Reviews with content warning for Death - 25 Days 'til Christmas

Loved that this was a Christmas romance that also racked the difficult emotions of the holiday season. At times the characters felt underdeveloped, and it felt a bit like our main character was having every single thing thrown at her, but it was largely enjoyable.

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thefatpaperback's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

1.0

Not a lighthearted Christmas Romance. That isn’t why I gave it 1 star though. The writing is choppy, the pacing is weird, and I just couldn’t get fully invested in the characters. I kept thinking it would be a sad but overall inspiring story like “It’s a Wonderful Life” but I truly disliked the never ending misfortunes Kate’s character endured and how quickly and almost seamlessly they were resolved

after she is assaulted and Daniel “saves” her from other issues in her life.

I was also put off by some characters ableism, racism, and homophobia. It was unnecessary, and seemed like a forced attempt at diversifying that didn’t work in the writer’s favor.

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nmfcarney's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

*Note that my review contains mention of suicide/depression, in case that's uncomfortable for you to read.

There were so many elements that I really enjoyed in this book:

A single mom, working to make the holidays extra special for her son, despite her less-than-excellent circumstances.
A man who is missing his sister after she passed away and spends his time looking for the woman who used to so kindly sell them Christmas trees.
They touched on heavy topics like sexual harassment, disabilities, dementia, grief, depression, etc. Which was all really impressive and made for a heavier but also more realistic Christmas story.

However, what hit me wrong was the climax of the book that portrayed what could have sounded like a suicide threat (I'm going to add a spoiler, but you might want to read it anyway if you're sensitive to this topic)

and instead was just the main character deciding she wanted to move somewhere else, but calling a helpline and making it sound like she was committing suicide. It downplayed suicide, for one, and it kind of ruined the climax? Because it would've actually made more sense regarding her circumstances for her to be considering something more drastic. I assumed that's where the story was going, honestly, and the fact that it's not what she did was GOOD, but at the same time, it made it feel less meaningful in the moment.

So that just bothered me.

Overall though, it was a well-written book and I did enjoy reading it.

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kb33's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

2.5

So well written but so stinking sad (not because a character dies). I can’t wait to read more by this author - though hopefully they aren’t quite as depressing.

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