Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Summary from Goodreads:

Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.(less)

This is the first Christmas that I happen to have a Christmas themed book on hand, two Wintery Christmas themed books to be exact. I started off with the shortest one which is Let it Snow, containing three short, romantic, Christmas stories and here's what I thought about it:

1. The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson - I found this a pretty good and solid opening for this book. The constant teetering and tottering between Jubilee and the guy upped the anticipation for a budding romance which ended on a sweet note. The whole idea of the Flobie Santa Village, added a bit of character to the story. I am not an avid collector of anything save for books but I do understand the obsession that people experience with objects. I've only seen them on TV. People whose homes are decked with a bazillion Santas or those with a houseful of Superman merchandise. But I've never really gotten to read about them in literature. And in a way the Flobie Santa Village was instrumental to Jubilee finding love in the unlikeliest of places with the unlikeliest guy. It was nice and unique touch is all.

2. Cheertastic Christmas by John Green -  This would be my favorite among the three stories. Tobin, The Duke, and JP are cool, not mainstream cool but offbeat cool, genuine cool. Kids whom I'd love to be friends with, then I'll just sit back and listen to their banter for entertainment. The Duke and JP lobby around statements of affront to each other, lovingly of course, as what friends do, and that was half the fun of this story. The romance was also nice and slow and sweet. The best friends turn something more kind of romance. I've always been a sucker for that kind of romance. I must also admit, John Green makes excellent adventure roadtrip stories, which was the part that I liked in Paper Towns. The whole race to the Waffle Place was kind of exciting, I was really rooting for them to get there first. This is one of my favorite quotes in the story: “I always had this idea that you should never give up a happy middle in the hopes of a happy ending, because there is no such thing as a happy ending. Do you know what I mean? There is so much to lose”

3. The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle - This last story I did not quite like which made me quite sad because this is the story where everybody from the first and second short stories appeared all in one place. But it was weird because Tobin and the Duke (Angie) didn't feel like the Tobin and Angie from Cheertastic. I felt detached from the main characters. I didn't really care for Jeb or Addie. I wasn't even remotely "kilig". The dialogues weren't as funny as the first two. And the Christmas Angel and the Teacup Pig just did not do it for me. But to find the silver lining, the message of selflessness advocated in the story is great for the holidays.

To sum everything up, Let it Snow is a great Christmas read! :D    

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ABNKKBSNPLAKo by Bob Ong (REVISITED)

Instead of Three Wishes by Megan Whalen Turner

Filipino Friday #1: Introductions