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A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig
4.0
This year I discovered Matt Haig. Although the Midnight Library didn't blow me away, I was impressed with how he looked at life, how he described depression and most of all the way out of it. When A Boy Called Christmas appeared on Netflix I watched the movie with my parents and I recognized that same message of hope and light. I was therefore quite happy when I got this book in one of my bookswaps. And now is the perfect time to read this.
What I love about this book is that it's a sequel to A Boy Called Christmas and yet it can be read separately. You will of course miss some nudges and winks here and there, but the story works without having read or watched the previous story. And that's mostly because even though father Christmas is still having a huge part to play, the main part is for a little girl. A little girl once full of hope and now confronted with the ugliness of life.
I have to admit that I haven't read enough Victorian books to know for sure how well Haig captures the time. From what I know it feels like Haig did an amazing job portraying this time, how hard it was, how big the gap was between rich and poor, how much abuse there was and how little people did for each other. It's quite a sad setting, to be honest. I think in a way this is not a happy story to begin with.
However, it's a story about finding light in the darkness. About hope in the darkest of times. About moving forward, even when you're at the bottom and have no idea where to go or how to live on. It's quite clearly a theme in Haig's life. It's however also very much a theme in my life. I quite like how Haig doesn't just make me believe in magic again, which is already something great in itself. Haig also shows us that even when we don't see it, there's always someone who cares.
What I love about this book is that it's a sequel to A Boy Called Christmas and yet it can be read separately. You will of course miss some nudges and winks here and there, but the story works without having read or watched the previous story. And that's mostly because even though father Christmas is still having a huge part to play, the main part is for a little girl. A little girl once full of hope and now confronted with the ugliness of life.
I have to admit that I haven't read enough Victorian books to know for sure how well Haig captures the time. From what I know it feels like Haig did an amazing job portraying this time, how hard it was, how big the gap was between rich and poor, how much abuse there was and how little people did for each other. It's quite a sad setting, to be honest. I think in a way this is not a happy story to begin with.
However, it's a story about finding light in the darkness. About hope in the darkest of times. About moving forward, even when you're at the bottom and have no idea where to go or how to live on. It's quite clearly a theme in Haig's life. It's however also very much a theme in my life. I quite like how Haig doesn't just make me believe in magic again, which is already something great in itself. Haig also shows us that even when we don't see it, there's always someone who cares.