The Christmas Clash presents Chloe Kim, a sixteen year old high school student that juggles her photography passion with helping her parents at their food court restaurant. Peter Li is in the same grade as Chloe, but he is a star athlete and student. He also juggles having to help his parents at their food court restaurant. However, when the mall is threatened to close, Chloe and Peter must join together to save the mall and their families.

The rivalry is there, but not as much as the summary would lead you to believe. And the rivalry doesn't really stretch to Chloe and Peter, so it's not really an enemies-to-lovers book. The holiday themed was also there, but not overwhelming. This story could have easily taken place at any other time, save for a few scenes.

But I enjoyed the story. I think the romance was cute. The saving families from financial ruin part was also interesting. The mall food court angle made it stand out from other similar romance stories. I thought I wouldn't like that the world in this book was limited to a mall, but it worked.

I would give this 3.5/5 (rounded up to 4),

This one was super cute! I do wish it had been a bit more christmasy, but I did enjoy the plotline revolving around the mall. I loved Chloe as a character, both her goals and struggles really spoke to me. Peter was just as enjoyable, and their relationship was adorable. Definitely a book I'd recommend!

What an absolutely adorable YA romance! I am a huge Suzanne Park fan, and every book just gets better and better! The story is easy to follow and filled with really realistic moments that center around the importance of family, community, and food. The romance is light compared to other aspects of the story, but that did not bother me. Each character was so well-written and fleshed out that I became more invested in their individual journeys than their relationship.

One thing that really stood out to me positively was that the two characters were of different Asian ethnicities: Korean and Chinese. I often find romance books with BIPOC-identifying individuals, but they are within the same ethnicity. While this is great, I appreciate seeing the challenges and joys of dating and love outside of one's ethnicity.

I loved everything about this book and hope to continue to devour all of Suzanne Park's future books!

I enjoyed this cute holiday read. Enjoyed the sweet story and the characters! A cute adorable read at Christmas. Highly recommended!

This was a cute YA rom-com, but I think I wanted more from the story! I liked Peter and Chloe as individual characters, but I wish that their development from rivals to friends to lovers felt more natural. It felt like the two were rivals for just a few seconds before becoming friends and working together to save their local mall and family restaurants.

I also think the plot to discover the truth behind their parents' rivalry and the fight to stop the mall from closing felt a little dragged out. There were a few repetitive moments throughout the novel before the climax and resolution occurred, which made the plot drag on just a bit.

One moment that I felt little uncomfortable reading was the subplot of one of Peter's friends saying harmful things and making harmful stereotypes about Peter as a Chinese American. This friend has somewhat of a redemption arc and Peter forgives him and justifies his racist tendencies a few times throughout the novel, but I didn't like that this behavior was excused.

I really liked the highlight on Korean and Chinese foods and traditions. The contrast in Peter and Chloe's relationship with their Asian American identities was also really interesting to read about (Peter is a third-gen Asian American while Chloe is a second-gen Asian American).

I've read all of Suzanne Park's books so requesting this was a no-brainer. This was such a cute and fun story! I love the premise of rivals teaming up to save their hometown mall, ultimately saving their family's restaurants. As with Park's other books, this was a light and fluffy, but filled with meaningful and relevant content.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩:
📷 Dual POV
📷 Family rivals
📷 Childhood nemesis
📷 Food swaps
📷 Adorable banter
📷 The food 🤤
📷 AAPI rep (Chloe is Korean American and Peter is Chinese American)
📷 LGBTQIA rep (Elias was such a fun character!)

CW: racism/racial slurs

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was quite excited for this book, but I felt it to be a bit lacking. This is about two teens whose families own a rival restaurant, but they weren't rivals for very long as I would of hoped.

Received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest opinion.
Such a cute idea for a story! Kind of like a Romeo and Juliet thing going on, but with Asian food at a food court in a dying Mall. Hijinx insue as they try to keep what's going on in their personal lives balanced with trying to save the mall and their parents restaurants.
Fun story, give it a go!

I received an ARC of, The Christmas Clash, by Suzanne Park. This was an interesting read. Same old story revamped, family feuds, and something needs saving.

Ms. Park is one of my favorite authors. Her previous books are amazing. So her storytelling a love story with Christmas as a theme. It was an oh yea from me, I love Christmas theme love stories. This was a quick pick for me. Chloe and Peter had to figure out how to save their local mall from demolition that had their parents respective restaurants in the food court. From enemies to friends to potential romance partners they teamed up to help save their parents business and the mall. I loved the different POVs and they slow romance. At the same time Chloe had entered a national art contest. That honestly I was a bit confused about. The friends/ besties were amazing and filled with cuteness. The epilogue was adorable. Overall, it was a cute Christmas teen romance and if you love her previous books, you will love this one.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I received this ARC thanks to NetGalley. This was a fun story about a teen romance between two rivals that have to come together to save the mall their parents opposing restaurants are in. This story was fast paced and an easy read. A great way to relax and read.

Cute holiday read! Suzanne Park is an incredible author and I love reading her books. This book has such cozy feelings and reminded me a little of Dash and Lily's book of Dares. Enemies to lovers is a favorite for me and I can't wait to reread this closer to the winter holidays

A quick, holiday read. Peter and Chloe, sworn enemies, working in adversal holiday themed mall jobs that just adds fuel to their enemy fire.

I didn’t love, didn’t hate it. It was just a quick, okay read for me. Nothing remarkably memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC.

In theory, this book ticked so many boxes for me: Christmas themed, enemies to lovers, Asian American rep and the generational experience, etc... But in the end, I didn't love it.

The "two opposing families" setup was good. Both both Chloe and Peter were easy to like. But the "enemies to lovers" trope fell so flat; in reality, they traded a few barbs here and there—not even particularly nasty ones, the kind you might be proud of in middle school—which then felt wholly unbelievable and forced due to the fact that prior to the start of the book, they have a dinner swap going, where they trade menu items from their families' restaurants. If you really hated someone, whether in actuality or simply on principle, you wouldn't do them a favor as big as sneaking out leftovers.

Also, the main characters and their friends all read very immaturely. Supposedly Chloe, Peter, and Co. are in high school, but to me, they read very juvenile. And the friendships very flat; only Elias was really fleshed out. And to round things out, there were several unbelievable moments that took me out of the story. Firstly, that Lorraine was assigned to be Chloe's mentor. Even if probability was on her side, it was a bit too perfect that Chloe was paired with her desired mentor. A more believable scenario would've been having the participants, upon acceptance to the finals, submitting their first and second choices for their desired mentors and THEN being paired up. Secondly, Peter sending the clip to Lorraine and having Chloe's speech broadcast like that? It was a real Rom Com moment, and not really in a cute way, more in a "neatly wrapped bow of convenience" way that kind of disappointed me; it's not that I wanted Chloe to lose, I just wanted... her to grow from the experience? Maybe come in second? Or be disqualified for not attending? I don't know, something to make it a bittersweet ending alongside the wholesome resolution with the mall.

SO, with all that said... I feel like I read this a bit too seriously. I know it's supposed to be fun—which it was! some of the time—and that things are convenient for a reason, I just... I dunno. Wanted something with a bit more oomph. I enjoyed the reading experience and I will definitely be picking up more Suzanne Park, but I'm was not 100% sold on this story.

An acceptable 3 out of 5 stars, ★★★☆☆

This was super cute and fun and I actually want to see Suzanne Park write more holiday books! I loved all the representation in this book. Theres so lgbt characters and the main characters are both Asian. Now I wish the whole book could have been more Christmasy but I'll what I can take. A lot of holiday books say Christmas all over it but a totally miss the mark. I =for one am very happy that this didn't complete fall now the rabbit hole.

The thing I love abouþ the way that Suzanne Park writes romances is that romance is not the main part of the story. The romance is there, to be sure, but the main part of the story is not driven by whether two people love each other or not.

And this book is no exception. Once again we get a wonderful story about two people trying to save a shopping mall from closure and demolition, and their romance is part of it, yes, but it doesn’t depend on them getting together or not.

Thoroughly enjoyed this story of Chloe, whose parents are Korean immigrants, and Peter, whose parents are third generation Chinese, and how they have a hate relationship, although neither quite knows why. Peter’s parents have a chinese restaurant in the Riverwood Mall, as do Chloe’s parents have a Korean restaurant.

The way they get together is natural, since they both are fighting to save the mall, as well as Chloe trying to get in a photography competition.

Fun, quick read. Good ron-com, and quite enjoyable.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

The Christmas Clash is a really cute holiday romance! It follows Chloe and Peter as they both try to save their parents restaurants/the community mall. This book had great AAPI representation! The main character is Korean and the love interest is Chinese. There's also LGBT+ rep in side characters. The food described in this book made me so hungry. I get nervous when I read holiday books as a Jewish reader, but it didn't feel too christmasy despite the title. The one problem I had is it felt like Chloe's character grew/accomplished a lot but I didn't get that same feeling from Peter. I'd recommend if you like YA romance with diverse rep!

I really, really enjoyed this book! It was captivating and it hooked me from the very first chapter! It was such a sweet and romantic story!

This is a cute and funny Christmas story, I really liked it. Enemies to lovers is a trope that I love and this one definitely didn't disappoint. Chloe and Peter can't stand each other, their families have rival restaurants in the same place but now they are forced to work together.

I liked the way the story is narrated and how they develop feelings for each other. The characters are so funny, and the banter is so good. If you like funny Christmas/enemies to lovers stories, this is perfect for you.

Picking up the Christmas Clash, I was so excited. I love Christmassy young adult romances and the cover reminded me of another Christmas romance that I loved.

But where was the Christmas? To be honest, the cover and the first few chapters were as Christmassy as it got. The rest of the story revolved around the mall and at school. I felt kind of disappointed about this aspect — I really expected the theme to be more holiday-ish.

The writing also wasn't my cup of tea. It felt awkward and stilted. There were some instances when the characters spoke that it just....felt so forced? Anyway, yeah, the writing wasn't for me.

The rival restaurant thing has been done before, but of course I ate it up. While there were some areas where I didn't like the writing, I loved the descriptions of food that we got, as well as the mall culture and life. I thought it was very interesting.

The characters were okay. I liked them fine, but the pacing of Chloe and Peter's relationship could have been done better, and the way it was introduced and set up was a little clumsy. This was a bit of a slowburn, but I wish it wasn't — more romance would have been entertaining because there were parts especially near the middle that felt boring.

Maybe this wasn't for me, but I'm sure other people will enjoy it, especially if you love reading holiday themed romances