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A review by headcanonheadcase
Summer Hates Christmas by Rachel Dove
3.0
3.5 stars but rounded down to 3. While I really enjoyed this book, there were a few things that kept me from rating it higher.
The thing I liked the most was that this book didn't lean too heavily on cliches. Yes, Summer wants to travel the world and works at a travel agency so that means that she gets to send other people off on the trips she wants to take. But there was never that overused soul-crushing cliche that she was stuck in a dead-end job with no joy. Summer owns her owe business and I could see that she genuinely loved it. Plus, while she might not get to go to all the exotic beaches she wants to see, she does get to walk the beach right there in her hometown and it brings her joy.
What caused me to round my rating down was that the blurb really didn't match the book. While I did enjoy the direction the book took, I do feel that the question of Summer hating Christmas was never fully explored or resolved. It felt like a missed opportunity, given how the story played out. And that wasn't the only missed opportunity. I kept finding myself anticipating what was coming next only to turn the page to discover the author went in a different direction. But I kept turning those pages, so even though the story did not progress the way I wanted it to, it was still engaging.
The book became more about Summer growing into the life she wanted. Her mother suffers from severe depression and is unable to leave the house, which is why Summer has never traveled. I really enjoyed their journey and found myself crying by the end. The book also featured 6 POVs. Some were short and infrequent, but it got to be a lot, given that Summer and Noel were the focus of the book. The extra POVs also featured stroylines that were never resolved. I'm not sure if they were meant to set up sequels, but they felt unnecessary and out of place in this book.
With the additional POVs, the missed opportunities, and the disconnect between the title/blurb and the plot, I felt like the heart of the story was overshadowed.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGallery for the ARC.
The thing I liked the most was that this book didn't lean too heavily on cliches. Yes, Summer wants to travel the world and works at a travel agency so that means that she gets to send other people off on the trips she wants to take. But there was never that overused soul-crushing cliche that she was stuck in a dead-end job with no joy. Summer owns her owe business and I could see that she genuinely loved it. Plus, while she might not get to go to all the exotic beaches she wants to see, she does get to walk the beach right there in her hometown and it brings her joy.
What caused me to round my rating down was that the blurb really didn't match the book. While I did enjoy the direction the book took, I do feel that the question of Summer hating Christmas was never fully explored or resolved. It felt like a missed opportunity, given how the story played out. And that wasn't the only missed opportunity. I kept finding myself anticipating what was coming next only to turn the page to discover the author went in a different direction. But I kept turning those pages, so even though the story did not progress the way I wanted it to, it was still engaging.
The book became more about Summer growing into the life she wanted. Her mother suffers from severe depression and is unable to leave the house, which is why Summer has never traveled. I really enjoyed their journey and found myself crying by the end. The book also featured 6 POVs. Some were short and infrequent, but it got to be a lot, given that Summer and Noel were the focus of the book. The extra POVs also featured stroylines that were never resolved. I'm not sure if they were meant to set up sequels, but they felt unnecessary and out of place in this book.
With the additional POVs, the missed opportunities, and the disconnect between the title/blurb and the plot, I felt like the heart of the story was overshadowed.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGallery for the ARC.