Monday 3 December 2018

Book Review - 25 Days 'til Christmas by Poppy Alexander - Blog Tour

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Title: 25 Days 'till Christmas
Author: Poppy Alexander
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Orion
Publication Date: 1st November 2018
Rating: 5 Stars


Christmas is a time to get together...

Kate Thompson used to love Christmas. But that was before her husband went away with the army and didn't come home. Now she can hardly stand the festive season.

But Kate knows there is more to life than this, and her son Jack needs a Christmas to remember. What she needs is a Christmas miracle, and if there isn't one on its way, she'll just have to make her own.

So begins Kate's advent countdown to the best Christmas ever. She has it all planned out, but you can't plan for the unexpected, and when her life starts to unravel can her friends and the community around her help her save Christmas for all of them...?

Curl up and countdown to Christmas with a heart-warming festive romance, perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Debbie Johnson, and Holly Martin.

What an amazing book - Poppy Alexander has managed to deal with a whole host of tough issues, while surrounding it with this most magical Christmas book that for the most part is incredibly uplifting, and utterly enchanting to read. 

I loved the idea of Kate making Christmas special again for her and Jack by doing one Christmassy thing a day for the whole of December, and it doubling up as a low cost advent calendar. For as a single mum, Kate is struggling big time with finances and with the whole manner of other things going on in her life,  she is an inspirational character for so many. 

There is so much I would love to say about this simply wonderful plot but yet I think it really would be one of those books to come into fresh with no knowledge like I did and simply lets the words carry you away to Kate and Jack's lives and also meeting Daniel and what he has been through, and discovering the ups and downs of the book for yourself. 

A fair amount of the meatier topics don't become as apparent until quite a way into the book but I believe they are writen and dealt with in a suitable manner, and highlights all sorts of things, some of which I rarely see in fiction, so are certainly eye opening. 

On the face of it it is a mother and son trying to feel more festive and I loved all the activities that were planned, and Jack is a lovely little boy.  There are some true acts of kindness in this book, some selfless helping, and just some absolutely wonderful characters (as well as at least a couple I really disliked).  

As each chapter more or less is focused on another of the days in the countdown to Christmas, if you are a book lover without much time, I think you could easily read each day of the book, at one a day in your own countdown to Christmas - as a little Christmas treat to yourself. 

Or you can do what I did and sit and devour it, I found the tube journeys I was taking to and from the theatre the day I read most of this, flew past and I'm glad my subconscious seemed to know where I was.   

This is the first book I have read by the author and it certainly won't be the last. I can 't wait to see what the comes up with next. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion for this copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 



1 comment:

  1. Thanks Rachel for a lovely review. I'm really glad you got the bitter-sweet aspect... all's well that ends well, of course, I just want to reassure readers! x

    ReplyDelete

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