It's strange! My entire life, I have been the kind of person who has always appreciated Halloween more than Christmas. However, this year, for the first time in my life, I am finally anticipating the winter holidays! βοΈβοΈ So, when I saw this book called Blue Christmas, I was very excited to read. No idea what it was about, but I assumed the title was a homage to the classic Elvis Presley ballad.
Well, this book DEFINITELY wasn't what I had anticipated! π Blue Christmas is a reference to the famous holiday song, yes, but it is only used in the context of describing the character's own personal tradition. The protagonist, Eloise, is in a relationship with a man who has terrible childhood memories of Christmas. His father passed away when he was young, his mother remarried and abandoned her children, and the holiday became tainted for the young man. So, the novel centers around Eloise's need to make Christmas memorable for her boyfriend.
Of course, plenty of other shenanigans happen along the way! A Christmas decorating contest with Eloise's gay neighbors (she made it VERY clear that they are VERY gay! π )... Holiday auctions for vintage decorations, AND wine... A mysterious burglar who returns what they stole -- and it turns out to be the boyfriend's estranged mother?!... A terrible Christmas dinner that ends with a sliced off pinky! π±
So, yes, in the end, the burglar is the boyfriend's long-lost mother. The two (somewhat) reconcile, and they attempt to rekindle their relationship after that.
All in all, I didn't enjoy this book! π‘ It felt like it was written by a sheltered rich woman who has lived in gated communities her entire life. Even for a Christmas novel, there was hardly anything about the book that captured the magical essence of the season.
First of all, it takes place in GEORGIA, a place where it hardly even SNOWS! Secondly, nothing ever happened! π FOUR chapters are dedicated to boring auctions about stupid wine! The message is the most generic one -- reuniting with family -- and the catharsis wasn't even that rewarding! π It was just a huge letdown...