e-Audio, 08:38:14
Narrated by: Hope Newhouse
Release Date: November 1, 2022
Published by: HarperTeen
Read from: November 2-6, 2022
Stand-alone
Source: LibroFM (I received the audio copy of this book from LibroFM and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Recounting of a past sexual assault
For Readers Interested In: Realistic Fiction, Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Jewish), Holidaze (Hanukkah/Christmas), Romance,LGBTQ+, YABecky Albertalli meets Casey McQuiston in this sapphic Jewish twist on the classic Christmas enemies-to-lovers rom-com, as college freshman Shani’s internship is interrupted by a whirlwind winter fling.
It all starts when Shani runs into May. Like, literally. With her mom’s Subaru.
Attempted vehicular manslaughter was not part of Shani’s plan. She was supposed to be focusing on her monthlong paleoichthyology internship. She was going to spend all her time thinking about dead fish and not at all about how she was unceremoniously dumped days before winter break.
It could be going better.
But when a dog-walking gig puts her back in May’s path, the fossils she’s meant to be diligently studying are pushed to the side—along with the breakup.
Then they’re snowed in together on Christmas Eve. As things start to feel more serious, though, Shani’s hurt over her ex-girlfriend’s rejection comes rushing back. Is she ready to try a committed relationship again, or is she okay with this just being a passing winter fling?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I TOLD y’all I been binge reading holiday romances lately! And they have all been so good! And this one is no different! It started off with my favorite thing too, A MEET CUTE. And this one would be hilarious if it wasn’t actually like BAD lol Her and her mom were arguing and her mom almost hits the chick with her car! If that doesn’t sound like a wild time, I don’t know what does.
This is another book where I’m not a fan of enemies to lovers, but I AM a fan of something else in the book, so I decided to give it a read and go on about my day anyway. And then the book had a chokehold on me lol So even though I’m not a fan of enemies to lovers, I am a fan of meet cutes. As it turns out, putting a meet cute with enemies to lovers is one way to make me want to read it.
Which brings me to the writing style. It thought it was fine for the most part, but there were a few things I had an issue with. Like I really wish authors would stop intentionally not telling the readers big secrets but always mentioning them. I always get annoyed because it feels like someone telling me “We have to talk” but then never saying what’s wrong. AND THEN it’s always for a really big reason that usually make me feel like an asshole for feeling annoyed afterward. It seriously brings me down and I wish y’all would stop doing that lol And if you can’t tell, this is exactly what happened in this book. I was annoyed at her and hating her because she just wouldn’t open her mouth. But then when it was revealed why she was scared to talk about it, I felt like an asshole. Please stop doing this lol I rolled my eyes at her the whole book.
The romance tho was really cute. I thought the way it progressed was authentic too. Besides the shower scene. That was just weird. I have to admit, I never thought I’d read a shower scene in a YA book lol But it was ok. Nothing explicit. Just thought it was a hella brave choice for a YA book. I also like that they were both nerds. They went on a date to look at fossils. Like they were the literal cutest. I was even cheering them on during the enemies phase, that’s how I knew it was good. However, I DID wish the author had explored the way Shani was obsessing over May. At some point she wasn’t even paying attention to the job she loved. And that’s not healthy. I think the author could have explored that and said why it’s bad and what she could do instead. It just seemed like a wasted opportunity. (And yes I know they could be in that all-consuming love, but she actually explained in the book that she was acting like this and I just didn’t like it.)
I DO wish there was more of the holiday mixed in tho. For the most part she is against people liking Hanukkah because she thinks its a minor holiday and that people should care about all of their holidays instead. Although I agreed, I went into this looking for a holiday romance, so I wanted something holiday-ey right? lol I don’t know if that makes any sense, but I guess I wanted more than just seeing a Menorah through a window. I’m pretty sure it’s just me, but that’s what I wanted. I feel like I’ve said this in multiple reviews now. But I just don’t understand. Like what’s the point of marketing it as a holiday romance if the romance is barely mentioned? They don’t do this with any other genre? Ugh lol
The narrator was really good. They did the voices and all the emoting through words and everything and I loved it. It was really cute! I was definitely happy I had the chance to read and review it this way. I went looking to see if I had read anything else narrated by them. I hadn’t, but I also didn’t know they had so many books under their belt either. I plan to listen to something else narrated by them hella soon.
This was cute, but I wanted a little more. More explanation, more Christmas/Hanukkah, just more. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. But even still, it scratched the itch I wanted for another holiday rom com!
Overall, I give this
