The Christmas Clash

By: Suzanne Park

Publish Date: 4 October 2022

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Multicultural Interest/Romance/Teens and YA

100 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to first thank both NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read and review this book.

Good Reads Synopsis:

Who’s naughty and nice at Riverwood Mall? In this hilarious holiday rom-com, two rivals get together to save their families’ livelihoods, and Christmas, too!

Chloe Kwon can’t stand Peter Li. It’s always been that way. Their families don’t get along either: their parents operate rival restaurants in the Riverwood Mall food court―Korean food for the Kwons and Chinese food for the Lis. Now it’s the holiday season and Chloe’s the photographer at the mall’s Santa Land, and Peter works at the virtual reality North Pole experience right across the atrium. It’s all Chloe can do to avoid Peter’s smug, incredibly photogenic face.

But it turns out the mall is about to be sold to a developer and demolished for condos. Eviction notices are being handed out right before Christmas. Their parents don’t know what to do, and soon Chloe and Peter realize that the two of them need to join efforts to try to save the mall. Just when it seems like they can put aside their differences and work closely (very closely) together, they discover that the Kwon and Li feud goes far deeper than either of them realize…

Book Review:

I read this book in December for Christmas. I gave it 4 stars.

The mall is closing, and the teens are trying to save it and their families restaurants. The teens use to be friends just as their parents use to be friends, but something happened 15 years ago to break up the friendship. Can the teens work together to save their family restaurant. This is happening around the holidays.

Chloe gets here sister involved because she is studying to become a lawyer. The parents never told the kids about what is happening. Chloe just happened to find the papers and is only given a couple of weeks to fight this.

I enjoyed this book because of the two-sibling working together to help their parents and also the supposed enemy of the young teen son of the enemy. They are able to work together to get things done.

The sad part is there isn’t much about the holidays mentioned in the story. Just that it is the holidays.

I’m going to come right out and say the paragraph regarding restaurant reviews (which pretty much was an attempt at reviewer shaming for less than 4 Stars) put a bad taste in my mouth. But I would have overlooked it and went on to give my usual 3 Star review with zero guilty conscience had I liked the story. (And let’s clear things up - 3 Stars is perfectly okay. For me it means I liked the book and wouldn’t steer other away from it.)

The problem here was too many ingredients spoiling the soup. What should have been a cutesy teenage holiday enemies to (strictly PG) lovers where the two children of feuding restaurant owner parents join forces to save the local mall and said businesses hit bogged down in side stories regarding a photo competition and workout sessions and part time jobs at Santa’s photo booth and a holiday arcade. When it comes to holiday books the old KISS method should be followed. Keep it simple.

I thought this was a really cute book. I didn’t feel like it was very Christmasy though. This book brought me back to my young adult, high school days. The romance is clean and light in this book. The characters go through a-lot of challenges in this book. I felt like the cover didn’t portray that. But overall, I enjoyed it! I recommend checking it out.

As always, Suzanne Park nails it. I loved every second of this book and found myself laughing and crying along with the characters. Chloe and Peter were such delightful partners in crime. I loved the family rivalry and the way we got backstory for all the different store owners — would definitely love to see a part 2 where the Kwon and Li families find Uncle Joe and confront him. This was definitely a fun read with a delightful holiday vibe.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book follows Chloe and Peter - two teens whose parents own rival businesses - as they team up over the festive season to save the mall where their families' restaurants are located.

The plot wasn't the most unique thing I've ever read, but I think the writing was good, and it was a fun, fluffy YA filled with wholesome Christmas moments. While it is a lighthearted read, it does still touch on some more serious topics, which I appreciated.

Overall, I don't have much to say about this one other than I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would!

This was fun but not my favorite by her. I was hoping for more Christmas as it's in the title. But I really liked that these two "enemies" (well mostly their parents are at odds so that didn't give the kids a chance to never meet before) took a seemingly impossible task to save their respective family restaurants from a mall closure.

I liked Peter and Chloe all right and was ok with their relationship progression but I didn't totally vibe with their connection to each other. But I did grow more in appreciation for their culture and what it really means for (whenever in the family line) their coming to America.

This book came at an important time for the author and I really respect that. She brought in a bit of racial inequality and it's important for this day and age.

a cute enemies-to-lovers ya read! there wasn't much christmas (as the title implies) but it was still a quick, cute read.

Two teenagers from two rival families team up to save their local mall. I enjoyed the theme of hope and community that was present in this story. I also found both Chloe and Peter to be likeable characters and I became invested in their mission. It was a great holiday story but even more than that it was a great story of friendship and family! Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I adored The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park. It’s a rivals-to-lovers book set against the backdrop of a mall’s food court being threatened with closure at Christmastime.

The nostalgia factor was high on this one for me, especially as it’s set in my hometown of Nashville. You can’t tell me Riverwood Mall wasn’t inspired in part by Rivergate Mall, where I spent way too much time as a teen!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

2.5 stars rounded up

The Christmas Clash is a cute YA romantic comedy with a splash of holidays in it. The Kwon and Li families have had a 16 year long feud between their restaurants at the Riverwood Mall, and rivals Chloe and Peter now find themselves needing to work together to help save the mall from closing.

Chloe and Peter's relationship is typical enemies to lovers, and I enjoyed their banter. I did find Chloe slightly immature for a 16 year old.

The title and synopsis both suggest the book to be holiday themed, and to a certain extent it is, bur not as much as I was hoping. Both characters have Christmas themed jobs, but the actual holiday is glossed over. (Though we did get some fun Thanksgiving day scenes!)

I listened to this one on audio, and overall I did like it, but I enjoyed the narration during Peter's chapters more than Chloe's.

Chloe Kwon can't stand Peter Li. Their families don't get along either - their parents operate rival restaurants in the Riverwood Mall food court. It's all Chloe can do to avoid Peter, but when the mall is about to be sold and their parents receive eviction notices right before Christmas, Chloe and Peter realize that they need to join forces to try to save the mall. But just when it seems like they can put their differences aside and work together, Chloe and Peter discover that the Kwon and Li feud goes far deeper than either of them realize...

Despite the title having the word Christmas in it, I found this book to be lacking in Christmas content - the only really Christmassy aspect was Chloe's job as a photographer at the mall's Santa Land. I also found that the characters read a lot younger than they actually were. I enjoyed Chloe's POV and seeing her development throughout the story, but some of the events did feel quite repetitive and the pacing was a little off at times. I think this would be a great read for younger teens and brings some more diversity to the holiday rom-com genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

A festive enemies to lovers YA holiday book! Featuring Romeo & Juliette vibes, this book is focused on the children of rival food court restaurants who just can't stand each other... until they start to swap dinners... and feelings...

Focused on saving their family businesses, Chloe and Peter can't stay away from each other once they realize their lives were a lot more similar than they thought.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun YA holiday read!

Very traditional holiday romance novel about two people falling in love while their families have a bitter rivalry between restaurants. Can they overcome the family rivalry to be together.

This book was supposed to be a Christmas themed book but I really don't feel it portrayed Christmas enough. The plot also felt too over the top in some areas and I just didn't enjoy reading it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced copy! This was a cute holiday read - dueling mall quick service restaurants and the two main characters also had other mall jobs that were in forced close proximity to each other. I liked the developing friendship, sub plot, seeing how the two are linked and the mystery between the families. I do think the ending was a big of poof -magic, everything solved! A bit YA angsty for me but still enjoyable.

I love anything Suzanne Park and this was another hit for her. I really enjoyed the characters, the christmas/holiday theming and the plot.

The Christmas Clash is my second book by Suzanne Park. I love the idea of the two warring families with mall restaurants (all the food sounded delicious!), but I struggled to stay invested in the story. Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me.

I grew up during the Golden Age of malls - the 80s & 90s - and watched my own childhood mall slowly fade away into obscurity, now standing solely as an abandoned building, a relic of an era gone by. There has been a renewed interest in malls in media lately, and I am always excited to pick up a book or watch a show that features a shopping mall. There was something about meeting up with your friends, strolling through the mall for cute clothes, and hitting up the food court for a snack that you just can't get from online shopping.

Suzanne Park's The Christmas Clash combines malls with Christmas in a fun, yet punchy YA novel about two teens whose families run rival Asian restaurants in a mall that has seen better days. This book follows them in the months leading up to Christmas as they set aside their differences to save their local mall and their families' restaurants.

Just like the teens, Chloe and Peter, in this book, I have a love-hate relationship with this novel. Let's start with the good. The Christmas Clash features teenagers who respect their parents and do what they can to support and be a part of their families. Both Chloe and Peter are aspirational characters with hopes, dreams, and talents. However, I really picked up this book to read a Christmas novel, so I was disappointed to discover just how little of the holiday this book contained. Aside from Chloe's job as a Mall Santa photographer and Peter's job where he runs a holiday-themed virtual reality stand, there is very little mention of Christmas at all.

I read this novel at Christmas because I wanted to indulge in a book full of holiday cheer, but that is not the case with The Christmas Clash. Instead, this is a good, not great, contemporary YA romance with just a sprinkle of Christmas.

I loved this one. it was super cute for teens and young adults. I couldn't get enough. I loved our Macs and the plot. I love parks writing and I highly recommend.

The Christmas Clash is a great YA romance that came out in October. I finally got around to finishing it this weekend via audiobook - don’t be like me and put this one off! It’s charming and sweet. And the two narrators of the audiobook (Jay Lai and Jennifer Sun Bell) were particularly excellent!
Korean-American Chloe and Chinese-American Peter are classmates who don’t get along, from families that don’t get along. Chloe’s parents run a Korean restaurant at the local mall, while across the food court there is a Chinese restaurant run by Peter’s parents. Right before Christmas, the restaurants are notified the mall is being demolished in order to put up some condos. Chloe and Peter work together to understand the legal jargon and help try to save the mall. The dual POV chapters alternate between Chloe and Peter - such a fun way to experience an enemies to friends to lovers book! I loved witnessing Chloe’s growth, as she began to believe in herself as the book progressed. Thank you, Suzanne Park, for keeping Asian Americans front and center in your novels - we need more of those!
And, because of the mall setting, I’ve had the Robin Sparkles song “Let’s Go to the Mall” from How I Met Your Mother running through my head while reading!!
Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This one is available now, and it’s not as holiday-y as I anticipated from the title, meaning you could read this at any time of the year.