Scan barcode
A review by danielles_reads
Under The Meh-stletoe by Leonor Soliz
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.25
As a certified grinch myself, I thought I would have fun with a romance about two Christmas grinches, but alas. This was the fun and silly read I wanted to take a break from my current big brain read, but overall it was super rushed with some unnatural dialogue and interactions, a lot of typos, and many phrases repeated over and over.
I feel like the book kept telling us these two characters were grumps (holy shit various forms of the word “grump” were used 37 times in a 132 pg book) without actually showing us they were grumpy. And the amount of times Ale kept saying “I’m done with grumps” as if people actually talk about other people like that outside of romance tropes 😫
Various other complaints:
I feel like the book kept telling us these two characters were grumps (holy shit various forms of the word “grump” were used 37 times in a 132 pg book) without actually showing us they were grumpy. And the amount of times Ale kept saying “I’m done with grumps” as if people actually talk about other people like that outside of romance tropes 😫
Various other complaints:
- These characters smirk (21x) and chuckle (16x) so much
- I’m not sure why him pretending to be drinking alcoholic drinks (aka lying) while she was getting drunk was presented as chivalrous
- Also didn’t like how him trying to share his emotions was interrupted by her making a dumb Christmas joke and speaking over him
It did feel a little less contrived than other romances I’ve read at least. The Christmas committee idea was cute, though I’m not sure how anyone with a job could volunteer considering how much time they all spent on it. The fat rep was nice but tbh I’m not a fan of the constant reference to “flesh” (12x). Not to make a GOT reference but it makes me think of House Bolton flaying people lol. The Latine rep was good but fairly minimal.
The author said in the end that she rushed to write this book and it was edited in a “short window of time” and man you can really tell. At least look up how to spell chauffeur correctly 😬
I know this is a novella but it still felt so shallow, with minimal character development. It was basically insta-lust for both of the MCs. The one sex scene was good even though I find their banter really strange and stilted. Idk, this was a good quick lighthearted read but nothing much more than that.