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A review by pantaruja
The Bureau of Holiday Affairs by Andi Marquette
3.0
I think that I read this book with a bad premise. I should’ve thought about it as a romance instead of a Christmas Carol retelling, because the romance was the thing that let me down. I wasn’t interested in it nor in the love interest. I loved the Bureau of Holidays Affairs and its workers and I wish that the book would’ve been about them instead of the romance.
For me, A Christmas Carol is a story about three spirits that torment a person in power so that this person changes their behaviour for the good of the people without power. In this retelling it’s a story about this “ghosts” teaching a woman how to love herself and letting others love her. It’s not a bad perspective, but if I read a retelling about ghosts scaring billionaires, I want to see that. Robin, the protagonist, had no power inside the company where she worked so I don’t see why the Christmas ghosts would waste their time scaring her. At the end, she did nothing relevant for the employees (just for three of them).
Another critique is that the dialogues at the last third were super boring. In them Robin explained what I had already read in the first two thirds. It was unnecessary.
In conclusion, if you want to read about a sad and angry woman who learns how to love herself and to open up to others, you may like it.
For me, A Christmas Carol is a story about three spirits that torment a person in power so that this person changes their behaviour for the good of the people without power. In this retelling it’s a story about this “ghosts” teaching a woman how to love herself and letting others love her. It’s not a bad perspective, but if I read a retelling about ghosts scaring billionaires, I want to see that. Robin, the protagonist, had no power inside the company where she worked so I don’t see why the Christmas ghosts would waste their time scaring her. At the end, she did nothing relevant for the employees (just for three of them).
Another critique is that the dialogues at the last third were super boring. In them Robin explained what I had already read in the first two thirds. It was unnecessary.
In conclusion, if you want to read about a sad and angry woman who learns how to love herself and to open up to others, you may like it.