Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by emilinkaa
Just for December by Laura Jane Williams
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Evie is a writer, and she's not the kind making waves on Booktok. She doesn't even have any social media accounts, nor does she do signings or interact with her fans. She writes books and goes on with her life. Until one of her books is made into a movie, and they require her to join them on location in Germany. She gets off on the wrong foot with the leading man, Duke, and somehow, they fake date to make things better. Duke manages to thaw her frozen, cynical heart, but is it enough to bring these two opposites together and pull off a Christmas miracle?
This book had so much potential that I was thrilled when I got an ARC copy of it. Enemies to lovers, fake relationships, and a celeb-normie paring? Sign me up! But two things had me slogging through this like I was breaking a path through 3ft of snow. The first, and bigger thing, is Evie. She's not just brusque or introverted, or bad at communicating. Oh no, Evie is downright mean and cruel. I couldn't stand her at the beginning of the book, and later on, when she was facing a broken heart because of a (fake dating trope required) misunderstanding with Duke, I thought to myself: oh, that serves her right. ((I am aware that is not very kind of me.)) -2 stars for an unlikable heroine.
The second thing that I couldn't stand, is that the author doesn't seem to have done any research on Germany (or perhaps Europe?), because throughout the book, she calls the freeways in Germany the "autostrada" which is Italian, and in Germany, they're called the Autobahn. A very particular thing, but as someone who has lived in Germany, I know that people around the world know what it's called, because I often got asked about what driving on the Autobahn is like. -.5 stars for a lack of Google skills.
I wouldn't recommend this book, which makes me sad, because the book was well written.
I was provided an ARC copy of this book through Netgalley. My thanks to the publisher and the author for providing it to me.
This book had so much potential that I was thrilled when I got an ARC copy of it. Enemies to lovers, fake relationships, and a celeb-normie paring? Sign me up! But two things had me slogging through this like I was breaking a path through 3ft of snow. The first, and bigger thing, is Evie. She's not just brusque or introverted, or bad at communicating. Oh no, Evie is downright mean and cruel. I couldn't stand her at the beginning of the book, and later on, when she was facing a broken heart because of a (fake dating trope required) misunderstanding with Duke, I thought to myself: oh, that serves her right. ((I am aware that is not very kind of me.)) -2 stars for an unlikable heroine.
The second thing that I couldn't stand, is that the author doesn't seem to have done any research on Germany (or perhaps Europe?), because throughout the book, she calls the freeways in Germany the "autostrada" which is Italian, and in Germany, they're called the Autobahn. A very particular thing, but as someone who has lived in Germany, I know that people around the world know what it's called, because I often got asked about what driving on the Autobahn is like. -.5 stars for a lack of Google skills.
I wouldn't recommend this book, which makes me sad, because the book was well written.
I was provided an ARC copy of this book through Netgalley. My thanks to the publisher and the author for providing it to me.