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A review by emilyrainsford
Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
4.5
Self-centred girl accidentally evokes the Holiday Spirit turned corporeal and takes him to Christmas with her dysfunctional family to pose as her fiance so they don't realise she's a bit of a fuck up.
I actually loved this book. I literally laughed out loud multiple times. It's totally off the wall and the entire premise is ridiculous, but it's silly fun, and it also manages to be actually pretty sweet. It's nice to read a book with actual, significant character growth. I liked how the dysfunctional family all learned to enjoy each other more without becoming less dysfunctional or turning too syrupy sweet.
The spirit character "Hall" (side note - this is apparently short for "Holiday" which is a bit weird for me because I say those like different vowels) is a super sweet cinnamon roll - think Buddy from the movie Elf but a little hotter - so the romance aspect was pure and adorable, which was part of what I loved about it (YVMV). I'm glad the author didn't try to shoehorn in a 🌶️ scene because that wouldn't have fit the story at all.
Even though I found the tone of the writing pretty funny from the start, it took me a moment to warm up to the story because the main character seems a bit vapid in the beginning. But I decided to go on the ride for the fun of it, and her character growth is satisfying without completely losing her sass.
It's magical realism that's heavy on the magic, testing the boundaries of genre, and I love that. Very Christmassy, a little bit silly, very cute with a little bit of angst. I found it delightful.
I actually loved this book. I literally laughed out loud multiple times. It's totally off the wall and the entire premise is ridiculous, but it's silly fun, and it also manages to be actually pretty sweet. It's nice to read a book with actual, significant character growth. I liked how the dysfunctional family all learned to enjoy each other more without becoming less dysfunctional or turning too syrupy sweet.
The spirit character "Hall" (side note - this is apparently short for "Holiday" which is a bit weird for me because I say those like different vowels) is a super sweet cinnamon roll - think Buddy from the movie Elf but a little hotter - so the romance aspect was pure and adorable, which was part of what I loved about it (YVMV). I'm glad the author didn't try to shoehorn in a 🌶️ scene because that wouldn't have fit the story at all.
Even though I found the tone of the writing pretty funny from the start, it took me a moment to warm up to the story because the main character seems a bit vapid in the beginning. But I decided to go on the ride for the fun of it, and her character growth is satisfying without completely losing her sass.
It's magical realism that's heavy on the magic, testing the boundaries of genre, and I love that. Very Christmassy, a little bit silly, very cute with a little bit of angst. I found it delightful.