Happy Blogmas Day Twenty One Everyone :)
Can you believe that Christmas is only four days away?
I feel I'm in pretty good shape this year, as my shopping and wrapping are done, my baking is almost complete, and I've got my meal plans all figured out, and plan to go grocery shopping later today as well.
However, it still seems crazy that Christmas is so close, and that I'm officially into the last few days of Blogmas.
It's hard to believe it'll be over for another year in less than a week, so I'm going to try even harder to make these last few posts as good as can possibly be.
For today's post, I'd like to share a review for an amazing festive book I finished a couple of days ago. :)
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand:
Source: Bought for Myself
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: October 24th, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Synopsis:
On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.
She didn't.
And then she died.
Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.
Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.
But this year, everything is about to change.
******synopsis from goodreads******
My Review:
The Afterlife of Holly Chase was the first book I've ever personally read by Cynthia Hand. It was featured in one of Epic Reads's First Five emails, and after I read the first chapter I was already so hooked on this story that I knew I needed to pick up a copy for myself, and find out what happens during the rest of the story.
A YA retelling of one of my all time favorite Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol, was definitely something I was interested in picking up, as it's such an original story idea, and I felt there could be so many things a YA author could do with a retelling of this classic novel. While in some ways it was exactly what I was expecting, in so many other ways it was nothing at all like I had imagined, and I loved the different direction that Cynthia Hand went with this story idea.
Holly Chase was a bitter, spoiled rotten teenager who didn't change her ways when she was chosen as America's Scrooge. She sealed her own fate when she failed to take the ghost's seriously, and as a result, she's chosen as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and is forced to visit a new Scrooge every Christmas Eve to try and encourage them to change their ways, which she herself wasn't able to do. Project Scrooge is a complicated company, and it involves many players, and an odd assortment of secondary characters who spend most of the year plotting and planning their Christmas Eve escapades. After five years of working as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Holly's become kind of complacent, and doesn't think too much of either her life or work. However, this year will change everything when this year's Scrooge is a seventeen year old heir named Ethan, that Holly feels instantly connected with. Soon she's blurring the lines between her responsibilities, and her feelings, and this Christmas is soon becoming unlike anything she's ever experienced before.
The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a witty, sarcastic, hysterically funny novel that also shines a light on second chances, and learning from mistakes. It also emphasizes the importance of companionship, especially during the holidays, and the self sacrifices it sometimes takes to save someone else's life. I fully expected to like this novel, but I didn't expect to completely love it, and I can't possibly recommend this beautiful novel enough. The plot was well written, and well paced, the world building was spot on, and the reader literally felt like they were right their at Project Scrooge themselves, the romance was honestly adorable, even though it is basically insta-love, I still loved how it seemed to touch a part of Holly that she was determined to keep hidden from everyone. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, the beautiful ending happened, and I found myself completely unprepared for the direction that Cynthia Hand went with this. Generally, I find myself not being a fan of this type of ending, but this time, I felt it was the perfect choice, and it definitely demonstrated just how much Holly had grown up during her time at Project Scrooge. All in all, this is definitely my favorite Christmas novel I've read so far this year, and I rated it five out of five stars! Definitely give this one a chance guys if you haven't already.
Thanks so much for reading everyone :) I'll see you all tomorrow for Blogmas Day Twenty Two.
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The tree photo was taken by me and belongs to me. The book cover photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
Can you believe that Christmas is only four days away?
I feel I'm in pretty good shape this year, as my shopping and wrapping are done, my baking is almost complete, and I've got my meal plans all figured out, and plan to go grocery shopping later today as well.
However, it still seems crazy that Christmas is so close, and that I'm officially into the last few days of Blogmas.
It's hard to believe it'll be over for another year in less than a week, so I'm going to try even harder to make these last few posts as good as can possibly be.
For today's post, I'd like to share a review for an amazing festive book I finished a couple of days ago. :)
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand:
Source: Bought for Myself
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: October 24th, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Synopsis:
On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.
She didn't.
And then she died.
Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.
Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.
But this year, everything is about to change.
******synopsis from goodreads******
My Review:
The Afterlife of Holly Chase was the first book I've ever personally read by Cynthia Hand. It was featured in one of Epic Reads's First Five emails, and after I read the first chapter I was already so hooked on this story that I knew I needed to pick up a copy for myself, and find out what happens during the rest of the story.
A YA retelling of one of my all time favorite Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol, was definitely something I was interested in picking up, as it's such an original story idea, and I felt there could be so many things a YA author could do with a retelling of this classic novel. While in some ways it was exactly what I was expecting, in so many other ways it was nothing at all like I had imagined, and I loved the different direction that Cynthia Hand went with this story idea.
Holly Chase was a bitter, spoiled rotten teenager who didn't change her ways when she was chosen as America's Scrooge. She sealed her own fate when she failed to take the ghost's seriously, and as a result, she's chosen as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and is forced to visit a new Scrooge every Christmas Eve to try and encourage them to change their ways, which she herself wasn't able to do. Project Scrooge is a complicated company, and it involves many players, and an odd assortment of secondary characters who spend most of the year plotting and planning their Christmas Eve escapades. After five years of working as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Holly's become kind of complacent, and doesn't think too much of either her life or work. However, this year will change everything when this year's Scrooge is a seventeen year old heir named Ethan, that Holly feels instantly connected with. Soon she's blurring the lines between her responsibilities, and her feelings, and this Christmas is soon becoming unlike anything she's ever experienced before.
The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a witty, sarcastic, hysterically funny novel that also shines a light on second chances, and learning from mistakes. It also emphasizes the importance of companionship, especially during the holidays, and the self sacrifices it sometimes takes to save someone else's life. I fully expected to like this novel, but I didn't expect to completely love it, and I can't possibly recommend this beautiful novel enough. The plot was well written, and well paced, the world building was spot on, and the reader literally felt like they were right their at Project Scrooge themselves, the romance was honestly adorable, even though it is basically insta-love, I still loved how it seemed to touch a part of Holly that she was determined to keep hidden from everyone. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, the beautiful ending happened, and I found myself completely unprepared for the direction that Cynthia Hand went with this. Generally, I find myself not being a fan of this type of ending, but this time, I felt it was the perfect choice, and it definitely demonstrated just how much Holly had grown up during her time at Project Scrooge. All in all, this is definitely my favorite Christmas novel I've read so far this year, and I rated it five out of five stars! Definitely give this one a chance guys if you haven't already.
Thanks so much for reading everyone :) I'll see you all tomorrow for Blogmas Day Twenty Two.
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The tree photo was taken by me and belongs to me. The book cover photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
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