Let It Snow By John Green, Lauren Myracle, Maureen Johnson

Summary

The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson - “The Jubliee Express” kicks off this anthology of interconnected YA romance novellas with the story of Jubilee, a sixteen-year-old girl whose parents are obsessive collectors of Flobie Santa Village figurines. When they go to buy the latest release on Christmas Eve, a fight breaks out and they land in jail, leaving Jubilee alone for the holiday. They insist that she take the train to visit her grandparents in Florida, but due to a blizzard, the train gets stuck in snow on the tracks only halfway there. Through the window, she sees a Waffle House just across the highway. With no heat or food left on the train and annoyed with a noisy group of cheerleaders who’ve invaded her solitude, the restaurant looks inviting, so she disembarks and makes her way there. As she’s warming up, Stuart, a guy about her age, also comes in to get warm after his car breaks down nearby and makes Jubilee’s acquaintance. When the cheerleaders once again show up, Stuart invites Jubilee to his house to spend the holiday with his family, and in doing so, she finally realizes how much is missing in her relationship with her boyfriend back home.

“The Jubliee Express” was a really cute story that is told entirely from Jubilee’s first-person POV. I related well to this intelligent, independent girl who has a vibrant voice. While she does have a few emotional moments, rather than wallowing in the typical angst of YA romance, she has a rather pragmatic attitude and a good sense of humor that occasionally made me laugh. Her parents seem good-hearted but a little on the wacky side, while her boyfriend, Noah, is perfect in every way except one: he never seems to have time for her. Getting stuck in a little town in the middle of nowhere and spending the holiday with strangers brings her a new perspective, especially after meeting Stuart, who shows her what it might be like to have a guy really look out for her and pay attention to her. I thought the story expressed the true spirit of Christmas in the willingness of Stuart and his family to welcome a stranger into their midst. I also enjoyed the diversity that’s represented in the characters. There are a few interesting characters introduced early on that we don’t see again after Jubilee leaves the restaurant with Stuart. I was happy to discover in leafing through the remainder of the book that it looks like they’ll show up again in the other two stories, so I’ll hopefully get to find out more about them. Overall, this was a really fun, engaging story that I enjoyed. Jubilee and Stuart seem like they’d be a well-matched couple, so my only small complaint is that we presumably won’t get to see what happens for them in the future given that they live a fair distance from each other.

A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green - “A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle” is the second novella in this series of connected holiday stories. In this one, we have three best friends, Tobin, the first-person narrator, Angie, who goes by the nickname the Duke, and JP. The trio are spending Christmas Eve together at Tobin’s house watching a James Bond movie marathon. His parents are out of town at a conference and call to say that they’re stranded by a snowstorm and won’t make it home for Christmas. Tobin isn’t terribly upset about this, knowing that he’s welcome to spend the holiday with the Duke and her family. Then their fourth friend, Keun, who works at the local Waffle House calls, excited that the restaurant has been overrun by a group of cheerleaders whose train is stuck in the snow. He insists that they come immediately and bring a game of Twister, but his two other co-workers have also invited their friends. However, they’ve all agreed that whoever’s friends arrive first will be the only ones allowed to stay so as to not overcrowd the restaurant. Thus sets off a mad-cap dash to the Waffle House in the midst of a blizzard that turns into a huge comedy of errors, but also leads to Tobin discovering feelings for the Duke he didn’t realize were there.

“A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle” was a delightfully humorous romantic comedy. It was lighter on the romance than I was hoping, but I still enjoyed it. The chemistry between these three (well, four if we include Keun) friends was excellent. It’s obvious why, because they fit together so well and have shared interests and a good sense of humor, as well as a thirst for adventure. This is something they definitely make use of as they race to the Waffle House, because things certainly don’t go their way. I loved the way the story played out in my mind like a good movie, which is perhaps why this anthology was indeed made into a film. I also enjoyed how it tied in well with the first novella with several supporting characters showing up again. Keun was introduced in “The Jubliee Express” as were the cheerleaders and a man everyone simply calls “Tinfoil Guy,” a conspiracy theorist who wraps his entire body in tinfoil. Then there was Jeb, an intriguing young man who was on the train, but who lives in the little town of Gracetown where the train got stuck. We see him again at the very end of “A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle” and it looks like he’ll headline in the final novella. Hopefully I’ll finally get to see what the deal is with him, which I’m looking forward to. The only reason I dropped a half-star on this one is because the romance took a back seat to other events and with it occurring so close to the end of the story, it didn’t leave me with a good sense of whether Tobin and the Duke would be able to successfully navigate from friends to something more. Overall, this was a really fun read, and with a second winner, John Green has now earned a spot on my favorite authors list.

The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle - “The Patron Saint of Pigs” is the final story in this interconnected series of novellas. It’s about Addie, who was briefly mentioned in “The Jubliee Express” as being a friend of Stuart and a Starbucks barista. Her boyfriend – or perhaps I should say temporarily ex-boyfriend – is Jeb who was seen in both of the previous novellas as a supporting character. Addie and Jeb broke up a week before Christmas. After an argument that was mostly about Addie wanting more demonstrations of romance and affection from Jeb, she got drunk at a party and kissed another guy. Ultimately she realized it was a stupid move and she didn’t even like the other guy, but she felt so bad about it, she broke things off with Jeb. After being miserable for the entire week, she emailed him to ask him to meet her at Starbucks on Christmas Eve, hoping to relive their first date that happened one year earlier, but he doesn’t show. Her friends, Dorrie and Tegan, try to cheer her up, but end up being straight-up honest with her, telling her how self-centered she’s been. This doesn’t go over well with Addie, but when the sentiment is repeated several times on the day after Christmas by other people she knows, she starts to wonder if it really is true. Then a mission to deliver a teacup pig to Tegan that gets derailed by a local elderly woman who’s a would-be angel finally gives Addie the kick in the pants she needs to make a change.

“The Patron Saint of Pigs” was my least-favorite story in this anthology for several different reasons. First, I’m OK with most angst in YA stories. Having had teenagers of my own, I know that it’s pretty much par for the course, but Addie takes it to a whole new level and I couldn’t help feeling that she was responsible for most of her own misery. She was the one who was unhappy in her relationship with Jeb, she made the choice to kiss the other guy, and she further made the choice to break up with Jeb, even though he seemed ready to forgive (though I’m not entirely sure why). Her friends had the right of it when they told her she was self-absorbed. She definitely is, as well as lacking in depth as a character, which made it difficult to truly like her, and it’s literally all Addie, all the time, since she’s the first-person narrator of the story, while Jeb is barely seen. I also felt that her eleventh hour turnaround was a little too magical and convenient, and not something that I was left convinced would last. Another reason this novella wasn’t a favorite is because IMHO, it’s the least romantic of the three stories even though the cover bills this anthology as “three holiday romances.” Addie and Jeb are broken up for the entire story (like I said, it’s all about Addie), which was incredibly disappointing as Jeb was a character who intrigued me from his first appearance. I can only call this a romance in the most rudimentary sense, because it does have a relationship as part of the story and it does have an HEA, but all that was definitely overshadowed by Addie’s issues. Lastly, while I’m normally a sucker for animal characters, as an animal lover, I was rather bothered by the inclusion of a so-called “teacup” pig. It seemed like the author was just going for the extreme cuteness factor, while not really doing any real research on this type of pig. “Teacup” pigs may be small and cute for a while, but they can grow very large just like all pigs. Not to mention, many breeders use questionable methods, including starvation, to keep these animals at their “cute” size, which to my way of thinking is nothing short of animal abuse. So in this case, I wasn’t really impressed with the pet subplot.

As for what I did like, I enjoyed visiting with the couples from the first two novellas who appear to be getting on quite well. I still like Jeb, even though he wasn’t a major part of what I felt should have equally been his story and I’m not quite sure what he sees in Addie. This was an easy read that didn’t feel bogged down by pacing or other issues, although if it had been longer, I might have had a different take on that, given how angsty and crisis-prone Addie is. There were a couple of mildly amusing parts, but despite having a few small upsides, this was just an OK read for me in the end, not a slog, but not something that really impressed me either. After a couple of so-so reads by Lauren Myracle this year, I’m beginning to think that her storytelling may not be for me.