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.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley and the wonderful Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an e-ARC copy of The Christmas Clash, in exchange for my honest review.

This end of year has been very chaotic and I'm only now getting to review it, but it's been out for two months now.

The Christmas Clash is a YA contemporary set around the holidays that follows Chloe and Peter, two Asian Americans - Korean and Chinese respectively - that work at their town's mall and who come from warring restaurant-owning families. Something happened in the past, and these two families just hate each other. Of course, Chloe and Peter will end up NOT hating each other. The mall is about to get shut down, and with it their respective families' American Dream, so the two teens team up to try and save it.

Chloe is creative, introverted, and socially anxious. Peter is laid back and social. Opposites attract, naturally. And their different skills lend themselves to working together on a plan to save the mall.

I really enjoyed the representation in this book, the look into two immigrant families, how they differ, and how they're alike. The characters and plot were cute, not too Christmassy but it definitely felt cheerful. Chloe's photography plays a role both in her character development and in the plot, a pleasant surprise to see for a YA character's hobby. I knocked off a star because this was sold more as an enemies to lovers, and it was more a my-family-hates-you-but-I-think-you're-cute to lovers.

Overall, if you read YA and like books set around the holidays, this one is a solid recmmendation.

This book didn't have a lot of Christmasy vibes but it was a cute one that took me back to my teenage years and my 'Sweet Dreams' series obsession! Gosh I loved every book I read in that series (which weren't a lot tbh)!

Reading this book was a nice reminder to those days which as an adult I do miss at times 💕.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Sourcebooks Fire and the author for the e-Arc of the book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨💫

This one hit a little too close to home because I used to work in mall management / commercial real estate — it’s a wild world out there and reading this book gave me a little PTSD. The romance was a bit predictable and tropey and I couldn’t vibe for the characters. Wasn’t too excited about this one unfortunately!

Chloe Kwon and Peter Li are high schoolers whose parents run restaurants in the local mall - Korean for the Kwons, and Chinese for the Lis. A long-standing feud between the parents filters down to Chloe and Peter, who honestly have no idea why their parents hate each other and forbid them to be friends. When the mall is slated for demolition, Chloe and Peter must work together to try and save the mall. Definitely a YA novel, but it was a fun read for me. The witty dialogue reminded me of the Stephanie Plum character in Janet Evanovich's books. I would give this a 3.5 in stars; quick, light read. Thanks to Netgalley for ARC of this book; all opinions are my own.

The Christmas Clash (TCC) is a cute YA enemies to friends to lovers romance about two kids from rival restaurants in the local mall. But when they find out the mall is due to be demolished they decide to work together to save it.

TCC was really cute! It reminded me of the contemporary YA books I read when I was a teen, when YA protagonists were allowed to be teenagers instead of masquerading as adults to please adult readers. Bring back real teen protagonists 2K23 👏🏻

TCC is told from two perspectives, and I enjoyed them both! Chloe Kwon is Korean-American, and struggles to fit into the image of the perfect daughter she thinks her parents want. Chloe really doubts herself sometimes, and it was lovely for her to find out her parents support her and love her just as she is.

Peter Li is Chinese-American, and much like Chloe, tries to be the perfect son. Peter wasn’t as centre stage as Chloe and I would have liked to see more interactions between him and his parents becuse meeting their expectations is something he mentioned a lot, but I still enjoyed his character.

The romance between the two was so sweet and I loved how they bantered like an old married couple 👌🏻

I also liked the easy to read writing style; it flowed nicely and I just fell into the story whenever I turned on my kindle to read it.

My one disappointment was that for a book called The CHRISTMAS Clash the entire book was set in November 🥹 The only chapters set in December were the last two. So it didn’t really feel like a Christmas book, which is what I wanted from it 🥲 I still did enjoy it overall though!

I loved everything about this book! It was so sweet and charming. Suzanne does a great job with dual POV of both Chloe and Peter. It's one of the best YA friends to lovers books that I've read.

I also love that Suzanne touched on real issues such as racism. As someone who grew up going to the mall a lot, I loved that it was the backdrop of this story.

The book was so fun and heartfelt. I cried at the end!

I will promptly be reading Suzanne’s back log and she’s an automatic buy for future books ❤️.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

As someone who spent five years of my life working in a mall, I loved this holiday story set in a mall. This romance was sweet and thoughtful, dealing with the way malls in America has changed so drastically. This is a story about family and the American dream. It was a fun read and filled me with nostalgia. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Give me 800 more Christmas romcoms with Asian-American characters. This was so fun, and charming, and still stood out nicely in a field of second-gen immigrant YA books. It did run long, some descriptive sections could have been cut without taking away from the plot or the world-building; I caught myself skimming sometimes. But I enjoyed the character development of both MCs and the parents' backstory.

The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park
Rating: 4 stars
Pub Date: 10/4

I enjoyed this feel-good rom-com! I received an arc from NetGalley but ended up listening to it with my Scribd subscription. The audiobook is narrated by Jay Lai and Jennifer Sun Bell, and I loved their dual narration!

This is a Romeo and Juliet-style story about two rival families who each have an Asian restaurant in the mall’s food court. They’ve been rivals for as long as anyone can remember, and Chloe and Peter have always stayed away from each other. But when the mall is put up for sale, and their family’s livelihoods are threatened, they must put aside their differences and work together to save their parents’ businesses.

I’m a sucker for a good YA novel, and the whole ‘rival families, enemies-to-lovers’ angle is what sold me. It reminded me of the Holiday Switch, which I also enjoyed last Christmas, only this felt a little younger. It’s a sweet rom-com about friendship and first love and standing up for yourself and your family. Peter and Chloe made an adorable couple, and I loved watching their sweet friendship turn into more. It was light and fun and just what I was hoping for in this YA rom-com.

My only small criticism is that it didn’t feel very Christmasy. The title and cover suggest that it’s a Christmas rom-com, but besides Chloe working for the mall Santa, there aren’t a lot of Christmas vibes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the gifted copy to read and review.

I recommend you read this one if you like YA (on the younger side), 'save the town' vibes and holiday books that are light on the Christmas.

~ Brief Synopsis ~
Chloe and Peter can't stand each other. Their families are rivals too. But they have to share a space as both of their restaurants are located in Riverwood Mall. When Chloe and Peter discover that the mall is about to be sold and demolished, they are forced to work together to save their parents' livelihood.

~ My Thoughts ~
This book is definitely on the young side of YA. It's reads more like middle school. It was cute and inoffensive. It's marketed as a holiday book but there wasn't a whole lot of Christmas - unfortunately not what I was looking for.

I enjoyed the duel perspectives (although both Chloe and Peter had similar voices) and that the story revolves around Asian American families. The talk of food also made me quite hungry and I definitely wanted to try some of the dishes after reading.

This one missed the mark for me but definitely give it a go if it seems like one you would enjoy!

Thank you @netgalley and @sourcebooksfire for my gifted ARC

WHY DID I LISTEN TO THE CHRISTMAS CLASH BY SUZANNE PARK?
Honestly, The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park was available right then and there on Libby. I am also trying to get through both my Netgalley queue and read some more holiday themed books, so this was a two for one advantage to listen to. Also, I liked the rivals to lovers concept of this story as well. So, I had to take advantage and listen sooner rather than later.

The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park is a good book to get into the holiday spirit earlier in the season. This audiobook was a fun listen.
WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
The Christmas Clash is about two teenagers who work in the mall. Chloe Kwan is a photographer in Santaland. Her parents also own the Korean restaurant in the mall. Peter Li works at the virtual reality arcade. His parents own the Chinese restaurant. Their families have always had this animosity and rivalry towards each other. However, Chloe and Peter must put the animosity aside when they discover that the mall is going to be demolished and their parents are going to lose their restaurants. They come together to do their level best to save the mall.

HOW DID I LIKE THE BOOK AND THE NARRATION?
I enjoyed my time reading and listening to The Christmas Clash. The alternating chapters between Chloe and Peter added some variety for me which in turn helped to keep my attention. Chloe and Peter were interesting characters as well – I loved the side plot about Chloe’s mentorship with a renowned photographer. I also thought the background story about what happened between the Li family and the Kwan family was interesting and well paced out. The narration was provided by Jay Lai and Jennifer Sun Bell. Both were a pleasure to listen to. The audiobook is 8 hours and 17 minutes long — but goes by fast. I listened to it sped up because the pressure is on to get through more books.

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO BUDDY THE ELF, HOW MUCH CHRISTMAS SPIRIT DOES THE CHRISTMAS CLASH HAVE?
The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park is a good book to get into the holiday spirit earlier in the season. There’s actually a Thanksgiving scene in this book and then it does go up to the holiday pretty much. Also, some of the virtual reality games at Peter’s job are holiday themed which I thought was cool. This was fun — maybe not life changing – but a fun easy read.

This was a fun holiday YA read. I wouldn’t necessarily consider it a Christmas book though. The timing of things take place around Christmas, but that’s about it. I really enjoyed Chloe and Peter and loved how the book started out—with their feuds. However, that part didn’t last very long! I needed more 😂. I kind of thought the feud between their families was silly, and nothing to start an all-out war over, haha! But I still enjoyed it!

My favorite quotes:

“There were two kinds of people in the world: wind chime people and normal people.” —Chloe

“It was like admiring a butterfly…You didn’t want to startle or disrupt the moment of simple beauty, especially when you knew the moment was fleeting.”—Peter

This really isn’t a Christmas book. It happens during Christmas but it doesn't have much to do with Christmas, apart from the Santa village where one of the characters work. Also there is little Christmas cheer. The main holiday is actually Thanksgiving. It’s a cute YA and an easy read, it’s like a predictable but nice Made for TV Christmas Movie

This YA contemporary romance was not for me.

It was slow. The enemies to lovers trope didn't make sense to me, the MCs got along well pretty early on.

I'm sure other YA romance readers will love this story though.

I just didn't find this book hilarious as it was described or very funny at all. The story is slow and I had a really hard time wanting to keep reading this book.

Overall, this book just wasn't for me and I didn't enjoy it.

This definitely skews toward the young end of the Young Adult audience, but it’s fun and sweet and not overly angsty, and I always love a mall setting, especially if it figures heavily into the plot (it absolutely does here).

The Christmas Clash is a charming book about a decades old mall food court feud between two sets of parents whose kids decide to put aside the family rivalry and ban together (perhaps even fall in love?) when the mall is in danger of closing, putting both families’ businesses at risk.

I liked the premise for this a lot and loved that the story focused more on the families and the two protagonists individuality rather than the romance or their identity as a couple. It makes for an age-appropriate love story that doesn’t get too overwrought or schmaltzy.

I wish the book had been a bit more Christmasy (it definitely takes place at the holidays and there are a few mall plot points that acknowledge that) but I think there were some missed opportunities for more festive atmosphere in a book that is marketing itself specifically as a Christmas book.