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A review by crofteereader
Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer
3.0
I mean... It was short? Even though I'm someone who hates both Christmas and comedy, I was expecting more of, well, both of those. The book wasn't funny. It wasn't campy or particularly gory or any of the fun stuff. For a book this short, it was rather slow, with a lackluster cast and some seriously missed opportunities. The plot was one of convenience rather than cohesion or real progression. Plus... Nothing was gained?
But this isn't a one-star review. I loved the nods to horror culture and the literary world. The frequent tides of vampire popularity (made even better by the way they come back at the end). The last reference to Vampire Academy in particular was gold; just because it was so incongruous. I also love that Lussi didn't immediately jump to any conclusions, even as she goes "hmm X, Y, and Z are very strange" and as the casualties start to build. I just feel like we didn't get enough depth.
{Thank you Quirk Books and Edelweiss+ for the review copy; all thoughts are my own}
But this isn't a one-star review. I loved the nods to horror culture and the literary world. The frequent tides of vampire popularity (made even better by the way they come back at the end). The last reference to Vampire Academy in particular was gold; just because it was so incongruous. I also love that Lussi didn't immediately jump to any conclusions, even as she goes "hmm X, Y, and Z are very strange" and as the casualties start to build. I just feel like we didn't get enough depth.
{Thank you Quirk Books and Edelweiss+ for the review copy; all thoughts are my own}