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A review by bookishblasian
The Holiday Ex-Files by Jennifer Peel
3.0
I don't want to be so cruel to say I wanted to crop this book out of my mind, but it's true. At times, this book was so completely cringy that I absolutely wanted to chunk it and not finish it. But DNF is not my style and I'm somewhat glad I pushed through.
Cami was one of the most annoying heroines I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Overall, she wasn't a bad character, but she was highly cynical and soooo stupid when it came to Noah that I wanted to smack her. Her cynicalness? was mostly explained by her past. The girl went through so much that I felt for her. But truly the annoying part of Cami was her inner dialogue. It wasn't a normal amount of inner dialogue. I mean, it was pages and pages of it. Not only does her conscience have a name, Miss Sparkly, but she literally argues with herself. And then tries to play it off like "I know I'm only one person" "I need to choose which one I want to be." I get it. Miss Sparkly was Cami's old self that she was trying to find again. I could've been on board with the whole thing if Miss Sparkly wasn't so present it was like having another main character. And if she wasn't arguing with herself on every other page. I honestly skimmed so much of this book because every time I read Miss Sparkly I found myself rolling my eyes. No way I would've made it through reading Cami argue with herself. So in summary, overall, Cami wasn't a bad character. Her attitude and general personality is explained away by her depressing past. It's her alter ego that drove me to almost not finish this book.
On the flip side, Noah was a shining star in this book. Dare I say he is the only reason that I finished it? It almost seemed that Noah and Cami were stars of two different books. That's how good he was and how much I liked him compared to her. He was the most caring, understanding, supportive, best friend and brother. He was constantly going out of his way to make sure Cami felt safe and understood even when she did her best to push him away. And honestly, the girl was straight up stupid when it came to him. He tried to express his feelings so many times, right from the start. And she was not getting the hint AT ALL. It was extremely frustrating.
Overall, this wasn't a bad book by any means but Cami's inner dialogue with herself, whom she named Miss Sparkly, was so distracting from the story that it led to me skimming most of the book and had me considering not finishing it. Without Miss Sparkly, this book really wasn't half bad. Noah and the great guy that he is made this book worth while. He was so patient and understanding when it came to Cami. He was truly selfless and clearly only wanted what was best for her and what made her happy. So again, while this wasn't a bad book, it took A LOT to get through the Miss Sparkly situation. But if you can make it through that, Noah and all his sweetness makes this story worthwhile. Noah is what got this story from 2 stars to 3.
Cami was one of the most annoying heroines I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Overall, she wasn't a bad character, but she was highly cynical and soooo stupid when it came to Noah that I wanted to smack her. Her cynicalness? was mostly explained by her past. The girl went through so much that I felt for her. But truly the annoying part of Cami was her inner dialogue. It wasn't a normal amount of inner dialogue. I mean, it was pages and pages of it. Not only does her conscience have a name, Miss Sparkly, but she literally argues with herself. And then tries to play it off like "I know I'm only one person" "I need to choose which one I want to be." I get it. Miss Sparkly was Cami's old self that she was trying to find again. I could've been on board with the whole thing if Miss Sparkly wasn't so present it was like having another main character. And if she wasn't arguing with herself on every other page. I honestly skimmed so much of this book because every time I read Miss Sparkly I found myself rolling my eyes. No way I would've made it through reading Cami argue with herself. So in summary, overall, Cami wasn't a bad character. Her attitude and general personality is explained away by her depressing past. It's her alter ego that drove me to almost not finish this book.
On the flip side, Noah was a shining star in this book. Dare I say he is the only reason that I finished it? It almost seemed that Noah and Cami were stars of two different books. That's how good he was and how much I liked him compared to her. He was the most caring, understanding, supportive, best friend and brother. He was constantly going out of his way to make sure Cami felt safe and understood even when she did her best to push him away. And honestly, the girl was straight up stupid when it came to him. He tried to express his feelings so many times, right from the start. And she was not getting the hint AT ALL. It was extremely frustrating.
Overall, this wasn't a bad book by any means but Cami's inner dialogue with herself, whom she named Miss Sparkly, was so distracting from the story that it led to me skimming most of the book and had me considering not finishing it. Without Miss Sparkly, this book really wasn't half bad. Noah and the great guy that he is made this book worth while. He was so patient and understanding when it came to Cami. He was truly selfless and clearly only wanted what was best for her and what made her happy. So again, while this wasn't a bad book, it took A LOT to get through the Miss Sparkly situation. But if you can make it through that, Noah and all his sweetness makes this story worthwhile. Noah is what got this story from 2 stars to 3.