My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

~4.5/5I’m not too sure how to even review this, since I want to give attention to all of the stories. I had pretty different experiences from each of them.I’m going to start with the bad first, then work my way up to my favorites.Laini Taylor’s The Girl Who Woke The Dreamer just did not work for me. I think other people would really like it, though. The writing, and the world of it, though, was very high fantasy. I’m not a fan of high fantasy, so this story was hard for me to even get through.Ally Carter’s The Star of Bethlehem fell a little flat for me. I liked the overall plot of it, but it felt rushed and a little cheesy to me, and the attraction between the couple wasn’t given enough time to actually develop for me. I know other people really enjoyed this one, though.Honestly, I think those were the only two that I really didn’t enjoy. Now it’s just average to love-it-completely.David Levithan’s Your Temporary Santa, I think I expected more from. It was definitely a good story, and I really enjoyed the believe-in-santa aspect, but it also seemed a little sad, though understandably. Wasn’t a bad story, though.Jenny Han’s Polaris is Where You’ll Find Me didn’t quite resonate with me, either. I really liked the idea behind it, and thought that I would like it a lot more, but I think I wanted more from it. It was kind of sad, and I think more development from it would have been nice.Holly Black’s Kramuslauf was very interesting. I was not expecting this, and I’ve never read one of her books before, but I might now. There was more fantasy then I expected, and I felt like there was more story to it, like it should have been longer and explored more, but I enjoyed it. I especially like the narrator and the idea behind it.Matt de la Pena’s Angel in the Snow was good, if a little average. I really enjoyed the main character and his thoughts, but the overall story and romance didn’t hit me as well as it could have. The humor was good, though. It’s made me interested to try one of his full-length novels.Kelly Link’s The Lady and The Fox could have used more time, maybe, but I rather enjoyed it. The magical element to it was nice, and I really enjoyed the relationship between the two main characters. The ending seemed a little… too good to be true, but I’m okay with letting that slide.Now it’s into the really-love ones.Myra McEntire’s Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus was very good. The main character was a sweet heart, and I loved the way he and the girl got to know each other, and how she surprised him and he grew. This was a good story, and now I really want to pick up one of her novels.Gayle Forman’s What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? I’ll admit I expected to love more, but I still really enjoyed it. It was more new adult than young adult, which I liked, and it seemed like it could have easily been a full-length novel—not that it needed more development, but that it could have been explored more. This was a very cute story.These next three are fighting for number one, and I seriously can’t decide which one I loved most. (Probably Perkins, but the other two are just as good, really.)Kiersten White’s Welcome to Christmas, CA was adorable. I’ll admit up front to knowing I’d love it, because I love all White’s stories, but it was still adorable. Starring a love interest who is kind of magic with food, a girl who wants to leave home only to actually work things out with her family… I loved it, and am so impressed.Raindow Rowell’s Midnights was a surprise. I’ve only read Eleanor and Park of hers, so I expected this to be not-quite so happy, but it was adorable. The timeline of the attraction between these two, and then the final make-up moment was perfect. It was adorable and sweet, and I loved it.Stephanie Perkins' It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown was even better than I expected. I knew it would be cute, but I didn’t know it would be this cute and sweet. I loved the main character, and the love interest was so sweet and adorable. This story was perfect, and I’ve already re-read key scenes in it.This collection of short stories was more than lovely, and I’m so glad I picked it up. I would highly recommend this to fans of the authors, to holiday-story fans; really, if you like happy, sweet stories, especially holiday ones, I would suggest picking it up. The stories are fantastic, and it’s a pretty book.A review copy was provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press. Thank you![More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.]

Every year one of my “goals” for the Christmas season is to read more seasonal fiction because I must admit that being the Hallmark junkie I am there’s no logical reason why I shouldn’t enjoy some festive fiction as well, which is why this collection of novellas immediately snagged my attention. Its 12 stories written by some of the best in the YA/Teen business are all edited by respected novelist Stephanie Perkins. I started out reading this with skepticism after watching a booktube review for it, but am not sorry to have the information since it informed me about which stories I would enjoy and those that for personal reasons I would be skipping. Since it’s tough to review a collection of novellas, what I am going to do with this review is a little different. I’m going to share about some of the stories I liked best – along with maybe brief reviews on one or two I just didn’t “get,” beginning with the first novella.Midnights, by Rainbow Rowell: This is one of the least developed stories that I read, meaning while it spans several years (three, I believe) – each time set on New Year’s Eve, it really didn’t feel as if we got to know the characters well. That being said, this one was darling. I enjoyed Mags as a character particularly since she’s isn’t your normal, outgoing, vibrant kind of heroine. She’s someone more people will relate to than I think we realize and that’s nice. It’s a story about a group of friends who have banned together for years and the male “best friend” (Noel) Mags has watched kiss someone new each year – and it’s never her. Plus I enjoyed getting a taste of what Rainbow’s writing is about and being one of the most hyped currently in culture writers, that was a treat. (4 out of 5)Polaris is Where You’ll Find Me, by Jenny Han: This one tells the story of Natalie, a normal girl rescued by Santa who was raised to be Santa’s daughter. Only trouble is she has developed a crush on an elf and unable to see a future with anyone other than her own kind, she begins thinking about the outside world. Unique is the best word I can think to describe this story. It’s darling in a different kind of way because of the idea of a heroine who is crushing on an elf – one who’s sort of been her best friend through their growing up. Natalie has a sweet personality and I like that she’s imaginative. Though probably the shortest in the whole collection, it’s a nice read. (4 out of 5)It's A Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown, by Stephanie Perkins: Immediately following up Jenny’s story is this one which tells Marigold and North’s story. These two meet at a tree lot and through a series of events (nothing “epic” certainly), they take a kind of emotional journey together in the span of limited pages and oh my, gosh! I totally know why everyone hypes Stephanie Perkins as a great contemporary author. I absolutely loved this one and can definitely get behind the calls for Perkins to make this into a full length novel – without having time to really let us know these characters (because of page space), we love these two and want to know more as the last pages come to an end. It’s charming, really – plus it doesn’t hurt that the title brings to mind one of THE most beloved Christmas specials. (5 out of 5)What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman: Unfortunately, for all the hype surrounding this author, I just didn’t care for this story. It has some nice moments and I liked the idea of the story, but the crudities and choppiness (the story didn’t flow as nicely as most of the other contemporaries) just didn’t work. Sophie is a Jewish girl (whose family isn’t strict in their religion) who finds it tough being at a school where next to no one is Jewish. She (of course) meets a boy who changes things. (3 out of 5)Welcome to Christmas, CA., by Kiersten White: This was one that didn’t seem to get the best of reviews from readers, but I actually enjoyed it. It’s got some sass, features fabulous banter between its leads and offers a lesson that our perception of life isn’t always the truth – something Maria has to learn and unfortunately it’s a lesson that could have made her life more pleasant had she learned it sooner. Really quickly, the story is about a high school senior named Maria who hates her small town until she meets the new cook (Ben) at the diner her mother runs and where Maria works after school. (4 out of 5)Star of Bethlehem, by Ally Carter: Lydia and Hulda serendipitously meet at the airport and when Lydia sees that Hulda is trying to exchange her ticket for a different destination, they swap sending Lydia to a ranch where a cute guy, Ethan and this large family await her. Okay, so this story may be the most unrealistic, but aww… it was cute. I could have done without some of the “convenient” last-minute bits of dialogue and the events – it has something to do with legal guardianship and an aunt named Mary, but other than that, this one is darling. (4 out of 5)I’m struggling with an overall rating for this so I’m not going that route with this collection. It’s hard to know where to rate it because in the interest of full disclosure, one story I read nothing of and two other’s I left unfished (one of which being ‘The Lady and the Fox’ because I’m sorry, but I just didn’t get it – am I missing something?) Then there is Holly Black’s mythical story (‘Krampuslauf’) which I suppose raises some interesting social issues yet doesn’t explain itself: is it contemporary fantasy… or what? Also some of the stories may wander into gray issues as regards spirituality and that will probably be a sore spot for some readers – I took most everything as regards those elements with a grain of salt because honestly nothing that happened in the pages shook what I believe in.Some of the novellas won’t satisfy everyone not just because of content, but because some of the stories don’t have time to spell out every issue due to the length. In the end, I’m glad I read this. It gave me a chance to “meet” some of the most popular authors in the YA scene (which I loved since I’m anxious to read some of their full-length novels) and provided me with some nice holiday reading – the festive events, scenes or descriptions know no bounds! Despite some disappointments, it's a book I can see myself picking up during the Christmas season and rereading my favorites in the collection.Content: there is some profanity (sh*t, da*n, "effing" etc.) and innuendo (one story suggests a girl has taken a guy to a room at a party – she emerges in her underwear) in the stories. There are also some homosexual themes – some mentions are just in passing, another is the primary topic in ‘Your Temporary Santa.’ Parties do occur in certain novellas, most include alcohol and underage drinking.

Loved it

Me encanta, tapa dura y en perfecto estado

Me encanto este libro, muy lindo para leer en las épocas navideñas o en los días fríos. Llego a tiempo y en muy buenas condiciones justo como decía en la descripción. Volvería a comprar un libro en Amazon.

it contains 12 short stories related Christmas. maybe the destiny of short story, some of them are too sudden to end.

This book is a great read, if you're looking for a quick holiday book. Some stories are SO warm and amazing that it'll leave you all fuzzy in the pit o your stomach. Some stories are mythical, so getting the references can also be difficult sometimes. But overall, a great read :)