My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

Review:

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

Editor: Stephanie Perkins

Authors: Holly Black-Ally Carter-Matt De La Peña-Gayle Forman-Jenny Han-David Levithan-Kelly Link-Myra McEntire-Stephanie Perkins-Rainbow Rowell-Laini Taylor-Kiersten White

Publishing: October 14th, 2014 by St. Martin’s Press

Format: Hard Cover (U.S. Cover)

Source: Bought {Local Indie Bookstore}

Genre(s): YA, contemporary, romance, fantasy

Blurb:

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.

Thoughts:

This was Nikki’s December Epic Rec for me!  Learn more here.

I was so excited to read this anthology!  I’m a big fan of short stories because not only are they a quicker read than a full novel but they also can showcase an author’s talent and ability to communicate a story through fewer words.  Anyways, I’m probably going to review each story by author then give my overall review for the book at the end.

i. Rainbow Rowell’s “Midnights”

I wasn’t at all surprised that Rowell’s story first.  She was able to create a setting that was warm and familiar.  Her character’s were relatable and had a surprising amount of development for such a short amount of time.  Overall, although the end was a little predictable it was the perfect amount of sweetness to start the story off with.

ii. Kelly Link’s “The Lady and the Fox”

I’ve never read anything by Kelly Link before, and was excited to get a little taste of her work.  I was slightly confused at page one, and by the end of the story I wasn’t really sure what had happened.  The overall plot of the story was hard to follow and the characters were not as magical as she made them out to be.  Not only was this story disappointing as the second story in the book, but it also stuck out in my mind as the only story that felt messy and unedited.

iii. Matt de la Peña’s “Angels in the Snow”

I’ve never read anything by Peña, but was a little more apprehensive going into this story after the first one.  My worries were unnecasry be cause this was one of my favorite stories in the anthology!  Peña’s characters were real and tangible, their problems not only relatable for people but just realistic in general for young people.  Peña’s version of holiday cheer may have been unconventional but it certainly is accurate for the young adults of today.  I enjoyed the slow migration of the characters; this story had the perfect level of loveliness without being corny.

iv. Jenny Han’s “Polaris is Where You’ll Find Me”

I was immediately stoked when I found out that Han had a story in this anthology, and anxiously awaited my arrival to it.  Han’s story was more what I expected when I though “Holiday Stories”, more so than any of the other’s in fact.  Although I loved the plot, I was less impressed with Han’s characters.  Natty was an immature character, and her romantic development in the story was messy.  The addition of the character Lars felt unneeded and he bogged down the story.  I did enjoy the Harry Potter reference though; quidditch for the win!

v.  Stephanie Perkins’ “It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown”

When I found out that Stephpanie Perkins was going to have a story in this anthology, I was eagerly waiting to hear her story.  To my surprise I later found out that she edited the ENTIRE anthology as well, so props to Perkins!  This story was longer than the others, and to put it in my own words, “more radiant” than the stories that had come before.  The characters in this story were not only relatable, but also tangible.  Their lives were no where near perfect and yet they were so grateful for good moments that it felt like they were.  Needless to say, Perkins’ characters were kind, and humble.  This story was not just Hallmark channel material however, it was also amazingly funny and poignant.  At the time that I read it, this was my favorite story so far.

vi.  David Levithan’s “Your Temporary Santa”

After reading the title of Levithan’s story, my first reaction was “David Levithan’s Jewish…right?”  And immiedatly from the get go, Levithan writes from the POV of a Jewish boy, stuck in a Christmas world.  Not only did this story stand different from some of the other more “Chrismasey” stories, I felt as the reader as if I was closer to Levithan as a person.  Even though this story was in no way biographical, (although it was hilarious and charming) you could tell that there were raw emotions layered underneath the funny one liners and ridiculous scenarios.  This made Levithan’s story more heartfelt than some of the others, because it felt like it wasn’t fiction, even though it purely was.  My final reaction to this, if anyone cares to know, was a simple smiley face.

vii.  Holly Black’s “Krampuslauf”

I was SO excited and curious to read Black’s story.  I haven’t read any of her work since The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and was anticipating an interesting spin on the holiday theme of this anthology.  Black is not exactly well known for her contemporary work (does she even have any?), so I was initially thrown off guard by the direction that the story was heading.  I did, however, fall in love with Black’s dynamic and diverse set of characters.  Their New Year’s party planning was not executed in the most typical fashion as other teenagers but this made it all the more jarring.  While I won’t spoil the twist, there certainly is one.  Black couldn’t let the story go without her signature flair, and I’m glad.  The story comes to a close but as if it has been leading up to this somewhat subtle reveal, that illustrates not only Black’s craft as an author, but also the depth of the story.

viii. Gayle Forman’s “What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth?”

Before I even started Forman’s story, I had high expectations.  Forman is a master at engaging contemporary and I expected nothing less from a shorter format.  To my delight, I was not disappointed.  Forman’s characters were a little quirky and fun to the point where they were almost “Mary Sue’s”, but slightly off kilter.  These characters mastered this effortlessly, and not with the strain and obvious tension that some authors work so hard to hide.  As the reader I immediately connected to Sophie as the protagonist.  Although Sophie is not particularly remarkable, she possess the capability to make the reader cling to her.  Forman’s story was romantic withough being sappy and illustrated some of the hardships of starting new relationships.  I was not disappointed and would recommend this story.  (Apple pie with cheddar cheese anyone?)

x. Myra McEntire’s “Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus

Having McEntire’s male POV was a lovely refresher from the multitude of female brains within this book.  Although the female POV’s are great, sometimes a break is well needed, (and also well placed).  McEntire’s story carried with it this innocence, not neccasarly lack of guilt more nativity.  Perhaps because she introduces her protagonist as a much younger person than what he is for the majority of the story, but whatever the reason the reader can’t help but see past his obvious faults.  McEntire’s story was not exactly comedic but had that ongoing theme while still telling the story of a lost young man.  I was please with McEntire’s ability to tackle both plots and dissolve them in such a short amount of time.

xi. Kierstan White’s “Welcome to Christmas, CA”

White’s story was a little more off the beaten track than some of the others, but that made it all the more endearing.  I initially questioned Christmas, CA, but was delighted to find all jokes about it throughout the story.  White’s characters have real problems, problems that lots of people can relate too and that made this story almost more Holiday than some of the others, because it wasn’t exclusive.  White’s characters all had these struggles, these struggles written across their faces when we first meet them, and within the short span of the story somehow their future’s are looking brighter.  I was very impressed with White’s ability to propel her characters forward in such a short amount of time, without rushing or completing a full liminal process.

xii. Ally Carter’s “Star of Bethlehem”

It has been so long since I’ve read any of Ally’s work, so I was excited to see what she could bring to the table.  Because Carter’s spy stories are known for leading up to their climax’s and having amazing plot twists, I was a little apprehensive that Carter wouldn’t be able to bring that same talent in a shorter setting.  Despite the fact that this story’s character was missing Carter’s trademark characteristic, the story wasn’t missing her trademark charm.  Carter’s characters seemed familiar and warm even though we only got to know them for a few pages.  However, to my disappointment, Carter’s ending was quite rushed, and although Carter can usually can pull off a cliché ending with grace this one just felt cheesy.

viii.  Laini Taylor’s “The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer”

I had HUGE expectations for Taylor, having just finished her book Daughter of Smoke and Bone a few weeks ago.  Taylor’s story by far stands out the most in my mind.  It was starkly different from the others, even differing from the various other fantasy stories in here (which are small in number compared to the contemporaries).  Taylor’s story was comforting, reminiscent of Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.  I found my self grappling for the protagonist, grasping her hand in mind only fro find her fluttering away. And this was a good thing, I knew her, but I didn’t know her.  She was this walking mysterying, stumbling through the pages and dragging me along with her.  And I LOVED IT.  I loved it!  I loved every second because I was there.  I was with Neve and the Dreamer, I could feel every flutter in her stomach and the hopefulness in his.  This was a perfect story to wrap this anthology up with.  Well done Taylor!

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I was very pleased with the My True Love Gave to Me.  I thought that the authors had balance between humor and warmth that kept me as the reader on my toes.  That being said, I was disappointed in the lack of genre representation in this anthology.  While yes, this is a YA book, the two sub-generes were contemporary and fantasy (which had small number’s).  I would have enjoyed a Sci-Fy story, a dystopian, a historical fiction.  While part of this is due to the authors that were chosen to submit for this book, that also is the problem.  While I love the majority of the authors in this book dearly, (and some of them newly on my radar) most of them write the same type of book.  I understand that Perkins was most likely looking for the book to flow (as all anthologies should) the settings started to feel repetitive even though the stories didn’t.

My stand out stories are by far Holly Black’s “Krampuslauf” and Laini Taylor’s “The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer”.