A review by laufox
Christmas on the Island by Jenny Colgan

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I'm not sure how to rate this one.  I normally enjoy Jenny Colgan, but this was a hot mess. To me, a Christmas story should be happier and more magical. But this was just super super sad for the majority of it, filled with tough decisions and lost characters at pivotal points forced to make insanely difficult decisions. There were sparks of Christmas magic, but they were buried under very heavy thematic points, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as a fun holiday time. Warnings for death of a parent, death of a loved one, cancer, miscarriage, fatphobia, abandonment, war, refugee PTSD trauma, abuse and neglect. Joel is a huge tool and I can't believe Flora is still being saddled with his shit, really confused about Mark and Marsha who had children in the first 2 books but now have none (and that ending scene with them was super problematic and cringey), and the whole storyline with Saif really needed some sensitivity readers because yikes how that was all handled inappropriately. Not a light fluffy Christmas read, and it felt like it was out of sync with the prior 2 books if you're reading it for a continuation of those storylines.