Review: Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

 

Let me start off by saying that this book is magic. I started reading this on Boxing Day and when I was about 10 pages in, IT STARTED TO SNOW! It's like Jumanji but in book form (and with snow...)

The three different stories take place in Gracetown on Christmas Eve during the worst snow blizzard in fifty years. Each of the characters, locations and themes are intertwined making it feel a little like an American Love Actually, which is always a good thing this time of year. So let's take a look at each of the stories:

• The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson 

This story started off with so much promise. We meet Jubilee, her boyfriend and her parents who are obsessed with a set of ceramic winter-scenes called Flobie Santa Village. You can only buy the pieces once a year in Florida, so of course her parents go but what they didn't expect was to get caught up in a riot over the valuable collectables and end up in jail!

Spoiler alert: Due to her parents spending the night in prison, Jubilee is forced to spend Christmas with her grandparents. This also doesn't go to plan as her train breaks down due to the heavy snow. The thing that really really reallyyyyy bothered me about this is that all of a sudden it becomes a love story between her and someone she's just met. She spends Christmas Day with him and gets annoyed when she finds out he has an ex girlfriend he didn't tell her about. After. One. Day! Sigh.

2/5 - Well written but the unbelievable and gushy plot twist let it down

 

• A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green

...But not to fear, John Green comes in to save the day! I adored this story. We meet school friends the Duke, Tobin and JP who are having a Christmas Eve James Bond marathon, however this plan gets swiftly interrupted by a phone call from their other friend who works at the Waffle House twenty miles away.

There's cheerleaders there! Lots of them. They're stranded and they want to play Twister - hurry hurry! So, in the worst blizzard in fifty years, the three friends set out in Tobin's parents beat up car in the hopes of getting a Christmas kiss from one of the cheerleaders. 

4/5 - Hilarious characters and a heartwarming love story.

• The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle

Meet Addie. She's spending Christmas Eve alone because of one stupid mistake that cost her her one true love. The beginning of the story is all self-reflection and strikes a chord with anyone who's experienced heartbreak. A lot of mopping, sad music and picking apart every last photograph ensues.

Just when you think this story is just about Addie's failed relationship, her kooky best friends enter, one of which is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her new pet pig. The fate of a teacup will soon lie with Addie, but can she get past her self-obsessed ways to help her friend? The of of this story is where all of the other characters from the previous two stories are introduced and it's great to see how everybody is interlinked. 

3/5 - Started off slow but the introduction of the teacup pig saved it!

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Review: How Not to Write a Novel by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark

How Not to Write a Novel by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark

First of all, if you've ever toyed with the idea of writing your own novel: read this book!

As some of you may know, I completed NaNWriMo last month. I still can't believe that I managed to hit the 50,000 word count in just one month. Despite most of it being complete drivel that needs completely rewriting, I'm really proud of myself.

However, before I entered into the deep dark world of the second draft, I wanted to make sure that I was clued up on some of the writing sins that should not be in my book. How Not to Write a Novel is an absolute joy to read and has really helped me figure out what I need to do next.

It starts by explaining that there are countless ways to tell a story and the only thing most authors would agree on are the things not to do. It is broken down into sections such as: Plot, Character, Style and it presents short paragraphs of bad writing and then details how these mistakes can be corrected.

It's both funny and informative and I've definitely learnt a lot from reading this. I've now got quite a few of my own writing sins to be edited out such as my main character having a cat for no reason other than the fact that I wanted there to be a cat... (I really like cats.)

A must-read for anyone looking to write their own book.

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