Monday, October 5, 2020

"In a Holidaze" by Christina Lauren

This is the fifth book that I've read by the author duo who go by Christina Lauren, and hands down, this one is my favorite of the ones I've read so far. I do think that they are slowly moving away from purely romance-centered plots to the ones that are focused on universal themes of finding one's purpose in life and the meaning of happiness. In this particular novel they also explore the possibility of life being a lot bigger and more mysterious than we know. 

Every year for as long as she can remember herself, and even before then, Mae spends Christmas holidays with close family and friends in a remote cabin in Utah. The group is always the same: her favorite people in the entire world, including a man she's had a crush on since she was 13. This year, however, the holiday ends on a soul-crushing note: her parents' life-long friends who own the cabin decide to sell it. In addition, Mae had made an awful mistake of making out with the wrong brother. Theo is the same age as her and they've been friends since they were babies, but Mae has always been in love with his older brother Andrew. The night before the entire party was scheduled to leave, she and Theo had too much eggnog and ended up kissing in the mudroom. Both regretted it, and in fact, Theo refused to even talk to her about it the following morning. Unbeknown to both of them, Andrew saw them together and assumed that they were now an item. 

On December 26th, on the way to the airport, Mae is so overcome with grief and disappointment that she sends a silent plea to the universe to show her what would make her happy. What happens next sounds a lot like the plot of the Groundhog Day. Mae wakes up on the airplane on December 20th, on the way to their annual Christmas retreat which she had just lived through. For the rest of the novel, we follow Mae as she desperately tries to figure out what makes her happy and wrap her head around this second chance the universe has handed her.

5 out of 5 stars. I absolutely loved it. It made me laugh and cry. Definitely a new favorite and a great holiday read.

An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com

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