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annaonthepage's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, and Chronic illness
Minor: Infidelity, Excrement, and Vomit
What might be perceived as infidelity is, in my view, not quite that - the main relationship is fake. So while there's a worry about hurting people's feelings through lies of omission, it's not the typical infedility of cheating on a real monogamous relationship.scarlettereads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
⭐️⭐️ Two stars and a whole lot of disappointment
Perhaps I expected too much from Make You Mine This Christmas because it was an Illumicrate Afterlight pick and I usually like those, or maybe I just expected it would be amazing because I love a good sapphic romance, but this book didn't live up to even my lowest expectation—which is basically just that I enjoy it and don't feel like I wasted my money or time.
Truthfully, this book was kind of doomed from the offset because the audio narrator chose a voice for Haf that made me think of Kimberley Nixon as her character Josie Jones making her infamous munge in Fresh Meat and how aggravatingly annoying Josie is (whether or not she's cooking munge).
While that didn't help the situation, the vocal resemblance isn't fully to blame. Haf was super annoying and obnoxious, which felt like an unfair representation of ASD people, as an autistic person myself. It was sort of nice however that Christopher, who Haf had never met before, went along with her scheming when in real life it's hard to find people who will do that. In saying that, if Christopher hadn't joined in on Haf's mischief there would be no book and I wouldn't have wasted my time and money.
My biggest gripe with this book is that besides their meet cute at the bookstore, Haf and Kit didn't have a scrap of chemistry. There was so little spark between them that I got bored. I had to rewind the audiobook on multiple occasions to listen to chunks again because I completely checked out. There was just nothing there.
Haf had more chemistry with Cupid the baby reindeer than with Kit. Perhaps if Kit has gotten herself stranded in the middle of a lake and was about to be attacked by a goose until she was valiantly saved by Haf I might have felt a shred of something between the two women, but as it stands I didn't. Such a big set-up with the recommendation of one of the most famous sapphic works of all time, only to lead to Haf and Kit falling in love in five days? Really? This is the best you've got? I'm a massive lesbian and I cannot imagine a situation in which I could know a woman for five measly days and proclaim her to be "the love of my life" in front of not only my dearest friend, but also the woman's brother, his ex-girlfriend and a whole train station full of strangers. Bizarre! Is my lesbian membership revoked now?
I could get into the whole ~fake dating a man you just met so his ex thinks he's moved on and that somehow spiralling into spending the Christmas period with his family which includes his sister who you just flirted with in a bookstore but you didn't know who each other was until meeting a second time~ because it's not worth it at this point. I'm tired of it. No more fake dating of this type. I'm calling it. We've had enough.
Overall, Make You Mine This Christmas was just not it. Don't get me wrong, the hEDS representation was good and we need more of that in fiction across the board and I'd have liked Haf's experience autism to have at least a little mention instead of being subtext, but the story overall was so ehhhh that I'll probably forget it in a few days, which I'm looking forward to.
I stuck with it because it's pride month, but knowing how it ends I would tell my past self to DNF and move onto something better.
Perhaps I expected too much from Make You Mine This Christmas because it was an Illumicrate Afterlight pick and I usually like those, or maybe I just expected it would be amazing because I love a good sapphic romance, but this book didn't live up to even my lowest expectation—which is basically just that I enjoy it and don't feel like I wasted my money or time.
Truthfully, this book was kind of doomed from the offset because the audio narrator chose a voice for Haf that made me think of Kimberley Nixon as her character Josie Jones making her infamous munge in Fresh Meat and how aggravatingly annoying Josie is (whether or not she's cooking munge).
While that didn't help the situation, the vocal resemblance isn't fully to blame. Haf was super annoying and obnoxious, which felt like an unfair representation of ASD people, as an autistic person myself. It was sort of nice however that Christopher, who Haf had never met before, went along with her scheming when in real life it's hard to find people who will do that. In saying that, if Christopher hadn't joined in on Haf's mischief there would be no book and I wouldn't have wasted my time and money.
My biggest gripe with this book is that besides their meet cute at the bookstore, Haf and Kit didn't have a scrap of chemistry. There was so little spark between them that I got bored. I had to rewind the audiobook on multiple occasions to listen to chunks again because I completely checked out. There was just nothing there.
Haf had more chemistry with Cupid the baby reindeer than with Kit. Perhaps if Kit has gotten herself stranded in the middle of a lake and was about to be attacked by a goose until she was valiantly saved by Haf I might have felt a shred of something between the two women, but as it stands I didn't. Such a big set-up with the recommendation of one of the most famous sapphic works of all time, only to lead to Haf and Kit falling in love in five days? Really? This is the best you've got? I'm a massive lesbian and I cannot imagine a situation in which I could know a woman for five measly days and proclaim her to be "the love of my life" in front of not only my dearest friend, but also the woman's brother, his ex-girlfriend and a whole train station full of strangers. Bizarre! Is my lesbian membership revoked now?
I could get into the whole ~fake dating a man you just met so his ex thinks he's moved on and that somehow spiralling into spending the Christmas period with his family which includes his sister who you just flirted with in a bookstore but you didn't know who each other was until meeting a second time~ because it's not worth it at this point. I'm tired of it. No more fake dating of this type. I'm calling it. We've had enough.
Overall, Make You Mine This Christmas was just not it. Don't get me wrong, the hEDS representation was good and we need more of that in fiction across the board and I'd have liked Haf's experience autism to have at least a little mention instead of being subtext, but the story overall was so ehhhh that I'll probably forget it in a few days, which I'm looking forward to.
I stuck with it because it's pride month, but knowing how it ends I would tell my past self to DNF and move onto something better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
fuguballoon's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I read the German translation for language practice, and I highly recommend it (in whole or in part) for that purpose. The author's colloquial style and dialogue were perfect for a B2+ reader: I could always understand what was going on and didn't have to look up every other word, but still picked up plenty of vocabulary. The humor absolutely comes through in translation, which is a plus.
On the story side, this book was fine. It oscillates between being fun/entertaining versus contrived/drawn out. It could have been 1/4 shorter, and better for it. I'm all for cheesiness, but the wildreindeer chase, the ring , and the Esther nonsense were tedious and unnecessary. Toward the end, every time I thought we were about to fade to black, there was another scene. And another scene.
I probably wouldn't recommend this book to a friend because of the storytelling issues in the second half. Also, while most of the inclusivity rang true for me, Kit's EDS seemed to disappear at a few moments when it would have been inconvenient for the plot. It bugged me a little as a disabled reader because I was otherwise mostly happy with the representation (like Kit's very realistic feelings about her workplace).
On the story side, this book was fine. It oscillates between being fun/entertaining versus contrived/drawn out. It could have been 1/4 shorter, and better for it. I'm all for cheesiness, but the wild
I probably wouldn't recommend this book to a friend because of the storytelling issues in the second half. Also, while most of the inclusivity rang true for me, Kit's EDS seemed to disappear at a few moments when it would have been inconvenient for the plot. It bugged me a little as a disabled reader because I was otherwise mostly happy with the representation (like Kit's very realistic feelings about her workplace).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, and Alcohol
bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
"To Haf Hughes, the best things about Christmas, in ascending order, are: all-you-can-eat mince pies, novelty jumpers, the fact you have a licence to be permanently too full and slightly pissed for the duration, and, most importantly, that there’s no need to be a functioning person."
➽ Make You Mine This Christmas was such a funny, cute festive Romance!! It follows Haf, who ends up accidentally fake-dating Christopher by kissing him in front of his ex-girlfriend. I loved the hilarious shenanigans from the very beginning, as Haf just got herself into the most ridiculous situations. Instead of backing out, she ends up accompanying Christopher to his parent's home for Christmas, because she has no plans of her own. There, she ends up falling for his sister, which would be okay ... only she doesn't know that Haf and Christopher aren't an actual couple. This starts off a lot of chaos and I loved the story because it was so funny!
➽ Haf is an absolute delight and I loved her! She's trapped in an unfulfilling job and barely has her life together (relatable), so she doesn't feel like a proper adult yet. Her last boyfriend ditched her and immediately moved on to someone more accomplished, so Haf's still struggling. She's currently living with her best friend but would have had to spend Christmas alone if it wasn't for Christopher. Haf's parents are taking a vacation over Christmas, so she decides that going along with the fake dating is much better!
➽ I loved Haf and Christopher's friendship! There's no love triangle, as Haf has purely platonic feelings for Christopher. It was nice to see them immediately hit it off at the party and continue their banter afterwards. Both of them become fast friends and that was just what they needed. Haf is already protective of Christopher, as his family, doesn't really understand how unhappy he is at his job and how he only goes along with it to make them happy. Haf's still determined to play the perfect girlfriend to help him out! The actual romance was a bit messy because Kit is Christopher's sister, but Haf and her were cute together! Kit deals with chronic pain and I liked how that was explored as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Chronic illness
Minor: Homophobia and Infidelity
lisa_m's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow this was the perfect christmassy read! I really wanted to read something cute, funny and short - this book has it all!
Make You Mine This Christmas starts off with a cliquee Fake Dating Trope and meet cute. But it turns out Haf & Christopher just get along really well - as friends. The person our protagonist Haf actually falls in love with is Christopher's sister, Kit.
The only problem: Kit thinks Haf and Christopher are dating. Also his entire family thinks that, and is supposed to keep thinking that for at least the rest of Christmas!
I had so much fun reading this book. It's really funny and the characters are super relatable.
I don't know what else to say except, this book did everything right and you should read it!
Honestly this is the perfect book for me to complete my 2022 reading challenge of 100 books 🎉
Make You Mine This Christmas starts off with a cliquee Fake Dating Trope and meet cute. But it turns out Haf & Christopher just get along really well - as friends. The person our protagonist Haf actually falls in love with is Christopher's sister, Kit.
The only problem: Kit thinks Haf and Christopher are dating. Also his entire family thinks that, and is supposed to keep thinking that for at least the rest of Christmas!
I had so much fun reading this book. It's really funny and the characters are super relatable.
I don't know what else to say except, this book did everything right and you should read it!
Honestly this is the perfect book for me to complete my 2022 reading challenge of 100 books 🎉
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, and Classism
Minor: Ableism and Biphobia
tranzkafka's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
i really enjoyed this! despite reading it in july, i got really into it - the characters were the real strength of this. i grew to love haf and was really rooting for her, and the side characters were equally strong. ambrose has my whole heart and i adored how there was casual disabled/nonbinary/fat rep that felt authentic and not tokenistic. also got quite emotional reading the author's note that mentioned how haf was intended to be written with undiagnosed autism/dyspraxia, and i really related to haf's confusion about her place in the world (this is not explicitly discussed on page, reflecting the author's experience of living as an undiagnosed adult). also loved how it was a very hallmark-y romance but set in the UK, so i was able to relate to the Christmas traditions more than i normally can in the hallmark christmas romances i love and actually feel seen as a queer person in the traditional family Christmas environment. also there were a lot of great references to contemporary pop culture that made the characters feel more relatable in their speech.
what detracts from this being a 5 star read for me is that the last quarter is quite chaotic - the writing style is very compelling and i couldn't put it down but this meant everything was happening very quickly and while i liked how the characters developed emotionally and how the story resolved by the end, i felt like this conclusion and development was a bit rushed.
i really enjoyed this! despite reading it in july, i got really into it - the characters were the real strength of this. i grew to love haf and was really rooting for her, and the side characters were equally strong. ambrose has my whole heart and i adored how there was casual disabled/nonbinary/fat rep that felt authentic and not tokenistic. also got quite emotional reading the author's note that mentioned how haf was intended to be written with undiagnosed autism/dyspraxia, and i really related to haf's confusion about her place in the world (this is not explicitly discussed on page, reflecting the author's experience of living as an undiagnosed adult). also loved how it was a very hallmark-y romance but set in the UK, so i was able to relate to the Christmas traditions more than i normally can in the hallmark christmas romances i love and actually feel seen as a queer person in the traditional family Christmas environment. also there were a lot of great references to contemporary pop culture that made the characters feel more relatable in their speech.
what detracts from this being a 5 star read for me is that the last quarter is quite chaotic - the writing style is very compelling and i couldn't put it down but this meant everything was happening very quickly and while i liked how the characters developed emotionally and how the story resolved by the end, i felt like this conclusion and development was a bit rushed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism