In a Holidaze
Ratings145
Average rating3.6
I've realized my brain categorizes the romance genre into two distinct onomatopoeia categories. There's the “Ugh” category and the “Squee” category. This book was a squee. It was adorable and sweet from start to finish. It's definitely hallmark movie-esque, but reading it versus watching it, let me cast the characters. I loved how fast-paced and wholesome the entire story was. All the characters were all good without it being annoying. The perfect holiday romance. Loved it.
I enjoyed this book. Being a Utah resident it really made me feel like she did her research talking about the origins of park city. Nice to see, people talking about more than just the LDS religion here.
This book had a bit more “spice/heat” than i was expecting. wasn't bad, just unexpected. i prefer a bit more fad to black.
I thought that when the repeating started She was going to end up with Theo, kind of a you thought it was a mistake but it wasn't kind of thing. am i sad she ended up with Andrew? No, it was well written and honest. i thought there would be more repeats beyond just 3. Parts near the beginning of Theo picking her color in clue, trying to get a rise out of her, made me feel for him as i was once a teenage/adult boy that did similar stupid thingsI kind of thought Benny buying the cabin was kind of out of nowhere, but it wasn't a deal breaker.
i was not prepared for how quickly i would get insanely attached the all of these characters. i grew up with a very similar family friend dynamic. my parents and their high school / college best friends all had kids around the same time. this book hit me HARD. i haven't talked to those friends in probably years at this point and this book made me realize that so it made me sad. i think that's why i got so attached so fast. but regardless, this was an incredibly cute and enjoyable holiday romance filled with a lot of emotions.
These adults act like children. I didn't feel like this book was as good as their others. Seemed to be pretty hastily written.
Imagine a holiday trip that goes badly awry. Wouldn't it be great if the universe would grant you a “do over”? In Christina Lauren's new book In a Holidaze, Maelyn Jones gets that second chance. The universe sends her back in time to relive her Christmas vacation. The resulting story takes us on a “Groundhog Day” style journey that is quite entertaining.
Every year, Maelyn and her family join the families of her parents' college friends at a cabin in Utah. The first time Maelyn lives through this holiday, she engages in a romantic mishap that she immediately regrets and that has the potential to ruin her chances at the relationship she really wants. When she wishes for the universe to show her what will make her happy, she wakes up back on the plane five days earlier with an opportunity to fix the error she made. She also has to make sure she does not mess things up worse than before.
The characters in this book are charming, funny, and very relatable. Maelyn starts the story as a woman who is a little lost in life. She doesn't love her job, she is back living with her parents, and she is in love with a family friend that she has known all her life but who does not see her as a romantic prospect. Through her repeated attempts at the Christmas holiday, she learns to take more control of her life. She has good growth as a character. The main love interest is presented as an almost “too good to be true” guy. However, that fact doesn't annoy me. He is extremely likable as are most of the characters in the book. I cannot really think of one character I do not like. They all add something good to the storyline.
The plot itself is interesting and kept me engaged in the book. The time travel aspect is obviously unbelievable, but I don't mind it too much since it is the whole premise of the book. It does not distract from the enjoyment of the romance in the book.
The Christmas setting is secondary to the romantic and family relationships, but it provides a nice backdrop. I always find it enjoyable to read about Christmas traditions and activities, and the ones in this book are fun and memorable.
I ended up rating this book 4 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed the romance and the family interactions. The Christmas setting was not kitschy or overdone, which I appreciate. I would definitely recommend this book to readers who love a Christmas romance mixed with a little bit of magic.
3.5-4 stars. Groundhog Day meets Christmas in this fun read from Christina Lauren. Maelyn Jones, unhappy with her life and unsure of what to do next, makes a wish that the universe would show her what would make her happy. By doing so, she is transported back to the days leading up to Christmas when her family and friends travel to their Christmas cabin retreat in Utah as they do every year. She must relive the events of the holiday over and over again until she finds the right path that will lead to her happiness.
This was a really sweet read and definitely gave me the warm, fuzzy feelings that Christmas always brings. There are a lot of characters in this book and it was tough to keep them all straight but I loved the dynamic that the three different families had with each other. The romance is a typical friends-to-lovers with a little bit of a love triangle thrown in. To be honest, I was more into Theo and I wish his friendship with Mae would have been a bit more fleshed out. Or the entire sub-plot of him liking Mae should have been omitted because we really didn't see much of it on the page, we were only told about it. Would definitely recommend, especially to anyone who enjoys Hallmark Christmas movies.
ARC provided by the publishers and Netgalley for review.
Disclosure: I received a digital ARC from NetGalley.
Lately, Christina Lauren has been hit or miss for me; there are some books I loved - Autoboyography and The Unhoneymooners - and then others that missed the mark for me (The Honey Don't List). In a Holidaze is somewhere in the middle.
The premise is fun, especially if you liked The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver or other books with a touch of magic in them. At first I thought we'd rehash the same period over and over but the authors manage to pass the time in the alternate versions in a way that feels authentic.
I also love the setting of this book; I actually live IN Park City, where this book is set. While there's not an excessive number of references, there was a subtle nod to the neighborhoods and businesses that have been here a long time. And I can vouch for the beautiful mountain winters. Given that Christina Hobbs lives in Utah, I'm not surprised to see this well-depicted.
The book starts off in a bit of a weird fashion, with the female protagonist going to an uncle-like figure to talk about something that happened the night before. But that aside, the plot continues in fun and zany ways. I do get a little frustrated with the protagonists in recent Christina Lauren books; the female protagonists are almost always zany, hate their jobs, aimless, or self-described as “quirky” while the male protagonists are almost always either perfect or awful. I think that's why Autoboyography being a queer YA love story felt fresh and different in a good way.
Overall this book was a great break from everyday chaos - and there's a lot of it right now. When it comes out in October, it's going to feel like a cozy and warm afternoon reading Groundhog Day meets The Family Stone.