts talking to him, and Rachel thinks she has no chance, and so leaves, even though her heart is breaking.

One year later, Tamara and Oz have broken up, and Tamara is headed off to Bali on the holiday they were supposed to go on together, but Oz has broken his leg. Tamara messages Rachel and asks her to look after Oz. Now, she doesn’t say no, but it’s complicated, because she’s been harbouring feelings for her best friend’s boyfriend since they first met him. When she gets there, he asks her to help him win back Tamara, because they’re ‘supposed to be together’, and it ‘makes sense’. Rachel uses love letters from her own journal to write ones from Oz to Tamara, in an effort to win her back, even though she hasn’t sent a message since she left.

The whole week is Rachel trying to ignore her feelings for Oz, and Oz trying to ignore his feelings - the fact that he doesn’t love Tamara, but he does indeed love Rachel. And things are very complicated as they both like each other but both think that it’s unreciprocated, until tamara returns, and she tells them they were supposed to get together while she was gone, and it was all part of her genius plan. They end up kissing, and then they get together, and Rachel’s family loves him, and it’s a happily ever after ending!

I thought that, although nothing can ever top ’Still Hung Up on You’, it was still great fun to read. I thought Oz was a bit of a twat at times, which sometimes grated on my nerves, considering he’s the only one at fault (if there was someone we had to blame) and I thought he got a bit angry at times, for no reason. And Rachel acts a bit silly at times, and there is a massive issue with communication in this book, especially between these two, and it gets to a point where it’s infuriating. There was also a few cases of repetition, especially towards the end - I think one of the last chapters, the word ‘cold’ was mentioned quite a few times, which was funny.

I can’t quite work out what it is, but Tamara does my absolute head in. I just think she’s quite a shit friend. I mean, even after her admitting it was all a ploy to get Rachel and Oz together, I still think there were other ways around it? But she somehow made it about her, and worried everyone for a week, and for what? It doesn’t make any sense. Plus, how can they go through one year of a relationship, only to say they’re not right for each other? And how can Oz not know that he wasn’t in love with her, and the reader can? I wanted to shake him most of the time. And, the million-dollar question, how did Tamara even know that Oz liked Rachel? It doesn’t make any sense to me!!!

There was a lot that didn’t make sense to me, but it was still a very good, very fun read. I really liked the chemistry between the two main characters, even if they do act like twats about it, and I would definitely recommend the read. Will be happily looking into the other 2 left in the series.

alyshadeshae's review against another edition

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4.0

I wasn't sure what to expect from a holiday Hannukah story. Most Christmas stories I read tend to drop most of the religious bits out, which I prefer, but the religious bits in this story weren't overwhelming or anything.

While I thought one spoilery bit was kind of weird (Tamara's decisions - this will make sense at the end), I did think it was a cute story overall. It definitely helped boost my overall holiday mood.