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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
frannook's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
More thoughts to come soon but I'll say this: it was far from perfect but this cast of characters was so on point and so easy to fall in love with that it kind of made of for all the other things that didn't quite work.
If you like those Christmas comedies and if you'd like to read a delightfully queer book that feels like watching a Christmas movie, this is where it's at!
If you like those Christmas comedies and if you'd like to read a delightfully queer book that feels like watching a Christmas movie, this is where it's at!
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing
kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-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
Autistic coded (according to author’s note) and fat FMC
FMC with chronic illness (hEDS)
bisexual and lesbian main characters
non-binary side character
FMC with chronic illness (hEDS)
bisexual and lesbian main characters
non-binary side character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content
emily_mh's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The Christmassy vibes of this Christmas romance were excellent! You’re nearly guaranteed to get top marks with me here if you include a reindeer, and this book included a BABY reindeer. However, the ROMANCE side of things was lacking. I didn’t really see the compatibility or even the chemistry between Haf and Kit. It felt like there was a lot of telling and not showing, and it made no sense to me that they threw the world love around after 5 days of knowing each other. Also, the reveal of the fake dating was handled so weirdly! Kit kisses Haf thinking she’s actually dating her brother which is such a dog move. But instead of giving up the whole game when they tell Kit, they keep it a secret from the parents? Meanwhile Kit half-commits to liking Haf. It was all very huh?? why?? and meh. I think my dislike of the romance is also due to the fact that Haf and Kit felt like such static characters. However, while the romance sucked, I thought the author did a great job of showing platonic chemistry between Haf and Christopher. Also, I actually enjoyed my time reading the book! Hence my middle-of-the-road rating.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Excrement, and Vomit
Minor: climate change
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