Review: My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

Title: My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
Authors: Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Stephanie Perkins, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White
Publication: October 14th 2014 by St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Young Adult
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: 3/5

Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

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, edited by international bestselling author 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 to stay indoors and fall in love.

Midnights by Rainbow Rowell — 2/5

I've only read one book by this author (Fangirl) and it didn't really end up being a favorite of mine. So starting this story, I wasn't sure what to expect and I must admit that at first I wasn't liking it too much. As the story went on, I did start to slowly get into it more and ended up liking it a bit more. Not the best ever in my opnion but I liked the way that it told the story over the years mainly about Mags and Noel.



The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link — 4/5

Kelly Link is a new author to me. I never read any of her books but if they're like this story, then count me in! I liked this more than the previous book because it had paranormal elements and I've always prefered paranormal to contemporary. But anyway, the story was really great. I wasn't totally sure in the beginning, wondering where it would go but it got intriguing very soon and I ended up being quite engrossed in the story and all the mystery that surrounded Fenny. One slightly minor point was the writing style. It wasn't bad or anything but not really my thing either for some reason, though it was sometimes quite beautiful. 


Angels in the Snow by Matt De La Pena — 3/5

This was a likable story. Not amazing but not terrible either. Honestly, I couldn't find anything wrong with it but it wasn't like it stood out either.  I've always enjoyed male points of view so I liked the main character. He was also pretty funny and realistic, in my opinion. So in short, I enjoyed this story but I didn't love it. 


Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han — 2/5

This story had some potential but meh... I couldn't get into it. I didn't like the main character, Natty. She was a bit immature and I just didn't like her voice. The writing was okay but nothing to write home about and the story was a bit mediocre even though I liked the concept of it. I guess it just wasn't my thing. 


It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins — 4/5

This was a story I really liked. It had funny and likable characters and was well-written.This is my first Stephanie Perkins book but I'm definitely interested in reading more by her now, partly because of this great story. It was easy to get into it and I just thought it was adorable. Marigold and North were characters I pretty much liked right away. North was probably my favorite because of the way he kind of argued with Marigold. It was all very cute!


Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan — 2/5

Well, I'm not gonna lie... I expected more from a story by David Levithan. I usually really like his stories but I wasn't a fan of this one. The story in general was nice enough but the characters didn't do anything for me. At least it was a very fast read.


Krampuslauf by Holly Black — 2/5

The thing with Holly Black is that sometimes I really like (short) stories by her and sometimes they just fall flat. This one, unfortunately, falls into the latter category. The story and characters were just a little meh for me. The mention of all kinds of fairies, though, was the only possitive thing — that and the writing. I always usually like Holly's writing. I just couldn't get into this story. Which seems to be a repetitive things with this book.


What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman — 3/5

This story was pretty nice. I didn't feel bored, disconnected or frustrated by the characters like I felt with some of the other stories so that's always a plus. The romance was build up in a way that didn't make me want to barf. Sophie and Russell were great characters to read about. I liked that Sophie was Jewish. Obviously this book is about more than just the cute romance, it centers also on religion, different cultures, etc. I guess it depends if you like to read about that kind of thing. But it was also quite funny and it has a message.


Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire — 4/5

This story was super cute! I really liked it. Way more than any of the others for some reason. Not sure why it appealed to me so much. Maybe because it was written in a male point of view. Always love those. And Vaughn was really awesome to read about. Always getting in trouble with his pranks, even if he only does them to get noticed. I don't even care. I loved him. His love interest wasn't a bad character either. I won't say that I loved her as much as Vaugh or anything but she was outspoken and a bit feisty so yeah, I liked her. Her father was awesome. He really was. So yeah, good story (at last)!


Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White — 5/5

Kiersten White more than delivered with this story. It's not really a surprise to me because so far I've really enjoyed all the books I've read by her. I felt like this story stood really out. Maria was a great main character. I enjoyed reading about her and her life in Christmas. I loved her interactions with Ben. He was so great. I loved his abilitiy to be able to sense what food to make that would make people happy. The story was also a little bit wacky (in a good way). It was the first story of the whole bunch that I actually laughed out loud with. Way to go, Kiersten!


Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter — 4/5

Aw, this story was actually sort of beautiful and heartwarming. Ally Carter is another new author to me and I've been pleasantly surprised by this story by her. I liked the mystery that surrounded Lydia, why she ran away and what was going on with her. I really liked the answer that I got in the end. It was a really surprising ending. Didn't see it coming at all who she really was. I also really liked Ethan. He was sweet, cute and I loved them together. His family was the best. So caring warm and I love how they opened their hearts for Lydia. So nice!


The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor — 3/5

It's no surprise that Laini Taylor is an incredible writer. Her writing style is absolutely gorgeus, there's no denying. And yet I wasn't totally in love with this story, aside from the writing. The story itself didn't speak to me as I thought it would. I liked it, sure, but it didn't went beyond that. Actually, it was the beautiful way it's written that saved most of the story for me. Maybe I wasn't just in the mood for this kind of story or maybe it's because it was the last story in this book. I don't know. I just was slightly bored and wanted it to be over soon. But again, it really had such gorgeous writing. It was a pleasure!