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A review by bookmarkedbybritt
Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Those who have followed me for a while know that I LOVE Kristin Hannah. I’m fairly new to her writing having first read her in December 2022, but I’ve been working on her backlist ever since!
The emotional devastation just 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘴, you know?
I was really excited to see she had written a Christmas novella, and immediately added it to my December TBR. I went into it blind, not reading any reviews, etc, so I didn’t see some of the more colorful commentary on the writing. 🤣
Comfort and Joy is a fable where we are pulled into the world of Joy as she navigates a brutal divorce due to infidelity. (I won’t spoil any plot points here, but if I were in the same boat I would be absolutely gutted.) Needing to get away, she boards a charter plane to Hope which doesn’t go exactly as planned… BUT lands her at the Comfort Inn where most of the story takes places. … Comfort & Joy!!!
I will say, this book fell firmly in the lukewarm category for me. I was expecting a lot more of the emotional gut punch that I have known from Hannah’s more recent novels and this landed a lot differently for me in that regard.
Where I did think the novel was well-written was its use of the structure of a fable. By definition, a fable is a short story wherein natural elements take on human aspects for the purpose of teaching a lesson. There were a TON of teeny tiny details that gave clues as to what was reality and what was the magical realism, but you had to be paying close attention to catch some of it! If you did catch them, the twist at the end made a lot more sense, but still held a good deal of impact. The main lesson I took from this cute little fable: you must first forgive yourself to find forgiveness for others. Kind of nice, right?
Now, part of the forgiveness thread in this book I reeeeally disliked. I personally don’t believe that ever person deserves forgiveness, and the person Joy “forgives” just didn’t sit right with lil ol’ feminist me. 🫠
That being said, it was cute and short and had some intelligence in the writing that I mostly enjoyed. I’m not sure this will be a recommendation I’ll freely give to others, but I’m not disappointed to have read it.
The emotional devastation just 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘴, you know?
I was really excited to see she had written a Christmas novella, and immediately added it to my December TBR. I went into it blind, not reading any reviews, etc, so I didn’t see some of the more colorful commentary on the writing. 🤣
Comfort and Joy is a fable where we are pulled into the world of Joy as she navigates a brutal divorce due to infidelity. (I won’t spoil any plot points here, but if I were in the same boat I would be absolutely gutted.) Needing to get away, she boards a charter plane to Hope which doesn’t go exactly as planned… BUT lands her at the Comfort Inn where most of the story takes places. … Comfort & Joy!!!
I will say, this book fell firmly in the lukewarm category for me. I was expecting a lot more of the emotional gut punch that I have known from Hannah’s more recent novels and this landed a lot differently for me in that regard.
Where I did think the novel was well-written was its use of the structure of a fable. By definition, a fable is a short story wherein natural elements take on human aspects for the purpose of teaching a lesson. There were a TON of teeny tiny details that gave clues as to what was reality and what was the magical realism, but you had to be paying close attention to catch some of it! If you did catch them, the twist at the end made a lot more sense, but still held a good deal of impact. The main lesson I took from this cute little fable: you must first forgive yourself to find forgiveness for others. Kind of nice, right?
Now, part of the forgiveness thread in this book I reeeeally disliked. I personally don’t believe that ever person deserves forgiveness, and the person Joy “forgives” just didn’t sit right with lil ol’ feminist me. 🫠
That being said, it was cute and short and had some intelligence in the writing that I mostly enjoyed. I’m not sure this will be a recommendation I’ll freely give to others, but I’m not disappointed to have read it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity