A review by chloearielle
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss

emotional relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This book had a lot of elements I usually would love — it was set in the British countryside in a castle, the main character owns a used book store, the main love interest is the cute gardener from her childhood — all great setup for a super cute little romance novel. However, there were some elements of the book that I found to be quite problematic. This book breezed over some heavy topics like abuse, racism, class, sexual assault, and suicide. [LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD]
The final straw for me was when a repeatedly abusive man became a secondary hero of the story. And everyone was just okay with it. Like he did one good deed and now he has been cured of his wily ways and deserves to be reunited with his wife and children. I didn’t believe that for a second. And hated that kind of character was given such a pass.

Overall, the setting and some of the imagery and artworks spoken about in the book were probably my favorite part. There were cute moments, but all of the cuteness was outshined by what I thought was poor handling of some very serious and important topics.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings