The description of this book sounded like it would be an interesting read of a twist to the traditional Christmas story told from the personal viewpoint of people and animals in the traditional Christmas story.

I had a very hard time reading this book, and actually did not finish it as I found it too offensive to my thoughts and beliefs as a Christian and my thoughts toward the Christmas story. Everything today seems to be directed to not offend the beliefs of anyone, so the author tried to appeal to all religions and beliefs in his writing which to me, made many of the ideas expressed just too outlandish.

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin’s Essentials and NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.

Book was sent to me, I enjoy religious fiction - especially on Christmas, so eager to read ARC.

A Story of New Beginnings
With a focus on Mary and Joseph
Birth of Jesus uplifts all from the lowly to high officers.
"If Christ's birth doesn't happen in me,
how can it help me?"
All is built on this.

"The First Christmas" by Stephen Mitchell
A Good Read ! !
An interesting and enjoyable interlude in an alternate and expanded vision (yes, I meant vision not version) of the Nativity story. Are you brave enough to read this offering? I do hope so. Happy Reading ! !

At first when I read the description I thought, what an interesting perspective. Unfortunately the writing in this book fell flat for me. As an Orthodox Christian I was looking forward to reading this book but instead I just couldn’t finish it. I rarely give less than 4 stars and feel awful for giving this 2. The perspective holds so much promise but not with this writing style.

I requested to read and review this book for free from St. Martin Publishing. This is a different take about the nativity story from the author view. As well as what possible Mary and Joseph thought and the Inn Keeper and Ox. You don't really think about the inn keeper much his part may seem small but in retrospect he played a big part in the story but offering the barn. It also gives a more detailed view of what Joseph and Mary may have thought or had been going through. And throughout this book the author gives you the ideas of how he came up with these ideas. This book is for any type of reader and can be read anywhere.

I honestly dont understand the format of this book at all. It kind of lost me at the beginning when it said it was written to be respectful towards Christians but as a story secular people would appreciate... That really rubbed me the wrong way. The story of Jesus' birth isn't a fairy tale but a true historic event. Would not recommend.

This is a neat story retold -about the miracle of Christmas night!
It is a beautifully done and alternates between different characters that were present on this holy journey.
My favorite is the donkey. He had an important job and did it well!
I am sure this will be a classic! Give it a read!

Speechless. That's how I felt when I was done reading The First Christmas. So well done, powerfully written. Obviously it has the religious aspect to it, but as a stand alone story even without that background, it is such a gorgeously done piece of art. Honestly. this book made the Holy family even more accessible than I found the story growing up. In turn, feeling that Mary Joseph and Baby Jesus were more accessible gave me a new perspective on the "accept what we are telling you without questions" attitude about religion.. The First Christmas made it a real story. Looking forward to celebrating Christmas this coming season is even more exciting because I will be giving thanks for their courage and faith Mary and Joseph had in God and in each other.

A great Christmas story book to read. Found it really fascinating and exciting read.

I received this advance copy of the book in exchanged for my honest opinion.

First I want to give thanks to the author Stephen Mitchell, the publisher St. Martin's Press, and to Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. While I read this book I found myself almost upset because as a Christian I have a huge passion for Christ and the many stories of the bible, but I found this book to be incredibly boring, and honestly I don't even remember what most of this story was about because I could not for the life of me stay focused on what I was reading. I did find a few concepts to be interesting like how Mary and Joseph might have felt about the situation, but the execution/writing of it just did not work for me, and made it drag on. The great thing about opinions is that everyone has a different one, even though I didn't enjoy reading this story, somebody might like it and come out of it with a deeper love for Christmas. I'm choosing to give this book 2 stars because even though I did not enjoy this reading, I found some of the ideas to be interesting and I could tell the author put in a great amount of work and time to make this book.

An enchanting view of the miracle of the First Christmas as seen and told through the eyes of an ox, donkey, shepherds, innkeeper and wise men. Each perspective is described in Mitchell’s touching prose and the voices of each character come to life as their story unfolds.
This interpretation is as bright and colorful as Christmas lights and holiday packages. Each twinkle and opened box reveals wonder and a smile. This is simply a must read for any season.
My thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Essentials and Stephen Mitchell for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. This book talks about Christmas as it was many centuries ago.

I tried to read this book without a prejudiced mind, but unfortunately, I was not able to do so.
As a Christian, I found the thought process lopsided.

I always enjoy hearing the Christmas Story, but I was not sure what to expect from a novel form of the story. The chapters were from the view points of different characters, including the ox and donkey, telling their part in this wonderful story. There were interludes between chapters that while were informative. I felt took away from the feel of reading a novel. But overall I enjoyed reading this author's vision of the Nativity scene and the birth of Jesus. Thanks to the author Stephen Mitchell, publisher St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for a honest review.

I received an advance copy of, The First Christmas, by Stephen Mitchell. This is a good retelling of the Nativity.