Review: In a Holidaze

Hi everyone! Welcome back to the reading world!

I hope you’re having a wonderful day and for those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas!

Today’s review is festively themed, and we’re talking about a Christmas themed romance, In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren.

Takeaways:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommend for: fans of Netflix Christmas romances, fans of family and friends that become family stories, those looking for a Christmas themed romance this season

This book follows a mid-twenty something named Maelyn whose life has diverted a bit off track from where she’d envisioned herself. At a cabin where her family and close knit circle of family friends celebrate the holidays each year, Maelyn has to relive the family vacation as she tries to figure out why she’s stuck in a time loop and reconnect with herself and those around her.

In a Holidaze is a book I can definitely see myself rereading next Christmas and having my own little mini tradition. I absolutely loved the “friends that become family” characters in this book- the cozy cabin vibes made me want to curl up with a hot cocoa at my own snow covered mountain retreat. The characters in the cabin itself were also pretty well developed over all- they oftentimes had their humorous lines, each had a little quirk or starring moment as the novel progressed, and the community they made was heartwarming. I also like that this tradition and group have an established history that the authors also conveyed really well- this made the romance and the character interactions have more background and depth as the story went along. Maelyn herself also has a lot of great character development, and by the end I really felt connected to everyone’s stories.

There were some aspects of the book I wasn’t personally sold on, although overall I truly did love this book. Sometimes it felt like Maelyn was writing off a lot of things as “childish” or “beneath her”. This sometimes seemed to conflict with the themes of connection and place that the novel was building on. I think that the concepts of traditions, changing as we grow, home, and family are overall well explored with nuance in this book so those moments where Maelyn suddenly interjected these random complaints could be a little jarring. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I think Maelyn is a character that grows a lot in her journey and is never perfect, but is trying her best. The themes and atmosphere combined with an incredible group of characters really made me happy to read this book.

 I would recommend this for a Christmas time read if you’re interested! 

What have you been reading this December?

Thank you so much for stopping by, and if you’ve read In a Holidaze let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

-Rae