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musicalcows's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Pure shenanigans! Like a ridiculous netflix holiday movie. Similar vibe to Boyfriend Material, but fat, sapphic, and disabled. Absolutely adored this and am already looking forward to reading it again next Christmas!
The only thing that felt off was the sex scene. I don’t like sex scenes in general, and while this one was fine, relatively tame, and fit in the storyline, the tone of it was too different from the rest of the cozy shenanigans.
The only thing that felt off was the sex scene. I don’t like sex scenes in general, and while this one was fine, relatively tame, and fit in the storyline, the tone of it was too different from the rest of the cozy shenanigans.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism and Chronic illness
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Sexual content
Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
annaonthepage's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, and Chronic illness
Minor: Infidelity, Excrement, and Vomit
What might be perceived as infidelity is, in my view, not quite that - the main relationship is fake. So while there's a worry about hurting people's feelings through lies of omission, it's not the typical infedility of cheating on a real monogamous relationship.fuguballoon's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I read the German translation for language practice, and I highly recommend it (in whole or in part) for that purpose. The author's colloquial style and dialogue were perfect for a B2+ reader: I could always understand what was going on and didn't have to look up every other word, but still picked up plenty of vocabulary. The humor absolutely comes through in translation, which is a plus.
On the story side, this book was fine. It oscillates between being fun/entertaining versus contrived/drawn out. It could have been 1/4 shorter, and better for it. I'm all for cheesiness, but the wildreindeer chase, the ring , and the Esther nonsense were tedious and unnecessary. Toward the end, every time I thought we were about to fade to black, there was another scene. And another scene.
I probably wouldn't recommend this book to a friend because of the storytelling issues in the second half. Also, while most of the inclusivity rang true for me, Kit's EDS seemed to disappear at a few moments when it would have been inconvenient for the plot. It bugged me a little as a disabled reader because I was otherwise mostly happy with the representation (like Kit's very realistic feelings about her workplace).
On the story side, this book was fine. It oscillates between being fun/entertaining versus contrived/drawn out. It could have been 1/4 shorter, and better for it. I'm all for cheesiness, but the wild
I probably wouldn't recommend this book to a friend because of the storytelling issues in the second half. Also, while most of the inclusivity rang true for me, Kit's EDS seemed to disappear at a few moments when it would have been inconvenient for the plot. It bugged me a little as a disabled reader because I was otherwise mostly happy with the representation (like Kit's very realistic feelings about her workplace).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, and Alcohol
bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
"To Haf Hughes, the best things about Christmas, in ascending order, are: all-you-can-eat mince pies, novelty jumpers, the fact you have a licence to be permanently too full and slightly pissed for the duration, and, most importantly, that there’s no need to be a functioning person."
➽ Make You Mine This Christmas was such a funny, cute festive Romance!! It follows Haf, who ends up accidentally fake-dating Christopher by kissing him in front of his ex-girlfriend. I loved the hilarious shenanigans from the very beginning, as Haf just got herself into the most ridiculous situations. Instead of backing out, she ends up accompanying Christopher to his parent's home for Christmas, because she has no plans of her own. There, she ends up falling for his sister, which would be okay ... only she doesn't know that Haf and Christopher aren't an actual couple. This starts off a lot of chaos and I loved the story because it was so funny!
➽ Haf is an absolute delight and I loved her! She's trapped in an unfulfilling job and barely has her life together (relatable), so she doesn't feel like a proper adult yet. Her last boyfriend ditched her and immediately moved on to someone more accomplished, so Haf's still struggling. She's currently living with her best friend but would have had to spend Christmas alone if it wasn't for Christopher. Haf's parents are taking a vacation over Christmas, so she decides that going along with the fake dating is much better!
➽ I loved Haf and Christopher's friendship! There's no love triangle, as Haf has purely platonic feelings for Christopher. It was nice to see them immediately hit it off at the party and continue their banter afterwards. Both of them become fast friends and that was just what they needed. Haf is already protective of Christopher, as his family, doesn't really understand how unhappy he is at his job and how he only goes along with it to make them happy. Haf's still determined to play the perfect girlfriend to help him out! The actual romance was a bit messy because Kit is Christopher's sister, but Haf and her were cute together! Kit deals with chronic pain and I liked how that was explored as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Chronic illness
Minor: Homophobia and Infidelity
fjalar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
lisa_m's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow this was the perfect christmassy read! I really wanted to read something cute, funny and short - this book has it all!
Make You Mine This Christmas starts off with a cliquee Fake Dating Trope and meet cute. But it turns out Haf & Christopher just get along really well - as friends. The person our protagonist Haf actually falls in love with is Christopher's sister, Kit.
The only problem: Kit thinks Haf and Christopher are dating. Also his entire family thinks that, and is supposed to keep thinking that for at least the rest of Christmas!
I had so much fun reading this book. It's really funny and the characters are super relatable.
I don't know what else to say except, this book did everything right and you should read it!
Honestly this is the perfect book for me to complete my 2022 reading challenge of 100 books 🎉
Make You Mine This Christmas starts off with a cliquee Fake Dating Trope and meet cute. But it turns out Haf & Christopher just get along really well - as friends. The person our protagonist Haf actually falls in love with is Christopher's sister, Kit.
The only problem: Kit thinks Haf and Christopher are dating. Also his entire family thinks that, and is supposed to keep thinking that for at least the rest of Christmas!
I had so much fun reading this book. It's really funny and the characters are super relatable.
I don't know what else to say except, this book did everything right and you should read it!
Honestly this is the perfect book for me to complete my 2022 reading challenge of 100 books 🎉
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, and Classism
Minor: Ableism and Biphobia
penandpages's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Biphobia, and Sexual content
emily_mh's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The Christmassy vibes of this Christmas romance were excellent! You’re nearly guaranteed to get top marks with me here if you include a reindeer, and this book included a BABY reindeer. However, the ROMANCE side of things was lacking. I didn’t really see the compatibility or even the chemistry between Haf and Kit. It felt like there was a lot of telling and not showing, and it made no sense to me that they threw the world love around after 5 days of knowing each other. Also, the reveal of the fake dating was handled so weirdly! Kit kisses Haf thinking she’s actually dating her brother which is such a dog move. But instead of giving up the whole game when they tell Kit, they keep it a secret from the parents? Meanwhile Kit half-commits to liking Haf. It was all very huh?? why?? and meh. I think my dislike of the romance is also due to the fact that Haf and Kit felt like such static characters. However, while the romance sucked, I thought the author did a great job of showing platonic chemistry between Haf and Christopher. Also, I actually enjoyed my time reading the book! Hence my middle-of-the-road rating.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Excrement, and Vomit
Minor: climate changetranzkafka's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
i really enjoyed this! despite reading it in july, i got really into it - the characters were the real strength of this. i grew to love haf and was really rooting for her, and the side characters were equally strong. ambrose has my whole heart and i adored how there was casual disabled/nonbinary/fat rep that felt authentic and not tokenistic. also got quite emotional reading the author's note that mentioned how haf was intended to be written with undiagnosed autism/dyspraxia, and i really related to haf's confusion about her place in the world (this is not explicitly discussed on page, reflecting the author's experience of living as an undiagnosed adult). also loved how it was a very hallmark-y romance but set in the UK, so i was able to relate to the Christmas traditions more than i normally can in the hallmark christmas romances i love and actually feel seen as a queer person in the traditional family Christmas environment. also there were a lot of great references to contemporary pop culture that made the characters feel more relatable in their speech.
what detracts from this being a 5 star read for me is that the last quarter is quite chaotic - the writing style is very compelling and i couldn't put it down but this meant everything was happening very quickly and while i liked how the characters developed emotionally and how the story resolved by the end, i felt like this conclusion and development was a bit rushed.
i really enjoyed this! despite reading it in july, i got really into it - the characters were the real strength of this. i grew to love haf and was really rooting for her, and the side characters were equally strong. ambrose has my whole heart and i adored how there was casual disabled/nonbinary/fat rep that felt authentic and not tokenistic. also got quite emotional reading the author's note that mentioned how haf was intended to be written with undiagnosed autism/dyspraxia, and i really related to haf's confusion about her place in the world (this is not explicitly discussed on page, reflecting the author's experience of living as an undiagnosed adult). also loved how it was a very hallmark-y romance but set in the UK, so i was able to relate to the Christmas traditions more than i normally can in the hallmark christmas romances i love and actually feel seen as a queer person in the traditional family Christmas environment. also there were a lot of great references to contemporary pop culture that made the characters feel more relatable in their speech.
what detracts from this being a 5 star read for me is that the last quarter is quite chaotic - the writing style is very compelling and i couldn't put it down but this meant everything was happening very quickly and while i liked how the characters developed emotionally and how the story resolved by the end, i felt like this conclusion and development was a bit rushed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism