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A review by nytxia
Christmas Ever After by Sarah Morgan
2.0
When it comes to review this type of books, I don’t expect unpredictable plots or an amazing master piece. So the rating is based on how enjoyable and entertaining reading this book was for me (and to be completely honest, that’s how rating works for me, in general).
The Plot
Of course, it will be no surprise to you that the plot is pretty much predictable. Not even the synopsis hides that fact, it completely gives it away. The selling point of this book is that even you being perfectly aware of the direction of the plot, it’s that sort of thing you still want to read, and live. You want to hear about the story of two people who apparently hate each other, but discover they have more than in common than they’d initially thought. You want to hear about people who chose love over comfort and convenience. You want to hear that people can still fall in love even after having lost complete faith. The plot might be predictable yes, but sometimes, all you need is a bit of romance and faith in your life. And for that, this book is pretty much inspiring, if not a bit naive.
The Characters
Despite the fact that I liked all the “fireworks” and the love-hate relationship between Skylar and Alec, I didn’t feel much for each one of them individually. Alec was the though, unavailable and unreachable guy with a broken heart, which was a safe bet for swooning material. Then Skylar, insanely beautiful, who is so much more than your average hot girl. To be fair, it’s refreshing to read a book that features a bombshell with a brain as opposed to the overused plain Jane. Who said you can’t be pretty, care about your pretty shoes, but still have a brain and be willing to get dirty (in all senses, really). I do think Skylar was a character with so much potential. At some point, though, it gives the impression as if she is trying too hard, and even comes across as needy sometimes. She wants to be tough but in fact, most of the time, she is trying to convince Alec of how much he needs to give a try to a relationship and be happy again - much to her benefit. During the rest of the time, she was simply being way too physical, in every kind of possible situation and scenario, in order to probably compensate the emptiness in her heart. It was just a bit too much. Apart from that, I have to say I loved her attitude towards both her family and ex.
Me not being a pet person, I absolutely despised the stereotype about dog lovers and how this was used to depict a bad image about Alec’s ex. Okay, we get it, the woman is horrible and uninteresting. But what does that have to do with liking or not liking dogs? “You are so different from my ex, you actually like dogs?” So what?
The Writing Style
I thought the writing style was very suitable to the genre and progression of the story. The author doesn’t use the chapters as a separation between POVs, but instead we have access to both Skylar and Alec’s POV (individually) which makes us feel as if we are inside the characters’ minds.
Overall, Christmas Ever After was a fun, enjoyable read, along the lines of ‘You know how it’s going to end, but you still want to read’. It has unexplored potential that could be used to actually defy the genre, and relied a bit too much in stereotypes and tropes.
(originally posted here: http://www.nyareads.com/2016/05/15/christmas-ever-after-sarah-morgan/)
The Plot
Of course, it will be no surprise to you that the plot is pretty much predictable. Not even the synopsis hides that fact, it completely gives it away. The selling point of this book is that even you being perfectly aware of the direction of the plot, it’s that sort of thing you still want to read, and live. You want to hear about the story of two people who apparently hate each other, but discover they have more than in common than they’d initially thought. You want to hear about people who chose love over comfort and convenience. You want to hear that people can still fall in love even after having lost complete faith. The plot might be predictable yes, but sometimes, all you need is a bit of romance and faith in your life. And for that, this book is pretty much inspiring, if not a bit naive.
The Characters
Despite the fact that I liked all the “fireworks” and the love-hate relationship between Skylar and Alec, I didn’t feel much for each one of them individually. Alec was the though, unavailable and unreachable guy with a broken heart, which was a safe bet for swooning material. Then Skylar, insanely beautiful, who is so much more than your average hot girl. To be fair, it’s refreshing to read a book that features a bombshell with a brain as opposed to the overused plain Jane. Who said you can’t be pretty, care about your pretty shoes, but still have a brain and be willing to get dirty (in all senses, really). I do think Skylar was a character with so much potential. At some point, though, it gives the impression as if she is trying too hard, and even comes across as needy sometimes. She wants to be tough but in fact, most of the time, she is trying to convince Alec of how much he needs to give a try to a relationship and be happy again - much to her benefit. During the rest of the time, she was simply being way too physical, in every kind of possible situation and scenario, in order to probably compensate the emptiness in her heart. It was just a bit too much. Apart from that, I have to say I loved her attitude towards both her family and ex.
Me not being a pet person, I absolutely despised the stereotype about dog lovers and how this was used to depict a bad image about Alec’s ex. Okay, we get it, the woman is horrible and uninteresting. But what does that have to do with liking or not liking dogs? “You are so different from my ex, you actually like dogs?” So what?
The Writing Style
I thought the writing style was very suitable to the genre and progression of the story. The author doesn’t use the chapters as a separation between POVs, but instead we have access to both Skylar and Alec’s POV (individually) which makes us feel as if we are inside the characters’ minds.
Overall, Christmas Ever After was a fun, enjoyable read, along the lines of ‘You know how it’s going to end, but you still want to read’. It has unexplored potential that could be used to actually defy the genre, and relied a bit too much in stereotypes and tropes.
(originally posted here: http://www.nyareads.com/2016/05/15/christmas-ever-after-sarah-morgan/)