The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer - Laini Taylor

Until Christmas, I will be reviewing the short stories from My True Love Gave To Me. There will be a review every other day. These will be shorter than the usual reviews and will always include the same criteria on which they will be graded.

Find it on bookdepository here. 

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★/5

CHARACTERS: ★★★/5

HUMOUR: ★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★/5

What did I just read?

For my final story of the collection, I was so excited to be really be in the Christmas mood. Tonight is my family's big Christmas celebration and I want to feel that cheer.

Instead I got something confusing. I don't really know what happened in this story nor what it really had to do with Christmas (besides the fact that it took place in December).

The main character Neve lives on an island as a poor girl. It is a tradition that on the first day of December male suitors put something on the porch of the girl they like. That girl can accept his offer, which means he'll keep leaving things until the 24th of December when they are really together, or she can put a dried rose on her porch so the guy knows she's not interested. The mean island pastor puts something on Neve's porch and even though she tries to deny it, he refuses to listen. Then Neve gets some spiritual help.

Look, I'm not big into the spiritual flowy stories. I like my stories to be semi-realistic and don't believe in "earth forces" coming in and changing the arc of a character. It's unrealistic and just annoying. Neve was in a tricky situation and I would have loved to have seen how she would have escaped that. Instead, Laini Taylor used a Deus ex-machina to create a happy ending.

The writing was good, it read pretty quick, but I just knew from the first paragraph that this story wasn't for me. It was the only short story that felt like a chore to read and I hate that I have to end the collection on this note.

Review aside - I want to wish everyone great holidays. I'll be offline until after Christmas and then I have some more reviews lined up for you guys! Enjoy Christmas and hopefully you'll get lots of books!

Star of Bethlehem - Ally Carter

Until Christmas, I will be reviewing the short stories from My True Love Gave To Me. There will be a review every other day. These will be shorter than the usual reviews and will always include the same criteria on which they will be graded.

Find it on bookdepository here. 

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★★★

CHARACTERS: ★★★★/5

HUMOUR: ★★★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★★

Are these reviews just getting shorter and shorter? As Christmas is approaching, I'm spending more time wrapping presents and reading then actually writing, but I guess that's what Christmas is about.

But Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter is a great story to actually write about, because it was so unexpected. And the most random plot ever.

Lydia is ready to board her plane to New York when she sees a girl who desperately wants to exchange her ticket to NYC. She decided to help the girl out and switch tickets, though she has no clue where she is going, for how long and who the girl was (What?). Lydia ends up in Oklahoma, where she is confused for Hulda - an Icelandic exchange student. Everyone believes the identity switch, except for Ethan, who was the boyfriend of Hulda. And then at the end, there is a huge secret revealed about Lydia.

So what I loved about this story is how complicated the plot is and how it somehow still just works. I don't think any person would just switch their ticket, especially right before Christmas and to an unknown location, but when you are reading the book, you believe it. Ally Carter writes it in such a believable way that you are just sucked into the story.

But it wasn't very Christmassy - the story ends on Christmas Eve so we don't really get the Christmas experience. This was on the one hand a let down, because I would have loved to have known how these characters spend Christmas day. On the other hand, it worked because they are living through the exact same days as I am right now, which means we share the anticipation of Christmas, the present buying,... It helps to relate to the story. 

The one thing I adored about this story was the romance. I'm not going to say who is going to fall in love with who (though you can probably guess), but I love their relationship. They don't instantly fall in love or move crazy fast, but have a realistic relationship that takes both of them by surprise.

So overall this was a good story, with a great plot twist in the end, but it just wasn't as memorable as some of the other short story in My True Love Gave to Me, so it's in the middle of my ranking right now.

Welcome to Christmas, CA - Kiersten White

Until Christmas, I will be reviewing the short stories from My True Love Gave To Me. There will be a review every other day. These will be shorter than the usual reviews and will always include the same criteria on which they will be graded.

Find it on bookdepository here. 

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★/5

CHARACTERS: ★★★/5

HUMOUR: ★★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★★

I've never read a story by Kiersten White before, but just like most other stories in My True Love Gave to Me, her story blew me away with originality. Who knew there were so many ways to interpret Christmas?

Maria is living in Christmas, CA - a town where everything is always christmassy (and town is an overstatement, it is a tiny tiny place). She can't wait to leave the place behind - like all teenagers. Until she meets Ben, the new chef at the diner of her mum's boyfriend. He loves Christmas and he actually manages to give Christmas cheers to everyone in the town. But Maria is a different story...

What I loved about this story is that it isn't just about the day of Christmas, but about a town named Christmas. It's original and definitely not what I was expecting when I started reading this story.

Other than that, the story was okay. The characters weren't amazing - the narrator actually annoyed me with her bratty behaviour - and I didn't really feel the romance. But there was so much Christmas decoration and happiness in the story that you can't help but feel Christmassy. Is it my favourite story? No, it isn't but it definitely left me with a smile on my face.

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus - Myra McEntire

Until Christmas, I will be reviewing the short stories from My True Love Gave To Me. There will be a review every other day. These will be shorter than the usual reviews and will always include the same criteria on which they will be graded.

Find it on bookdepository here. 

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★★★

CHARACTERS: ★★★★★

HUMOUR: ★★★★★

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★★

Who writes a Christmas short story that is called Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus? Apparently Myra McEntire, who created my favourite story of My True Love Gave to Me so far. The characters are amazing, and totally unexpected, the plot is so original and there are plenty elements of Christmas in the story to make this story really perfect for this time a year (and I want to challenge you to read this story without at least cracking a smile).

Vaughn is the Fred/George from the world Myra McEntire created. He loves trouble and pulling pranks on people - pranks that sometimes go too far. For example, he accidentally put the barn next to the church on fire and now the church has nowhere to perform their Nativity play. The judge says that Vaughn can walk free - if he helps the local pastor with the Christmas play. Luckily for him, the pastor has a great looking daughter who is not like she seems at first sight...

So it's a little bit cliché : the bad boy turns out to be a good-ish boy, while the good girl has an edge to her. We've seen it before, but that's completely okay, because it is a cute premise. It just works, especially if you throw in the thought of Christmas. I've never seen a bad boy combined with the idea of Christmas, so I say this story is original. And wait until you read that plot twist at the end - it's really a good one.

Now excuse me, but I just have to go read this story again.....

Krampuslauf - Holly Black

Until Christmas, I will be reviewing the short stories from My True Love Gave To Me. There will be a review every other day. These will be shorter than the usual reviews and will always include the same criteria on which they will be graded.

Find it on bookdepository here. 

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★★/5

CHARACTERS: ★★★/5 

HUMOUR: ★★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★★

"What am I reading?"

I'm almost certain everyone who starts Krampuslauf by Holly Black asks themselves that. There is some kind of big festival going on, in honour of Krampuslauf (who is a cooler Satan I guess) and it's the middle of the year. So okay, why is this story here? 

Pretty soon though the focus switches to New Years Eve and a party a group of friends want to throw. I really don't want to give anything away because the whole story is a roller coaster ride of "huh??", but there are elements of magic, fantastical creatures and a lot of other characters that I've never seen in a Christmas story before!

So how to rate it? It's honestly the hardest one to talk about from all the short stories so far. I hated the beginning, because I was just so confused. And then it kinda grew on me - there's magic and I guess magic is Christmas? I just like my stories a tad more traditional, but I'm sure this is a great short story for people who are sick and tired of cliché Christmas stories. I'm just not one of those people yet.

Your Temporary Santa - David Levithan

Until Christmas, I will be reviewing the short stories from My True Love Gave To Me. There will be a review every other day. These will be shorter than the usual reviews and will always include the same criteria on which they will be graded.

Find it on bookdepository here. 

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★★/5

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★/5

CHARACTERS: ★★★/5 

HUMOUR: ★★/5

(kinda a depressing Christmas story if I'm honest)

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★/5

I want to start off by saying that I love David Levithan as a writer. His collection of short stories was absolutely one of the highlights of my reading year. But this short story? Somehow it didn't quite do it for me.

First of all because it wasn't really fluffy at all. Connor asks his boyfriend to dress up as Santa and come to his house in the middle of the night to make his baby sister believe in Santa again. His boyfriend does so and even manages to surprise the youngest sister, Riley, in the house as Santa (in what is probably the cutest scene I've ever read). However, he also interacts with everyone else in the house and ends up feeling empty.

EMPTY. On Christmas! That just won't do! I wanted sooo badly for him to be happy and you could just tell by the amazing writing of David, who is an expert in "show don't tell", that he wasn't. I was so bummed. I just... It's Christmas, I wanted it all to be happy and cheerful.

The highlight of the story was the conversation between "Santa" and Riley. It was so adorable and was a real reminder of the magic Christmas has for younger children. I just wish the teenagers in this story would still feel it too.

Angels in the Snow - Matt de la Peña

Until Christmas, I will be reviewing the short stories from My True Love Gave To Me. There will be a review every other day. These will be shorter than the usual reviews and will always include the same criteria on which they will be graded.

Find it on bookdepository here. 

CHRISTMAS FEELS: ★★★★★

ROMANCE FEELS: ★★★★★

CHARACTERS: ★★★★★

HUMOUR: ★★★/5

ORIGINALITY: ★★★★/5

It's a real Christmas story!! The third short story in My True Love Gave to Me is Angels in the Snow and this made me really feel like it was Christmas.

Shy lives in New York where he studies at NYU on a full scholarship. It is Christmas and Shy doesn't have the money to go back home and see his family so he cat-sits the cat of a friend. While he thinks he is completely alone in the apartment building (it is Christmas after all), it turns out there is someone else there: Haley.

As you can already guess, the romance factor is high in this short story. The two meet and though there is instant attraction, there is also lots of stuff complicating the situation. But my god, did I love Shy and Haley. They are realistic characters, young people that are worried about their futures, their lives, their school, their family,... I really could imagine both of them being my friend.

There is also the added theme of poverty and sharing when it's Christmas. And then there is a ton of snow (honestly, it's not really Christmas in books or movies when there isn't any snow) and Christmas music.

This story was reading a contemporary Dickens where you do not only enjoy the story, but also think about the real meaning of Christmas. Be grateful this year if you are with your family and have food to eat - it's more than a certain character in this book has...