A review by matmatmatty
Let It Snow: A Novel by Debbie Macomber

lighthearted slow-paced

2.0

This was a weird little story. I'm honestly not a fan of romances like this but I know others are so I will try to give a full explanation of the story for anyone interested.

This story takes place over Christmas (starting the day before Christmas Eve, and ending a couple days before New Year). Shelley is travelling back to see her dad for Christmas when her plane gets rerouted because of a snowstorm. Her and another passenger, Slade, decide to hire a car to make the rest of the journey together.

Good points:
  • Book is short - my copy was 68ish pages, so if you are looking for a short read for an afternoon, this is a good option.
  • Holiday themed - it takes place around Christmas and features a snowstorm so feels quite wintery.
  • Strong family bonds - Shelley is close with her dad, and that was nice to see. It was a bit like 'the two of them against the world'.

Not-so-good points:
  • I understand that with romance, you have to set your expectations down a little. People in romances don't tend to behave as people normally do irl, so you need to expect that. However. This story had the characters acting so strangely that I could not reasonably expect anyone to do that.
    When Shelley and Slade first start driving together, he asks if she needs to phone her husband and she responds by saying she's not married. She asks about him and he says he's engaged. Shelley then starts quizzing him on things about his relationship, even asking when they're gonna have kids! All while they've known each other for like 10 mins. This isn't the only time this happens, but considering they just met, it's the weirdest.
  • Shelley liked Slade way too early.
    As soon as he says he's engaged, she's like 'man i really like him', which is crazy. She knows nothing about this man and is already in love with him. Make it make sense.
  • Why did Slade need to be engaged? He could've been 'married to the job' and the story could have been the same. Why did we need to have a poor woman off screen who was cheated on and then dumped? I really don't like cheating for the sake of plot stories.
  • There is a weird misogyny coming from Shelley (very I'm not like other girls)
    Shelley hates Margaret as soon as she hears about her. She calls her boring and talks shit about her, when she literally knows nothing about her. All she knows is that she's engaged to Slade, and she's acting as if she knows everything about this woman and can speak on her character. There's no need to do that.
  • Random fatphobia??? Shelley complains about being fat and gaining weight, and then literally admits she hasn't gained weight. Why was this needed? It wasn't. 
  • god, the ending.
    Slade acts as if Margaret is crazy for not supporting him when all she knows is that he went on a business trip and came back and quit his job and said he's going to be a pianist. I would also be like 'wtf' if my partner did that. Also what is with the flowers? I get it is a reference to the start when Shelley was like 'all girls love flowers' or whatever but it was weird behaviour.

Overall, I found this kinda boring, I didn't like any of the characters, and the ending was nonsense. I personally wouldn't recommend but it is short so go ahead if you want.
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