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A review by mishale1
Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I enjoyed this Christmas story about two Black teenagers working at a Black owned, family run bookstore. It had depth but that also meant I found it a bit heavy sometimes. I’ll go into a little more detail and hope it doesn’t veer spoilerish. If it does, let me know, I can always fix that.
Trey’s family owns Wonderland books. It’s been in his family for generations. And it’s a big deal to Trey’s family but it wasn’t really a big deal to Trey until the day he thought his family might lose it.
Ariel knows Trey from school, she had a crush on him years ago but he’s been dating someone for two years.
Ariel dreams of being an artist. She’s very talented, she got her artistic side from her father who passed away suddenly last year.
Now she has the opportunity to go to art school but isn’t sure if she’ll get a scholarship and if she doesn’t she’ll need a lot of money to go.
Ariel decides to look for an after school job and winds up at Wonderland right in the midst of Trey’s father having a minor accident and being unable to work. She’s also there right at the beginning of the drama about potentially having to sell the bookstore.
Ariel is pretty amazing because she immediately jumps into “save the day” mode. She decides that her and Trey are going to find a way to save this bookstore before the Christmas Eve deadline.
I loved all of that.
Here’s what I was less of a fan of:
Ariel has an eating disorder that’s just minorly touched on. It felt kind of out of place in a Christmas book.
Also, the amount of money they had to raise before Christmas Eve seemed astronomical in my opinion.
I liked Ariel best. I liked Trey most of the time. Sometimes he was a bit short with Ariel and of course I wasn’t a fan of that. But otherwise I liked him.
I liked how each chapter was introduced with a Christmas song and I believe they were all by Black artists.
I’d also say that Ariel’s grief for her father was not overly sad in the story. I appreciate that. I wasn’t looking for a sad story and definitely not one where the father dies. But this book kind of goes the line between adding depth and adding heaviness. Overall, I’m a fan.
Trey’s family owns Wonderland books. It’s been in his family for generations. And it’s a big deal to Trey’s family but it wasn’t really a big deal to Trey until the day he thought his family might lose it.
Ariel knows Trey from school, she had a crush on him years ago but he’s been dating someone for two years.
Ariel dreams of being an artist. She’s very talented, she got her artistic side from her father who passed away suddenly last year.
Now she has the opportunity to go to art school but isn’t sure if she’ll get a scholarship and if she doesn’t she’ll need a lot of money to go.
Ariel decides to look for an after school job and winds up at Wonderland right in the midst of Trey’s father having a minor accident and being unable to work. She’s also there right at the beginning of the drama about potentially having to sell the bookstore.
Ariel is pretty amazing because she immediately jumps into “save the day” mode. She decides that her and Trey are going to find a way to save this bookstore before the Christmas Eve deadline.
I loved all of that.
Here’s what I was less of a fan of:
Ariel has an eating disorder that’s just minorly touched on. It felt kind of out of place in a Christmas book.
Also, the amount of money they had to raise before Christmas Eve seemed astronomical in my opinion.
I liked Ariel best. I liked Trey most of the time. Sometimes he was a bit short with Ariel and of course I wasn’t a fan of that. But otherwise I liked him.
I liked how each chapter was introduced with a Christmas song and I believe they were all by Black artists.
I’d also say that Ariel’s grief for her father was not overly sad in the story. I appreciate that. I wasn’t looking for a sad story and definitely not one where the father dies. But this book kind of goes the line between adding depth and adding heaviness. Overall, I’m a fan.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Bullying
Minor: Cancer and Grief