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A review by courtney_saba
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
2.0
Oh god. I knew it. This was not great.
Some mild spoilers ahead, but it's predictable. Still, read at your own risk.
I am very disappointed that Christina Lauren ruined the Groundhog day theme. Don't they realize that it's re-doing ONE day over and over and over and not a full week? It doesn't make sense. It wouldn't be a time loop then. And the heroine didn't even have that many repeats! 3 maybe? That's ludicrous. The author just wanted the heroine to have a do-over and blamed it on a time loop. Give me a break.
What happened with the car crash and all the freak accidents killing the heroine and making her repeat the day over again? Those were meaningless? What happened with the predictability of the day? See, this is why it's a repeat of one day, with everything happening similarly to how it did the first time, with the end of the day finishing with falling asleep or accidentally getting killed and immediately waking up at the start of the day again. Re: Devil's Day Party, Happy Death Day (and its sequel), Before I Fall, GROUNDHOG'S DAY FOR PETE'S SAKE. And it always ends with either the main character's death and/or another character's death, with the MC trying to figure out how to fix the timeline and leave the loop. Not a bloody, "The universe wants me to take my life by the balls and do what I want because it wants to make me happy." Lmfao. The universe and fate don't care about you. They have their own agenda going on. You just happen to be their favorite toy at the moment.
Also, I can't even remember the heroine's name right now. All the characters were forgettable. Flat, two-dimensional. Forgettable at the end of the day. So why a 2 star? Because I enjoyed the dialogue and the sexy times. I'm being generous here.
Can we talk about how Andrew and the heroine (Mae, right?) had a simple conversation at a tree farm where Mae said she wanted Andrew and then the VERY NEXT NIGHT they are having sex????!?!! I mean, I guess I get it from Mae's point of view. But Andrew? No. Doubtful. Like what? That quick?! And then he said he was in love with her his whole life????!?!?!?!?! WHAT?! WTF IS HAPPENING HERE?! No way. There was no indication of that at all.
And wtf was the point of having Mae drunkenly make out with Theo? Just as a plot device and reason for Andrew to get mad at Mae for no goddamn reason? Why was he mad at her? Because she drunkenly made out with his brother in a whole other timeline instead of talking to him first even though he had given her no indication of his own feelings like EVER? She said it was awful! She's being honest! After having sex and declaring love and saying she's loved him for half of her life and he gets mad at her for that? I call bullshit. That makeout session with Theo was a total plot device. It meant nothing. And Miles telling Mae that he thinks Theo is in love with her and that Theo would be upset about her and Andrew and then he WAS upset when he found out and then this just turned into nothing?! WTF. What was the point of Theo?!?!? I literally thought that this was going to be the storyline: Mae has a decade plus crush going on for Andrew, drunkenly makes out with little brother Theo, tries to get together with Andrew over and over in a ONE DAY (goddamn, they couldn't even get this right) timeloop without luck because it turns out that Andrew only sees Mae as a little sister figure, turns her down gently, while Theo is in the background, always watching and secretly loving Mae without anyone knowing, and then Mae, through her repetitive time loops realizes that she really likes Theo and they live HEA. The end. Maybe this would've been predictable. I don't care. I like my storyline better. It MAKES SENSE. Why add a makeout session with the wrong brother when it turns out to mean nothing in the end? Andrew had loved her all along?! Excuse me, but I'm DEEPLY skeptical here.
I just kept waiting for the story to go in a certain and logical direction, but it never did. Hence my rating. Am I rating this a 2 star because the author didn't meet my expectations and I'm being petty? Maybe a little, I'll be honest, but I truly didn't enjoy this story all that much at the end of the day. It had a lot of potential, but didn't live up to it. Everything felt rushed, with no real character development or plot. The romance was rushed and unbelievable. The characters weren't fleshed out. I couldn't even imagine them correctly because there were no descriptions. Just too many people in this story. And the author didn't do the Groundhog Day theme justice. What a disappointment.
Would I re-read this? No.
Would I recommend this? No.
Was I entertained? Only at the sexy parts. Not enough to give this story more than 2 stars.
Happy reading, Goodreads fiends. Go and read those books and watch those movies I mentioned above and see why I'm so frustrated with this book's use of the time loop. You'll understand then.
Some mild spoilers ahead, but it's predictable. Still, read at your own risk.
I am very disappointed that Christina Lauren ruined the Groundhog day theme. Don't they realize that it's re-doing ONE day over and over and over and not a full week? It doesn't make sense. It wouldn't be a time loop then. And the heroine didn't even have that many repeats! 3 maybe? That's ludicrous. The author just wanted the heroine to have a do-over and blamed it on a time loop. Give me a break.
What happened with the car crash and all the freak accidents killing the heroine and making her repeat the day over again? Those were meaningless? What happened with the predictability of the day? See, this is why it's a repeat of one day, with everything happening similarly to how it did the first time, with the end of the day finishing with falling asleep or accidentally getting killed and immediately waking up at the start of the day again. Re: Devil's Day Party, Happy Death Day (and its sequel), Before I Fall, GROUNDHOG'S DAY FOR PETE'S SAKE. And it always ends with either the main character's death and/or another character's death, with the MC trying to figure out how to fix the timeline and leave the loop. Not a bloody, "The universe wants me to take my life by the balls and do what I want because it wants to make me happy." Lmfao. The universe and fate don't care about you. They have their own agenda going on. You just happen to be their favorite toy at the moment.
Also, I can't even remember the heroine's name right now. All the characters were forgettable. Flat, two-dimensional. Forgettable at the end of the day. So why a 2 star? Because I enjoyed the dialogue and the sexy times. I'm being generous here.
Can we talk about how Andrew and the heroine (Mae, right?) had a simple conversation at a tree farm where Mae said she wanted Andrew and then the VERY NEXT NIGHT they are having sex????!?!! I mean, I guess I get it from Mae's point of view. But Andrew? No. Doubtful. Like what? That quick?! And then he said he was in love with her his whole life????!?!?!?!?! WHAT?! WTF IS HAPPENING HERE?! No way. There was no indication of that at all.
And wtf was the point of having Mae drunkenly make out with Theo? Just as a plot device and reason for Andrew to get mad at Mae for no goddamn reason? Why was he mad at her? Because she drunkenly made out with his brother in a whole other timeline instead of talking to him first even though he had given her no indication of his own feelings like EVER? She said it was awful! She's being honest! After having sex and declaring love and saying she's loved him for half of her life and he gets mad at her for that? I call bullshit. That makeout session with Theo was a total plot device. It meant nothing. And Miles telling Mae that he thinks Theo is in love with her and that Theo would be upset about her and Andrew and then he WAS upset when he found out and then this just turned into nothing?! WTF. What was the point of Theo?!?!? I literally thought that this was going to be the storyline: Mae has a decade plus crush going on for Andrew, drunkenly makes out with little brother Theo, tries to get together with Andrew over and over in a ONE DAY (goddamn, they couldn't even get this right) timeloop without luck because it turns out that Andrew only sees Mae as a little sister figure, turns her down gently, while Theo is in the background, always watching and secretly loving Mae without anyone knowing, and then Mae, through her repetitive time loops realizes that she really likes Theo and they live HEA. The end. Maybe this would've been predictable. I don't care. I like my storyline better. It MAKES SENSE. Why add a makeout session with the wrong brother when it turns out to mean nothing in the end? Andrew had loved her all along?! Excuse me, but I'm DEEPLY skeptical here.
I just kept waiting for the story to go in a certain and logical direction, but it never did. Hence my rating. Am I rating this a 2 star because the author didn't meet my expectations and I'm being petty? Maybe a little, I'll be honest, but I truly didn't enjoy this story all that much at the end of the day. It had a lot of potential, but didn't live up to it. Everything felt rushed, with no real character development or plot. The romance was rushed and unbelievable. The characters weren't fleshed out. I couldn't even imagine them correctly because there were no descriptions. Just too many people in this story. And the author didn't do the Groundhog Day theme justice. What a disappointment.
Would I re-read this? No.
Would I recommend this? No.
Was I entertained? Only at the sexy parts. Not enough to give this story more than 2 stars.
Happy reading, Goodreads fiends. Go and read those books and watch those movies I mentioned above and see why I'm so frustrated with this book's use of the time loop. You'll understand then.