Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
Release Date: October 2, 2008
Pages: 354
Rating: 💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository
An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House, and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.
I read this book on Christmas Eve to get myself in the Christmassy mood, as this book is set on Christmas Eve through to Christmas Day. Honestly, I wouldn't have been able to tell that it was Christmas from this book if the authors hadn't explicitly said it at the start of each of their stories. I didn't necessarily have a problem with this, I just wanted to feel more Christmassy, rather than wintery.
As this book is split into three different stories I'm going to split my review into three different parts so that I can talk in depth about my feelings towards each story.
The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson
Pages: 119
Rating: 💜💜💜💜
I actually really enjoyed this story. I thought Jubilee was a well-developed character for the 119 pages that she appeared for. She was funny and I always knew where she stood with people. Her boyfriend, Noah, wasn't a villain in this story, which tends to happen in contemporary books, but you could see that he was highly motivated to do well in school. On the other end of the spectrum, Stuart seemed well-balanced and level-headed, focusing on maintaining relationships rather than having the perfect personal record.
I loved the addition of Flobie Santa Village, with Jubilee's parents getting so invested in the world that they had built, especially when you saw how it had influenced Jubilee. She knew what she was talking about with each piece, and could easily value any item from the village just by looking at it. I felt like this is true for any child who is forced to take an interest in their parent's hobbies, as they slowly pick up the information about it without even realising what is happening.
This story was by far my favourite of the three; I found the characters sweet and funny, I loved the family dynamic that we were introduced to and the romance in this section was super cute. A strong start to an otherwise weak book.
A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green
Pages: 94
Rating:💜💜💜
This story had John Green written all over it. The high-school characters who speak like college graduates, the quirky girl who isn't like those who like stereotypical girl things and the pair of boys who have been friends since birth. Every single John Green book has the same makeup and this story was no exception.
That isn't to say I didn't like it. I enjoyed the high speed race through Gracetown as they tried to get to the Waffle House, with the car slipping and sliding everywhere on the 6-foot high snow. I loved the banter between the three friends; a clear display of John Green's ability to write good relationships. It followed on quite nicely from Maureen Johnson's story especially with the links that he made to her story (the most obvious being the cheerleaders), showing that they had worked together to create this book instead of writing a story each and then putting them into a book.
The reason why I rated this story lower than the first one is because I didn't enjoy the cheerleader part of it. Not only were the boys willing to brave the worst snowstorm in FIFTY YEARS for the chance to stare at some cheerleaders, but they didn't actually end up talking to them when they got there. All of the boys in this book acted like sex-obsessed shells who only wanted to be around the girls with short skirts on, which made reading it less enjoyable.
So yes, overall this story was good, the characters were fun to read but the obsession with the cheerleaders pulled it down for me a little. I'm actually on the fence about giving this book three or four stars because the more I think about it, the more I remember enjoying this story (I'll leave it at three for now).
The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle
Pages: 141
Rating:💜
I'm deliberating between giving this story one or two stars, but I think it deserves one right now.
I didn't enjoy this story at all. I hated the main character who was whiny, narrow minded and annoying. She had no depth, she just complained about her life and she was always blaming other people for things that she did wrong. She cheats on her boyfriend and them makes up 101 different excuses about why it wasn't such a bad thing and how she still loves her boyfriend (who she practically begs to forgive her) and then she gets her happy ending! Honestly, the fact that she got her happy ending was the most infuriating part of this story because she didn't deserve it (I'm not saying she doesn't deserve to be happy, I'm saying she doesn't deserve the happiness that she got).
I almost DNF'ed this book because of how annoying I found Addie but I decided to push through and read to the end. I'm glad I did because the reappearance of John Green and Maureen Johnson's characters made this story more bearable (even if their dialogue was stilted).
If you do read Let It Snow maybe give the last story a miss, or only the last three or four chapters of it to save yourself of the horror that is Addie. I enjoyed the other two stories, and it was a shame that his one almost ruined it for me.
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