‘In a Holidaze’ (2020) Book Review
In a Holidaze Synopsis from the Publisher:
Itâs the most wonderful time of the yearâŚbut not for Maelyn Jones. Sheâs living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.
But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the worldâthe snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.
The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awakeâŚsheâs on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loopâand finally get her true love under the mistletoe.
Review:
I absolutely love the time loop trope in most romantic comedies. When it’s done well, it’s so much fun and has a lot of potential to make an okay story a great one. The main character is stuck in a time loop to right some wrongs, which is what drew me to In a Holidaze in the first place. Unfortunately, Christina Lauren doesn’t make the most of the trope.
The main character, Maelyn (who is also called Maisie, Mayonnaise, Noodle, Mae, etc.), experiences the time loop twice before it disappears altogether. You see, she’s had a crush on this guy she practically grew up with, but ends up kissing his brother on Christmas. Family friends are selling the cabin where she has spent every Christmas since birth, and she hates her job. Basically, life is miserable. So the universe gives her a couple of extra chances to make it right.
This is a cute enough story. Andrew, the leading man, is fine enough. He’s practically perfect with very few flaws. I know this book is a first-person POV, so we could just be seeing Andrew through Mae’s eyes, but it would have been nice to give him a bit more depth or perhaps have Mae realize that Andrew is not a perfect specimen who can do no wrong. Mae herself is a well-balanced character, though there are so many supporting characters that I had difficulty keeping track of all but three or four. Some of them felt unnecessary to the story, much like the time loop aspect. Take them out of the story, and nothing changes.
I’ll be honest here and say I was sort of hoping to see Mae and Andrew’s brother Theo interact more. In the brief moments that we see Theo, I found him to be more interesting than Andrew. We never really understand how Theo feels about Mae, and I would have really enjoyed it if Christina Lauren had explored that more or… dare I say… changed Mae’s fate to make her realize her heart should be with someone else. Hmm.
In any case, this was a really fun, festive read. A quick one too. I have no huge complaints about it, I just wish they would have explored the time loop some more, or perhaps raised the stakes a bit higher.
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