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sunny_r's review against another edition
4.0
I should definitely re-read this, but I remember loving this book! Slightly over-dramatic though :( definitely a 5/5 in feeling, though! This book just holds a special place in my heart :)
_lovebug_'s review against another edition
IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THOS BOOK ITS CHRISTAMS THERES A DRUMMER AND THRYRE ON A CRUISE
squirrelsohno's review against another edition
4.0
Once upon a time, I saw AWKWARD by Marni Bates and knew that it sounded so up my alley. For some reason, though, I skipped it and moved on with my life, but after reading DECKED WITH HOLLY I regret that hugely. DECKED WITH HOLLY falls into the same class of writers such as Stephanie Perkins and Meg Cabot – deliciously delightful young adult comedy romance, with fluffy situations, delightful canoodling, and love/hate relationships. It’s short, fast paced, and delicious from page one.
I thought awhile about all the things that made DECKED WITH HOLLY such an enjoyable experience despite it’s very preposterous premise – a heartthrob from a One Direction-type band takes a Mexican cruise in order to potentially commit his group to playing concerts on the ship, and also as a retreat to try his hand at songwriting. By chance, an awkward, ignored teenage girl is on the same ship for her grandfather’s birthday/Christmas, and wanders into his stateroom to throw up.
Why would a rich, fabulous band member take a cruise? I’m just saying because that sounds rather silly. And nobody recognized him at first. Hrm.
Besides that one part, I really did enjoy this novel from beginning to end. It opens with a drunk mall Santa getting his butt handed to him by our heroine Holly (and the resulting pictures becoming blackmail material). It ends with something that made my heart go all aflutter.
I am admittedly a big fan of smushy gooey fluffy romances. I devour them like crazy – Kinsella, Green, Fielding, Weiner. But it’s rare that I feel that same attraction to the young adult variety of contemporary gooey romance. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll be honest for a second – I did not date until I got to college, and now that I’m 25, I’ve still never been in a serious, long-term relationship. I didn’t get high school romance, even though my brother met his future fiancée while in high school. I met future McDonald’s cashiers and even one future murderer (I kid you not). The one boy I liked and tried to ask out laughed at me and walked away. He is getting his Ph.D. now in robotics and is dating a girl getting her nursing degree. He was really awkward so I’ll just assume he didn’t know how to deal with girls back then.
It’s quite possible that YA romance does not resonate with me because I never experienced high school love. My first real boyfriend wasn’t until the end of my freshman year of college. I changed schools and never saw him again. My first real kiss wasn’t until my last week of college, and then the guy compared me to all four of his ex-girlfriends (she was a slut, she was a drunk, she was an idiot) and I deleted him from my phone. Which was sad because he was very cute and from Canada. I’ve dated hardcore Republicans (I am a borderline Socialist), hardcore Christians (I am agnostic), a hardcore idiot (I graduated Magna Cum Laude and he dropped out after three semesters). My love life is nonexistent.
Oh, wait. I’ve gotten REALLY off topic here.
But the point is… I don’t often connect with YA romances because I never had that in my life during my teenage years. With DECKED WITH HOLLY, I let go of my preconceptions about the unrealistic loves of teens across the unrealistic world. For the most part. Marni Bates’ sophomore offer is well written, well plotted, and 250 pages of fun on a bun – even if some of the characters at times felt forced and unrealistic. Unrealistic might be my favorite word in this review, but let me tell you – a lot of that is forgiven with the cute, swoon-worthy romance in this one.
VERDICT: If you are in the market for cute, heartwarming, and utterly fluffily good, then add DECKED WITH HOLLY to your to read list today.
I thought awhile about all the things that made DECKED WITH HOLLY such an enjoyable experience despite it’s very preposterous premise – a heartthrob from a One Direction-type band takes a Mexican cruise in order to potentially commit his group to playing concerts on the ship, and also as a retreat to try his hand at songwriting. By chance, an awkward, ignored teenage girl is on the same ship for her grandfather’s birthday/Christmas, and wanders into his stateroom to throw up.
Why would a rich, fabulous band member take a cruise? I’m just saying because that sounds rather silly. And nobody recognized him at first. Hrm.
Besides that one part, I really did enjoy this novel from beginning to end. It opens with a drunk mall Santa getting his butt handed to him by our heroine Holly (and the resulting pictures becoming blackmail material). It ends with something that made my heart go all aflutter.
I am admittedly a big fan of smushy gooey fluffy romances. I devour them like crazy – Kinsella, Green, Fielding, Weiner. But it’s rare that I feel that same attraction to the young adult variety of contemporary gooey romance. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll be honest for a second – I did not date until I got to college, and now that I’m 25, I’ve still never been in a serious, long-term relationship. I didn’t get high school romance, even though my brother met his future fiancée while in high school. I met future McDonald’s cashiers and even one future murderer (I kid you not). The one boy I liked and tried to ask out laughed at me and walked away. He is getting his Ph.D. now in robotics and is dating a girl getting her nursing degree. He was really awkward so I’ll just assume he didn’t know how to deal with girls back then.
It’s quite possible that YA romance does not resonate with me because I never experienced high school love. My first real boyfriend wasn’t until the end of my freshman year of college. I changed schools and never saw him again. My first real kiss wasn’t until my last week of college, and then the guy compared me to all four of his ex-girlfriends (she was a slut, she was a drunk, she was an idiot) and I deleted him from my phone. Which was sad because he was very cute and from Canada. I’ve dated hardcore Republicans (I am a borderline Socialist), hardcore Christians (I am agnostic), a hardcore idiot (I graduated Magna Cum Laude and he dropped out after three semesters). My love life is nonexistent.
Oh, wait. I’ve gotten REALLY off topic here.
But the point is… I don’t often connect with YA romances because I never had that in my life during my teenage years. With DECKED WITH HOLLY, I let go of my preconceptions about the unrealistic loves of teens across the unrealistic world. For the most part. Marni Bates’ sophomore offer is well written, well plotted, and 250 pages of fun on a bun – even if some of the characters at times felt forced and unrealistic. Unrealistic might be my favorite word in this review, but let me tell you – a lot of that is forgiven with the cute, swoon-worthy romance in this one.
VERDICT: If you are in the market for cute, heartwarming, and utterly fluffily good, then add DECKED WITH HOLLY to your to read list today.
racheljade100's review against another edition
4.0
Although the plot was sweet and predictable, it was the hilarious and witty remarks between Holly and Nick that had me laughing out loud the whole time! Definitely worth the extra star!
jbarr5's review against another edition
4.0
Decked with Holly by Marni Bates
He needs a break from the band and will go on a cruise to relax and write new songs
She is on the cruise as it's her grandfathers birthday and he's raised her and the whole family will be there. She's dreading it after the fiasco with the elf costume when the kids lined up to have pictures taken with Santa at the mall. She was just trying to earn money to buy him a gift.
Her aunt and others in the family are always after her weight problem. it's just a problem for them...
Dominick, Nick, wishes he could just write lyrics like his other band member.
After they stare at each other across the dinner room, she leaves due to illness and he went back to his room to write more.
Change in plans with the cruise though and she walked into the wrong door, she's in his compartment and she had just thrown up in his bathroom..
Drama and extreme misunderstandings lead to a press conference where she is now his girlfriend...
They do get to spend some time together in public where he shares his love of the outdoors with her.
Lot of interference with her family members and jealous females that want him for themselves but she holds up against them.
themaritimereader14's review against another edition
3.0
Not the best or the worst YA ever. Semi-cute story and some very funny moments. Quick read too :)
maryhannawilson's review against another edition
1.0
The first sentence immediately gave me pause so I scanned the next few pages and wasn't impressed. So to be clear, my rating is based on a complete lack of desire to read any further. I am trying to find some quality YA holiday books and I have a stack to read so I just passed on this one.
lnklein's review against another edition
5.0
This was so cute, I loved it. If you're a fan of [b:Anna and the French Kiss|6936382|Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1)|Stephanie Perkins|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358271931s/6936382.jpg|7168450], I totally recommend this. It's the same cute, relationship forming, kind of story.
sjburton127's review against another edition
2.0
I did enjoy parts of this book, but I think I would’ve enjoyed it a hell of a lot more if it wasn’t so degrading to the majority of females out there. Apparently because us females don’t look like supermodels, that makes us average and too ugly to date a celebrity. Oh and don’t forget, makeup and a nice dress suddenly makes you really hot! If only that were true. Also I spent the entirety of the book wanting to punch Holly’s cousins. I really expected too much from the ‘confrontation scene.’ There I was thinking here we go, this is it, she’s finally going to stand up for herself and those awful cousins are going to regret the day they were born, but it was so pathetic and they still posted out the pictures anyway?? I mean seriously, was it that difficult to write in something awful happening to the cousins, was that really too much to ask? They treated Holly like absolute garbage and her auntie constantly made comments about her weight. This is a 17 (almost 18) year old girl and she’s got family members calling her fat and treating her like scum because she’s an orphan?? There was absolutely no explanation for their behaviour and no character development at all; they did not learn from their actions and that is the worst possible thing that could ever happen if I’m being honest. Don’t even get me started on her grandpa. He was supposed to be the only family member who treated her kindly, but why the hell did he just sit there and accept all the harsh words being thrown at Holly? Yes I understand that maybe she should stick up for herself, but how are you supposed to do that when the one person you thought cared about you doesn’t even stick up for you?? Of course she felt worthless, I would too! I have never felt rage like this before, I was waiting and waiting for him to put the auntie and her cousins in their place, but I got…nothing. He cared more about Nick coming on the scene and being nice to her than the constant wearing down from her own family members. Unbelievable. Her friend was a complete waste of space - not believing anything she said because Nick was a ‘hot celebrity with great abs’ is ridiculous, how could she even call herself a friend? But she definitely wasn’t the worst character in this book.
Nick was okay once he got past his whole ‘this girl is a mess ew get her out of here’ phase. He was rude to begin with (I guess I can’t blame him too much for that), but he wasn’t entirely a bad person. Yes he could’ve stood up for Holly and they should have had some clearer communication about the whole PDA in front of cameras, but it’s a bit iffy with him being a celebrity and the fake relationship and all that so I guess I will let him off.
However, due to the frustration I felt throughout the entire book because of Holly’s unbelievable family members and friend, I would not recommend this book to anyone.
Nick was okay once he got past his whole ‘this girl is a mess ew get her out of here’ phase. He was rude to begin with (I guess I can’t blame him too much for that), but he wasn’t entirely a bad person. Yes he could’ve stood up for Holly and they should have had some clearer communication about the whole PDA in front of cameras, but it’s a bit iffy with him being a celebrity and the fake relationship and all that so I guess I will let him off.
However, due to the frustration I felt throughout the entire book because of Holly’s unbelievable family members and friend, I would not recommend this book to anyone.
brittanyisbooked's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A great, quick holiday-timed read. Although set around Christmas, it was not focused on Christmas. Both the FMC and MMC were enjoyable, and had their flaws. I appreciated that as a YA book it included characters who were bullies, a supportive best friend, and tackled the age gap head on.