Let It Snow: Three Holiday Stories by Maureen Johnson, John Green & Lauren Myracle
Publication: Oct 2nd 2008 by Speak
Genre: Chick-Lit, Festive, Romance
Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.
I saw this book at a local bookstore and wasn't too interested. I'd never heard of Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, and I was tired of John Green's cliched writing. However, I was desperately in need of a decent-if-not-perfect book with an easily available illegal ePub. Thus I decided to read Let It Snow.
My review probably has nothing different from other reviews of this book – it started out very, very strong. Maureen Johnson's contribution, The Jubilee Express, was a delightful short story that expressed both, love and the whole meaning of festivals. I could find myself playing this story in my head: the characters were really, really good. Jubilee and Stuart were really good, and I found myself fond of Jubilee's Flobie Five parents though we didn't see much of them. Debbie was a great character, and I could just hear Rachel's voice wring through my ears. This was realistic and just really good. Made me want to read more of Maureen Johnson.
I didn't have high hopes when I started reading Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, John Green's part. There is nothing new in what he writes – same old nerdy-but-cute guy, slightly tomboyish girl and the typical best friend. And how could I forget – THE CLASSIC ROADTRIP! I got exactly what I expected. All of that. However, I found it slightly more endearing than the pity fest of The Fault in Our Stars or the sleep-inducing 'mystery' of Looking For Alaska. Angie and Tobin were, albeit repetitive, good characters. I could see myself in Angie. The little touch of Jeb, Keun, Tinfoil Guy and Stuart from the first story added nice continuity. The last sentence of the story reminded me far too much of Tim Tharp's The Spectacular Now – which was the first book I read this year and has a strange place in my heart – but other than that, it was wrapped up well. It wasn't fabulous, but it was decent. I didn't end up hating John Green at least.
Addie from Lauren Myracle's concluding short story, with a title to do with pigs (can't remember the name), had been mentioned briefly in both the earlier stories. So subtly that you wouldn't even remember her. However, her love interest Jeb had dialogues in the same stories and it all seemed to connect together in the end. I loved how the eight-year-old girls who got Jubilee's phone in the first story showed up here, too. It was amusing to find Tegan trying to figure out why they had called Addie as a reader who knew exactly what was going on. Then Tobin and Angie from John Green's story made an appearance and everything seemed to be tying up. That was all good. What I disliked, however, was the premise of the story. Addie was a self-consumed whinny brat, and the whole point of the story was her proving to others that she wasn't one. That happened, sure. But the whole method of getting there made me yawn. The characters were bland; I found myself skipping paragraphs on paragraphs because they were plain boring. It was a poor conclusion. My favourite part of it all was the last few pages, because that's where everyone came together and the feeling of Christmas was invoked. I liked that part. It made the last story at least satisfying.
Overall, it needed a bit more tinkering on Lauren Myracle's part. Otherwise it would have been a really good Christmas collection, something from a movie instead of a TV special. I liked it a lot, I guess it just could've done better.
Overall rating: Four out of five stars (4/5)
Final comment: Good read, recommended for holiday reading.
Publication: Oct 2nd 2008 by Speak
Genre: Chick-Lit, Festive, Romance
Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.
I saw this book at a local bookstore and wasn't too interested. I'd never heard of Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, and I was tired of John Green's cliched writing. However, I was desperately in need of a decent-if-not-perfect book with an easily available illegal ePub. Thus I decided to read Let It Snow.
My review probably has nothing different from other reviews of this book – it started out very, very strong. Maureen Johnson's contribution, The Jubilee Express, was a delightful short story that expressed both, love and the whole meaning of festivals. I could find myself playing this story in my head: the characters were really, really good. Jubilee and Stuart were really good, and I found myself fond of Jubilee's Flobie Five parents though we didn't see much of them. Debbie was a great character, and I could just hear Rachel's voice wring through my ears. This was realistic and just really good. Made me want to read more of Maureen Johnson.
I didn't have high hopes when I started reading Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, John Green's part. There is nothing new in what he writes – same old nerdy-but-cute guy, slightly tomboyish girl and the typical best friend. And how could I forget – THE CLASSIC ROADTRIP! I got exactly what I expected. All of that. However, I found it slightly more endearing than the pity fest of The Fault in Our Stars or the sleep-inducing 'mystery' of Looking For Alaska. Angie and Tobin were, albeit repetitive, good characters. I could see myself in Angie. The little touch of Jeb, Keun, Tinfoil Guy and Stuart from the first story added nice continuity. The last sentence of the story reminded me far too much of Tim Tharp's The Spectacular Now – which was the first book I read this year and has a strange place in my heart – but other than that, it was wrapped up well. It wasn't fabulous, but it was decent. I didn't end up hating John Green at least.
Addie from Lauren Myracle's concluding short story, with a title to do with pigs (can't remember the name), had been mentioned briefly in both the earlier stories. So subtly that you wouldn't even remember her. However, her love interest Jeb had dialogues in the same stories and it all seemed to connect together in the end. I loved how the eight-year-old girls who got Jubilee's phone in the first story showed up here, too. It was amusing to find Tegan trying to figure out why they had called Addie as a reader who knew exactly what was going on. Then Tobin and Angie from John Green's story made an appearance and everything seemed to be tying up. That was all good. What I disliked, however, was the premise of the story. Addie was a self-consumed whinny brat, and the whole point of the story was her proving to others that she wasn't one. That happened, sure. But the whole method of getting there made me yawn. The characters were bland; I found myself skipping paragraphs on paragraphs because they were plain boring. It was a poor conclusion. My favourite part of it all was the last few pages, because that's where everyone came together and the feeling of Christmas was invoked. I liked that part. It made the last story at least satisfying.
Overall, it needed a bit more tinkering on Lauren Myracle's part. Otherwise it would have been a really good Christmas collection, something from a movie instead of a TV special. I liked it a lot, I guess it just could've done better.
Overall rating: Four out of five stars (4/5)
Final comment: Good read, recommended for holiday reading.
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