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reading_kim_'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
daniallreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I think all I wanted was Christmas to be over by the end of this book. Don't get me wrong, it was the delightful Hallmark romance I needed in my holiday book, but it was just oh-kay.
Maybe I wasn't attracted to Max? Don't get me wrong, a man with a cute dog who can knit sounds like a great gig to me, but I like men who play hockey & play video games & don't feed their dogs gluten-free snacks.
Not the point Dani, stay focused... Let's talk about what I enjoyed about the book. It was freakishly adorable. We love a cute moment for the holidays. It has swoon-worthy adventures with hot cocoa & Christmas shopping & holiday music. Truly, it's has all makings for the most perfect holiday story.
I'd love to hear a cd of all of Sadie & Maxes holiday music. I loved that the book was focused on country music. It was a nice change of pace to read a holiday romance intertwined with one of my favorite genres! The nods to classic country Christmas songs were nostalgic.
I feel I need to take a moment to really shout out the sole moment I was really rooting on any character. TASHA MONROE is a saint and a gem! I can't get over the scene where Tasha comes to the rescue and really pulls Sadie out of her darkest time in Nashville. It made my heart happier than when Max & Sadie sang their Christmas duet.
The only issue is that it felt like a Walmart version of Daisy Jones & The Six.
I thought it was a cool spin to focus on country music, but I didn't really like Max & Sadie. Max was insecure. Sadie was constantly having to prove herself. They fought about it. Faked it. Things were fine. Then it all started over again when I was confident that they were finally going to be mature & say they love one another. Nope. One fake out. And then another. And another.
It felt like they were trying to imitate Daisy & Billys sexual tensions with the constant fighting, but it just didn't work.
I wanted it to be done so badly that I turned my audiobook to 2x speed. I NEVER do that.
I don't think I liked the constant immature miscommunication between the two.
And holy, don't even get me started on how uncomfortable it was reading about the character named Cruz McNeil. This man comes close to being more disgusting than Dolores Umbridge.
Oof, if this is what it is like to be in the spotlight, I'll take my ramen every day paycheck in a heartbeat.
I felt for Sadie's character & that no one seemed to help her. I feel for all the women who have to deal with slimy people just to show that they have a talent in showbiz today.
To come full circle after word vomiting all my thoughts into this review, All I Want for Christmas wasn't my favorite holiday read I picked up this year, but it does have its great moments.
Read this book for a grandma who you would want to adopt into your life, a gluten-free canine companion, a free trip to Nashville during Christmas, and a genuine message of friendship and resilience.
Thank you, Netgalley, Maggie Knox, and Penguin Random House for the advanced reader copy of this book!
Maybe I wasn't attracted to Max?
Not the point Dani, stay focused... Let's talk about what I enjoyed about the book. It was freakishly adorable. We love a cute moment for the holidays. It has swoon-worthy adventures with hot cocoa & Christmas shopping & holiday music. Truly, it's has all makings for the most perfect holiday story.
I'd love to hear a cd of all of Sadie & Maxes holiday music. I loved that the book was focused on country music. It was a nice change of pace to read a holiday romance intertwined with one of my favorite genres! The nods to classic country Christmas songs were nostalgic.
The only issue is that it felt like a Walmart version of Daisy Jones & The Six.
I thought it was a cool spin to focus on country music, but I didn't really like Max & Sadie.
It felt like they were trying to imitate Daisy & Billys sexual tensions with the constant fighting, but it just didn't work.
I wanted it to be done so badly that I turned my audiobook to 2x speed. I NEVER do that.
I don't think I liked the constant immature miscommunication between the two.
And holy, don't even get me started on how uncomfortable it was reading about the character named Cruz McNeil. This man comes close to being more disgusting than Dolores Umbridge.
Oof, if this is what it is like to be in the spotlight, I'll take my ramen every day paycheck in a heartbeat.
I felt for Sadie's character & that no one seemed to help her. I feel for all the women who have to deal with slimy people just to show that they have a talent in showbiz today.
To come full circle after word vomiting all my thoughts into this review, All I Want for Christmas wasn't my favorite holiday read I picked up this year, but it does have its great moments.
Read this book for a grandma who you would want to adopt into your life, a gluten-free canine companion, a free trip to Nashville during Christmas, and a genuine message of friendship and resilience.
Thank you, Netgalley, Maggie Knox, and Penguin Random House for the advanced reader copy of this book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, and Alcohol
mishale1's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Sadie and Max are both competing on a tv singing competition. They got paired up for a team challenge and their chemistry was so impressive that the powers that he decided to pretty much force them to compete as a duo. The audience is wild for Saxie and their odds of winning together are practically a guarantee.
The competition means different things to each of them.
Max has a father who is a legendary country singer and Max wants to earn his career without an strings pulled by his father. He wants to prove that he’s not the kind of guy his dad is.
Sadie is taking her last stab at accomplishing her dream. She moved to Nashville and put all her hopes on this competition. If it doesn’t work this time, she’ll probably go back home.
They each have a lot to lose and they agree to sing as a duo. They also agree to fake date. Pretending they are a couple will definitely bring in votes.
It’s hard at first but it becomes much easier when real feelings develop between them. But lines start to blur between what’s real and what fake. And because of this already fragile situation, Sadie and Max get into some huge fights very quickly.
They are contractually obligated to sing a Christmas song together a year from now. Neither one of them can predict where they’ll be a year from now. Will they be a fake couple? Will they be in love? Will they hate each other? Any of these options seem possible.
And as Sadie’s career success finally hits its stride, she faces a devastating loss in her personal life.
I liked Sadie and Max. I’ll admit to getting very frustrated with Max a couple of times in this book but I won’t elaborate so I can avoid spoilers. This book was sad at times due to Sadie’s loss and very happy at others. It really covered all the emotions.
I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thank you!
The competition means different things to each of them.
Max has a father who is a legendary country singer and Max wants to earn his career without an strings pulled by his father. He wants to prove that he’s not the kind of guy his dad is.
Sadie is taking her last stab at accomplishing her dream. She moved to Nashville and put all her hopes on this competition. If it doesn’t work this time, she’ll probably go back home.
They each have a lot to lose and they agree to sing as a duo. They also agree to fake date. Pretending they are a couple will definitely bring in votes.
It’s hard at first but it becomes much easier when real feelings develop between them. But lines start to blur between what’s real and what fake. And because of this already fragile situation, Sadie and Max get into some huge fights very quickly.
They are contractually obligated to sing a Christmas song together a year from now. Neither one of them can predict where they’ll be a year from now. Will they be a fake couple? Will they be in love? Will they hate each other? Any of these options seem possible.
And as Sadie’s career success finally hits its stride, she faces a devastating loss in her personal life.
I liked Sadie and Max. I’ll admit to getting very frustrated with Max a couple of times in this book but I won’t elaborate so I can avoid spoilers. This book was sad at times due to Sadie’s loss and very happy at others. It really covered all the emotions.
I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thank you!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Sexual harassment
katelynprice's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a perfectly readable, enjoyable book (I did read it in one day after all). However, it leaned on the plot device of the main characters not communicating, and that just got irritating after a while. Also, while it was set at Christmas, it really didn't have all that much of a Christmas vibe overall. As a Tennesseean I found the Nashville references fun, and I was relieved that there wasn't a ton of focus spent on the reality show competition.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction and Alcohol
jessicakarem's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment
amberlfaris's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
kelly_e's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Title: All I Want for Christmas
Author: Maggie Know
Genre: Holiday Romance
Rating: 1.5
Pub Date: October 4, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Lackluster • Cheesy • Unrealistic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Sadie and Max are both contestants on the famed reality singing show STARMAKER. For Sadie, it's the big break she's been dreaming of. As for Max, he sees it as an opportunity to finally step out of the shadow of his father.
When they are paired up for duet week, fans of the show go wild for #Saxie. Their chemistry together is undeniable, and the show executives demand they remain a duo - on and offstage - or exit the competition. With their dreams on the line, each agrees to the preposition, the only probably being they don't enjoy each other company.
💭 T H O U G H T S
When I first read the synopsis, I was looking forward to reading this 2022 holiday release from the author duo known as Maggie Knox. The country music aspect, and the Nashville setting were what initially interested me, as did the holiday vibes. All I Want for Christmas started out solidly, but unfortunately ended up going off the rails rather quickly and being a complete miss for me.
I will start out with the good since the list is short - the concept, Max's dog Patsy, the fact that Max knit, and the backdrop of winter in Banff for a portion of the book. That's it.
And now for the bad. The plotline should have worked very well with dual POVs, yet the flow was significantly off and the pacing felt very odd. I never really got the enemies-to-lovers vibes, and the romance was extremely unbelievable. To make matters even worse, there's a real lack of character growth from start to finish, which left me rolling my eyes a few too many times.
Even with all of that said, my main issue was how the plot was based primarily on a lack of communication. It felt frustrating. Ultimately, there was so much potential for dialogue on the topic of death and grief, and the author duo failed to express that, instead choosing the route of grief as a taboo. No thank you!
To make matters worse, the audio version had several huge mispronunciations of 'Canadian' words, that it ended up feeling very amateurish. Given that the two authors are Canadian, I'd have expected those errors to have been caught.
In sum, I'd eaten way too much cheese by the time I got to the end, and it honestly felt like it wrapped up too nicely to be realistic. It also wasn't all that festive, which I'll admit was a let down. The idea had so much potential, but execution was poor. It may be time I give up on this duo, and focus on their individual works. And I'd highly suggest you do the same. In fact, Karma Karma Brown wrote one of my favourite reads of 2022.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the fake dating trope
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Life doesn't always play out the way you imagine it will but that doesn't mean that what you do instead isn't worth anything."
Author: Maggie Know
Genre: Holiday Romance
Rating: 1.5
Pub Date: October 4, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Lackluster • Cheesy • Unrealistic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Sadie and Max are both contestants on the famed reality singing show STARMAKER. For Sadie, it's the big break she's been dreaming of. As for Max, he sees it as an opportunity to finally step out of the shadow of his father.
When they are paired up for duet week, fans of the show go wild for #Saxie. Their chemistry together is undeniable, and the show executives demand they remain a duo - on and offstage - or exit the competition. With their dreams on the line, each agrees to the preposition, the only probably being they don't enjoy each other company.
💭 T H O U G H T S
When I first read the synopsis, I was looking forward to reading this 2022 holiday release from the author duo known as Maggie Knox. The country music aspect, and the Nashville setting were what initially interested me, as did the holiday vibes. All I Want for Christmas started out solidly, but unfortunately ended up going off the rails rather quickly and being a complete miss for me.
I will start out with the good since the list is short - the concept, Max's dog Patsy, the fact that Max knit, and the backdrop of winter in Banff for a portion of the book. That's it.
And now for the bad. The plotline should have worked very well with dual POVs, yet the flow was significantly off and the pacing felt very odd. I never really got the enemies-to-lovers vibes, and the romance was extremely unbelievable. To make matters even worse, there's a real lack of character growth from start to finish, which left me rolling my eyes a few too many times.
Even with all of that said, my main issue was how the plot was based primarily on a lack of communication. It felt frustrating. Ultimately, there was so much potential for dialogue on the topic of death and grief, and the author duo failed to express that, instead choosing the route of grief as a taboo. No thank you!
To make matters worse, the audio version had several huge mispronunciations of 'Canadian' words, that it ended up feeling very amateurish. Given that the two authors are Canadian, I'd have expected those errors to have been caught.
In sum, I'd eaten way too much cheese by the time I got to the end, and it honestly felt like it wrapped up too nicely to be realistic. It also wasn't all that festive, which I'll admit was a let down. The idea had so much potential, but execution was poor. It may be time I give up on this duo, and focus on their individual works. And I'd highly suggest you do the same. In fact, Karma Karma Brown wrote one of my favourite reads of 2022.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the fake dating trope
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Life doesn't always play out the way you imagine it will but that doesn't mean that what you do instead isn't worth anything."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cancer
⚠️ CW: death, death of parent, grief, sexual harassment, toxic relationship, misogyny, gaslighting, alcohol, canceralexia445's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
lunep's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Miscommunication after miscommunication, they (specially Max) kept running from each other, never hearing the other out, literally 4 or 5 times Max heard/saw/read something, took it out of context, didnt let Sadie explain herself and ran away, every time they made up they just had sex and barely spoke about the conflict. Oh, and also the cliché where one of them gets sent a link with a photo or something that leaves the other in a bad light from an anonymous source with an ominous "X is not who you think you are". So, complete bullshit all around.
In a less incensed note, the fake dating is barely there, I was reading a pdf that had 700+ pages so at first I thought "oh, the show part is just the very beginning, they will develop their relationship more" but I was WRONG, we truly were supposed to believe these two had chemistry and were falling in love with just a couple of interactions where most of the time they were arguing and the rest they were just singing, and then there's a time jump where they haven't seen much less spoken to each other in a year and when they meet again they're "breathless" and "speechless" and I just didn't feel it, I didn't care for their romance or anything, if only just once I felt excited about them being together, but after the third miscommunication I was just done, it was extremely repetitive and it was supposed to make you believe all the odds where against them but truly they just didn't speak to each other
In a less incensed note, the fake dating is barely there, I was reading a pdf that had 700+ pages so at first I thought "oh, the show part is just the very beginning, they will develop their relationship more" but I was WRONG, we truly were supposed to believe these two had chemistry and were falling in love with just a couple of interactions where most of the time they were arguing and the rest they were just singing, and then there's a time jump where they haven't seen much less spoken to each other in a year and when they meet again they're "breathless" and "speechless" and I just didn't feel it, I didn't care for their romance or anything, if only just once I felt excited about them being together, but after the third miscommunication I was just done, it was extremely repetitive and it was supposed to make you believe all the odds where against them but truly they just didn't speak to each other
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
cheypreston's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment