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A review by crackedspines_
Comet's First Christmas by Delilah Night
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Rep: many lesbians, panic attacks/disorder
The only saving grace of this book was that it’s sapphic. There were MANY lesbian characters, and their queerness was fully normalized. Which was really nice. The anxiety rep was *okay.* I loved the normalization of mindfulness/grounding/coping techniques that a lot of people dismiss as silly or childish or unrealistic. These are things that genuinely do help a lot of people with anxiety and panic disorders (myself included), and we need to stop making fun of them. But overall the rep felt a bit forced and stilted? It’s certainly not bad rep, and I won’t say it’s inaccurate, especially since the author based a lot of it off her own experiences. What I mean is the way it was written was awkward and forced.
Other than that, I won’t hesitate to say I hate this book. I went into it hoping to just laugh at the ridiculousness of a reindeer shifter romance, and obviously that part was indeed ridiculous. The main character ate hay in human form, and the shifters don’t own actual clothes?? They just morph to be wearing whatever outfit they want instead of putting on clothes. But the entire premise was really creepy and uncomfortable??
The plot of this book is that someone is going around and talking people out of believing in Santa. The reindeer and elves have magic phones that allow them to track who believes and who doesn’t and who’s naughty and nice (including lists of exactly the “naughty” and “nice” things they do). So to “fix the issue,” the reindeer and elves stalk the people who stopped believing, and convince them to believe in Christmas again. It’s not okay to fully STALK people, use that information to visit them at their houses, places of work, etc., and take it upon yourself to change their beliefs.
The only saving grace of this book was that it’s sapphic. There were MANY lesbian characters, and their queerness was fully normalized. Which was really nice. The anxiety rep was *okay.* I loved the normalization of mindfulness/grounding/coping techniques that a lot of people dismiss as silly or childish or unrealistic. These are things that genuinely do help a lot of people with anxiety and panic disorders (myself included), and we need to stop making fun of them. But overall the rep felt a bit forced and stilted? It’s certainly not bad rep, and I won’t say it’s inaccurate, especially since the author based a lot of it off her own experiences. What I mean is the way it was written was awkward and forced.
Other than that, I won’t hesitate to say I hate this book. I went into it hoping to just laugh at the ridiculousness of a reindeer shifter romance, and obviously that part was indeed ridiculous. The main character ate hay in human form, and the shifters don’t own actual clothes?? They just morph to be wearing whatever outfit they want instead of putting on clothes. But the entire premise was really creepy and uncomfortable??
The plot of this book is that someone is going around and talking people out of believing in Santa. The reindeer and elves have magic phones that allow them to track who believes and who doesn’t and who’s naughty and nice (including lists of exactly the “naughty” and “nice” things they do). So to “fix the issue,” the reindeer and elves stalk the people who stopped believing, and convince them to believe in Christmas again. It’s not okay to fully STALK people, use that information to visit them at their houses, places of work, etc., and take it upon yourself to change their beliefs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Stalking