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
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!