A review by lololovesthings
The Christmas Cafe by Eliza Evans
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
3 stars.
"The Christmas Café" by Eliza Evans melds nostalgia, Christmas cheer, obsessive baking, small-town life, and cute, cuddly farm animals together to create a saccharine-sweet Hallmark-esque holiday romance that's equal parts predictable and unremarkable. The main character, Sylvie, is the perfect Christmas-loving bakeaholic who never does anything wrong. She brings meals to those in need, she is always pawning her baked goods on others, she is the most clumsy person you'll ever meet and is constantly falling down, and never stops smiling. Will she shirk off the advances of Royce, a Hollywood heartthrob who is in her town of Silver Bells, WY shooting a movie, in favor of Abe, the goat farmer next door who has been harboring a crush on her for years despite her obliviousness?
Trust me when I say, you know exactly what's going to happen at every turn in this book. There are no surprises, there are no alterations to the formula, there is no newness. It's sweet to the point of being childish. This basically could have been a young adult novel if the characters were youths. All of the characters feel like caricatures, overly simplified to fit said formula to the tee. They have no uniqueness about them, nothing that makes them stand out amongst the hoards of other novels just like this one. Plus, what's supposed to be an endearing plot device, Sylvie's dog Crumpet, annoyed the heck out of me because how bad is your dog if it is running away every darn chance it gets?! Train the thing, Sylvie, c'mon! Dog ownership 101! I did quite like Abe, a soulful grump who is misunderstood and pining for Sylvie from afar. Unfortunately, their relationship is caught up in an unnecessary love triangle that made me dislike Sylvie for putting him in that position. Luckily, "The Christmas Café" is a short, quick read that will likely lift the majority of readers' holiday spirits. I just wanted and hoped for a little more from this book than something that is a dime a dozen in a heavily saturated market.
Thank you to NetGalley, Eliza Evans, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.
"The Christmas Café" by Eliza Evans melds nostalgia, Christmas cheer, obsessive baking, small-town life, and cute, cuddly farm animals together to create a saccharine-sweet Hallmark-esque holiday romance that's equal parts predictable and unremarkable. The main character, Sylvie, is the perfect Christmas-loving bakeaholic who never does anything wrong. She brings meals to those in need, she is always pawning her baked goods on others, she is the most clumsy person you'll ever meet and is constantly falling down, and never stops smiling. Will she shirk off the advances of Royce, a Hollywood heartthrob who is in her town of Silver Bells, WY shooting a movie, in favor of Abe, the goat farmer next door who has been harboring a crush on her for years despite her obliviousness?
Trust me when I say, you know exactly what's going to happen at every turn in this book. There are no surprises, there are no alterations to the formula, there is no newness. It's sweet to the point of being childish. This basically could have been a young adult novel if the characters were youths. All of the characters feel like caricatures, overly simplified to fit said formula to the tee. They have no uniqueness about them, nothing that makes them stand out amongst the hoards of other novels just like this one. Plus, what's supposed to be an endearing plot device, Sylvie's dog Crumpet, annoyed the heck out of me because how bad is your dog if it is running away every darn chance it gets?! Train the thing, Sylvie, c'mon! Dog ownership 101! I did quite like Abe, a soulful grump who is misunderstood and pining for Sylvie from afar. Unfortunately, their relationship is caught up in an unnecessary love triangle that made me dislike Sylvie for putting him in that position. Luckily, "The Christmas Café" is a short, quick read that will likely lift the majority of readers' holiday spirits. I just wanted and hoped for a little more from this book than something that is a dime a dozen in a heavily saturated market.
Thank you to NetGalley, Eliza Evans, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death