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A review by radhi_inthelibrary
Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin, Marissa Stapley
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
If you're looking for the coziest, wintery, holiday vibes kind of read - this book is it! I cannot wait for it to begin snowing so I can dive into it again and experience a tiny portion of the book's settings.
About the book: So, it's the year 2000, and Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan/Eid are all taking place around the same time, like literally within days of each other! But this winter also happens to be one of the worst in history and the book follows the POVs of Anna and Maryam who find themselves in a really unfortunate situation in this awful blizzard while they're also dealing with a lot in their personal lives.
Ok, on to my thoughts!
I can't say this enough, but maaaann did I LOVE the setting of the book. Like, I was regretting reading it during some of the hottest days this year has brought us, because all I wanted was the coziness! Actually, I wanted a blizzard where my whole family has a snow-day (or like a snow-week) and we can all just sit around and cuddle in with some hot chocolate and movies. In fact, this book NEEDS TO BE A MOVIE!!! This book is straight out of a Hallmark movie. If you've watched Last Christmas, those are absolutely the vibes all over this book! Minus the sad part lol. I'm one of those people who'll read a whole book just for the setting and honestly I can go on and on about it, but I will move on now. Also, one thing that had me tripping up was the fact that is was the year 2000 and there are no cell phones, people actually use phone booths, in fact some people thought phones were an absolute waste of time and space LOL. There would be things happening in the book, and I'd think "like why don't you text or email" and then I remember that the literally could not do that XD.
And about the characters, aaahh they were all so fun and full of life. I was loving them, hating them, screaming at them, I was feeling all the emotions and that's just how you know how well the book has been written! After I read Uzma Jalaluddin's Ayesha At Last, I knew immediately that she was an auto-buy author. But this is actually my first time reading anything by Marissa Stapley, and she has easily become a favorite! Their co-authoring was seamless and the transitions between Anna and Maryam were so smooth. The romance was maybe a little predictable, but absolutely cutesy and I did like one romance a tiny, little bit, more than the other
I think the best part about this book (ok maybe 2nd best, because that setting was wow), is having such a widely culturally diverse cast of characters. I mean I was so excited to see the mention of a Sri Lankan grocery store in the middle of nowhere. Especially considering the fact that this is supposed to be the year 2000, I loved the attempt to be inclusive and diverse.
However, the one thing that I felt like that could have been done better was the representation of Ramadan and Eid. The book is titled Three Holidays and a Wedding, and to me it felt as though the wedding took precedence over Ramadan and Eid for Maryam. Speaking as a Muslim myself, the Ramadan spirit is something that is so, very special to us and we do special things and try to be a lot more spiritual and I think the book was lacking that Ramadan/Eid essence. I understand that the circumstances and context of the plot are not ideal to showcase Ramadan/Eid to it's full extent. But I wish there was more...
Ok that's the end of my thoughts! I hope you all enjoy the coziness as much as I did! <3
About the book: So, it's the year 2000, and Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan/Eid are all taking place around the same time, like literally within days of each other! But this winter also happens to be one of the worst in history and the book follows the POVs of Anna and Maryam who find themselves in a really unfortunate situation in this awful blizzard while they're also dealing with a lot in their personal lives.
Ok, on to my thoughts!
I can't say this enough, but maaaann did I LOVE the setting of the book. Like, I was regretting reading it during some of the hottest days this year has brought us, because all I wanted was the coziness! Actually, I wanted a blizzard where my whole family has a snow-day (or like a snow-week) and we can all just sit around and cuddle in with some hot chocolate and movies. In fact, this book NEEDS TO BE A MOVIE!!! This book is straight out of a Hallmark movie. If you've watched Last Christmas, those are absolutely the vibes all over this book! Minus the sad part lol. I'm one of those people who'll read a whole book just for the setting and honestly I can go on and on about it, but I will move on now. Also, one thing that had me tripping up was the fact that is was the year 2000 and there are no cell phones, people actually use phone booths, in fact some people thought phones were an absolute waste of time and space LOL. There would be things happening in the book, and I'd think "like why don't you text or email" and then I remember that the literally could not do that XD.
And about the characters, aaahh they were all so fun and full of life. I was loving them, hating them, screaming at them, I was feeling all the emotions and that's just how you know how well the book has been written! After I read Uzma Jalaluddin's Ayesha At Last, I knew immediately that she was an auto-buy author. But this is actually my first time reading anything by Marissa Stapley, and she has easily become a favorite! Their co-authoring was seamless and the transitions between Anna and Maryam were so smooth. The romance was maybe a little predictable, but absolutely cutesy and I did like one romance a tiny, little bit, more than the other
I think the best part about this book (ok maybe 2nd best, because that setting was wow), is having such a widely culturally diverse cast of characters. I mean I was so excited to see the mention of a Sri Lankan grocery store in the middle of nowhere. Especially considering the fact that this is supposed to be the year 2000, I loved the attempt to be inclusive and diverse.
However, the one thing that I felt like that could have been done better was the representation of Ramadan and Eid. The book is titled Three Holidays and a Wedding, and to me it felt as though the wedding took precedence over Ramadan and Eid for Maryam. Speaking as a Muslim myself, the Ramadan spirit is something that is so, very special to us and we do special things and try to be a lot more spiritual and I think the book was lacking that Ramadan/Eid essence. I understand that the circumstances and context of the plot are not ideal to showcase Ramadan/Eid to it's full extent. But I wish there was more...
Ok that's the end of my thoughts! I hope you all enjoy the coziness as much as I did! <3