"My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories" edited by Stephanie Perkins

My True Love Gave to Me

Twelve Holiday Stories

edited by

Stephanie Perkins 

 

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Publication date: October 14th, 2014

 

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5

(Book read on August 14th to August 18th, 2014,  from the review copy received from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange of an honest review.)  

 

 

Summary:

 

 

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you're going to fall in love with My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers (Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de La Peña, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins, Laini Taylor and Kiersten White), edited by the international bestselling Stephanie Perkins. 

Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.

 

 

My Thoughts on the Collection:

My True Love Gave to Me is a nice collection of holiday stories, perfect for the season. Even though I read it in the summer, it definitely brought me in a wintry holiday mood. I enjoyed the mix of fantasy & contemporary stories, and I loved the mix of the different type of holiday stories. And there's something in this collection for everyone. Even though I didn't fall in love with every story (yes, unbelievable, but there were some I didn't like, and from authors I've enjoyed before), there are some gems of stories that were worth it, and they made me glad that I read this anthology. So, I recommend this collection to every fan of holiday stories, because even though it's a subjective thing, I know that every reader can find a few stories in it, that will make him/her fall in love with them. And of course, I must mention the lovely cover. I love the fact that all the couples are represented on it, and I loved searching for them after reading each story, so it has the perfect cover. That being said, I'm going to share my thoughts on every story, too.

  

 

Midnights by Rainbow Rowell 

 

Midnights is a great story set on more than one New Year's Eve. We follow best friends Mags & Noel - the way they met, how their friendship developed, and the possibility for something more. I really liked them as characters, their story was sweet & fun, and it was pretty much the perfect beginning to this anthology. So, yes. I loved this story, and Rainbow Rowell has done it again.

My rating: 4.5 of 5

 

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link

  

This is a Christmas story with a touch of fantasy in it. I really wanted to enjoyed it, but it started slow, and it was hard for me to get into the story, or like the main character, and it was a little bit weird, but in the end it turned out ok. I quite liked the ending. In the end, the idea for this story was interesting enough, I just wasn't a fan of the way it developed.

My rating: 2 of 5

 

 

Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña

 

Angels in the Snow is another Christmas story, though this one a contemporary one. I have to admit that at first I didn't like it. My problem - the main character Shy. I couldn't connect with him, I found him to be quite unlikable & unrelatable at first, but before this story was over, I understood him, and I really, really liked him as a character, and I really liked the story. Haley was likable as a character, too, but what I liked the most were the interactions & the connection that developed between them both. Overall, it was sweet. The story was a little bit sad, and it made me teary-eyed, so it was heartbreaking, yet at the same time it was heartwarming. So, overall, a nice story that I really enjoyed. I'll have to check out some of the author's full-length books.

My rating: 3 of 5

 

Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han

Ok, I'm going to say it - I didn't like it! The setting was imaginative & maybe the idea was interesting enough, and I guess the possibility for the main character's future I liked, but the "love" story - really, really didn't like it. I didn't care about the characters, too, so I didn't care about the story. Just not a story for me.

My rating: 1.5 of 5

 

  

 

 It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins

Stephanie Perkins' story is everything you would expect from her, if you've already read her books. The characters are really likable, their interactions are sweet, fun & charming, and the story itself is funny, and will make you feel all warm inside. At least, that's what happened to me. I actually had a smile plastered on the face from the beginning until the end. So, yes, I loved everything about it, and it's one of my most favorite stories in this anthology!

My rating: 5 of 5

 

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan

    

I'm sad to say that I really, really did not like this story. I've read books by David Levithan before, and really enjoyed them, but not this one. And even though when I finished the story, I thought that the idea about belonging was quite good, I just didn't enjoy the execution. Before I realise what it's about, I thought that it's quite pointless. I didn't like the MC - just couldn't connect or care about him, and I didn't like the story. Really wanted to, but it didn't work for me. Sometimes it happens, and unfortunately this time it happened to me. I guess Your Temporary Santa just wasn't a story for me.

My rating: 1 of 5

 

Krampuslauf by Holly Black

It took me a while to get into Krampuslauf. It just felt a little long, but in the end it turned out to be quite fun, and definitely cool. It was really entertaining, and after I finished it, I thought - a typical Holly Black story. I mean, the kind of story I would expect by her, before you know it, you've been totally hooked, and you haven't even realised. So, I enjoyed it a lot, and definitely one of the good stories in this collection!

My rating: 4 of 5

 

What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman

 

 

Gayle Forman's story is so, so amazing, I loved it so much! I loved Sophie as a character - she's sarcastic, and so funny & likable. I also loved Russell, too. He's fun, and so nice & charming - and I loved the interactions between them both. Their story is funny, sweet, charming, and it left me all happy & hopeful inside, so overall - amazing! Gayle Forman has done it again!

  

My rating: 5 of 5

 

 

 Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire

This story is set around a nativity pageant. I've never really understood those, I mean what's the point? So, that didn't help. But, my biggest problem was that I couldn't see the point of the story - I think it was pointless, and I really, really did not like the main character. Or anything else, to be honest. So, yes, I guess this just wasn't my kind of story.

My rating: 1 of 5

 

Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White

I loved this one. It was so good! It was fun, sweet, charming, funny, and I had a smile on my face while reading it. And on top of that, one of the MCs (Ben) is a chef, and there was lots of cooking (and I have a thing about cooking & chefs in fiction), so definitely my type of story. I really liked the interactions between Ben & Maria, and I loved that the story left me feeling all happy & hopeful inside. Lovely holiday story! 

 

My rating: 4 of 5

 

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter

 

 

Overall, Star of Bethlehem is a nice story. It was both funny & sad, and I really liked it. The characters were likable, the connection that developed between them was sweet, and the story was fun and interesting.

My rating: 3 of 5

 

 

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

  

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer is the perfect finale to this collection of holiday stories. The writing was beautiful, and the story itself was so magical, and wonderful, and enchanting, and I loved the mythology in it. Just, so imaginative & unique, and absolutely beautiful & amazing. I loved the eerieness of the setting, and I loved the MC, and I loved pretty much everything in this story. If you've read Laini Taylor before, you know how mesmerizing her storytelling can be, and this story was just like that!

 

My rating: 5 of 5

 

Challenges: 

 

2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge