A wonderful Christmas read! I love a cozy holiday read and this delivered! Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this copy!

A modern and unique Christmas story that gives a fresh take on complicated emotions during the festive season. A wonderful book for the holidays!

This was such an adorable book! Right from the start of it I was hooked. I ended up finishing it in two days, I didn’t want to put it down. I loved the concept of the book, that this group of friends made the holiday special for themselves. This was such a great story of friendship and growth of oneself. I loved all the characters in this book! Also, I know it says it’s a romance book, but I wouldn’t really say it’s romance, it’s more of a book about friendship. I do highly recommend checking it out!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this slightly untraditional Christmas rom-com with its timeline that bounced between present day and past Christmases. Fantastic character development and deep friendships between the main characters. There were certainly laugh out loud portions but they were well balanced with sections where you felt the grief and loss and fear and uncertainty. This was the perfect book to kick off my holiday reading!

This was a fun Christmas story! I appreciated that it was more real and less cheesy than most books in this sub-genre. There was a lot I liked but did find myself not as excited to pick it back up as I would have hoped. Overall I enjoyed it and look forward to what's next from this author.

First off, I absolutely LOVE the cover. If I were looking for a Christmas book, this one would definitely catch my attention.

I loved the concept of this book, and enjoyed the found family trope. The authors created diverse characters, and made them complex and relatable. However, the book felt more YA to me, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't marketed that way. The characters, especially Hannah, are immature and whiny at times. (Which would make sense for a YA novel, but I assume the characters were mid to late 20s). I also didn't feel the romance subplot was needed.

Overall, The Christmas Orphans Club was an enjoyable read, but I wouldn't put it at the top of my list. But if you have the opportunity to read it, it's worth the read.

I absolutely loved this book! It was definitely not what I thought it would be about, which made me appreciate it even more. I loved the dual timeline and how the author incorporated it in the story. Definitely a feel good story

I loved this book! It’s so New York with excellent points of reference. And so real in portraying a close group of friends growing and changing over time.

I absolutely loved this book, and not just because it combined some of my favorite things: books about New York, books about friend groups, and books about the holidays. Becca Freeman has such a lovely way with words and descriptions and I found it so hard to believe this was a debut novel.

Hannah and Finn become friends in college when they are both alone on Christmas and from there create a tradition of Christmas adventures together, as well as a very close friendship. Throughout the years they add Theo and Priya to their group, and the four of them are a cohesive unit.

I loved all the very real dynamics between the four of them, as well as watching them navigate career decisions, relationships, and the ups and downs of living in your 20s and 30s. I loved the theme of found family and how much friends and chosen relationships can mean to a person.

One thing that was depicted so well is the struggle of friendships changing and feeling like you are the one being left behind -- I know this feeling so well and could very much relate to these parts.

All of the pop culture and New York references were so great, and I found myself laughing and smiling at all of them.

I would recommend this to anyone that wants a feel good holiday book -- it is very heartwarming while also dealing with heavy and real world issues. I am so excited to see what Becca Freeman writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I loved this book! Maybe it had something to do with being a twenty-something in NYC, but I felt like I really connected with Hannah's character and her need for a found family. At times, I did find Hannah to be a bit much but I think that was the point of her character and it helps her realizations at the end of the book ring a little bit truer. It made me want to be a part of the Christmas Orphans Club (as I myself have spent many a Christmas in NYC alone). I think it's a great debut novel.

“I never expected to be having one of the most important conversations of my life with a Dunkin’ iced coffee in my hand. This must be what it feels like to be Ben Affleck”

My first holiday read of the season and it was a GOOD one!! I really enjoyed my time with Theo, Hannah, Finn, and Priya - what a lovely group of humans. I could tell that there was so much love between these friends. As a born + raised Massachusetts girly, I loved the Paradise Rock Club and Cleveland Circle mentions; it helped me imagine myself in the story (Boston doesn’t get enough representation in the romance world!!!) I resonated heavily with Hannah’s grief and there were parts that made me so sad because I truly understood how she was feeling.

I can’t wait to read Freeman’s next book. This was such a pleasure to read!

highlights:
- Bloodline reference
- queer + POC characters
- based in Boston + NYC
- feel-good holiday read
- Flat Stanley reference

NYC is the backdrop for this festive story of found family sharing Christmas over the years with plenty of fun pop culture references for the Millennial readers. It's not all seasonal fun, though. These friends experience some pretty devastating heartbreaks and struggles over the years! But at least they have each other and Christmas together. Great holiday read to get into the spirit.

I absolutely loved this sweet, funny, and highly relatable story of friendship in New York City. It’s like a love letter to the holidays and the magic of Manhattan with 4 truly lovely friends who have become family to each other in the 10 Christmases since college. it is well written, and just the perfect amount of heart warming without being saccharine. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a warm and fuzzy holiday read, especially if they love NY and pop culture (which I do!)

I was looking forward to this book having followed Becca Freeman's journey as a first-time author on Instagram. This "genre" is new for me as I haven't read any holiday-themed books. I thought the book delivered on presenting a complex story of chosen family and lots of detail about living in and experiencing New York City. You could really feel the struggles of being in your 20's and trying to hold onto the friendships and connections you have, even though you and your friends are all growing up. At the same time, I think the character of Hannah got a little annoying for me towards the middle/end as she just couldn't realize that life was moving on for people (and her too!). Everyone was growing up and her stubbornness sort of started to get old for me.

The other minor gripe I have about the book is that there was an overuse of very specific references -- to pop songs, famous people, restaurants/bars, etc. Even terms of speech -- is this book meant for a younger generation? There were some phrases of speech I sort of had to do a double take on and even google at times. If I (as an American) struggled with some of the very specific references (were they necessary?) and phrases of speech, how will this book translate for a non-US audience? I think a lot of that detail will be lost to other audiences, and indeed maybe wasn't necessary in the book. I read some sentences removing some of the very specific references and it didn't seem to lose anything for me.

For anyone who loves holiday books and New York city, especially perhaps those of a more millennial generation, this would be a good read.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted e-copy.

This was the perfect book to jump start my holiday reading. Hannah lost her parents in her teens, and was planning to spend Christmas alone, when a stranger knocks on her door and takes her on an adventure. This turns into a yearly tradition for new best friends Hannah and Finn, and they add to their little group each year. Only, this Christmas might be their last together, as Finn is about to move across country. Hannah is hesitant to break their tradition, and doesn't want things to change, even though now she could spend her Christmas with her boyfriend's family.

The book alternates between this current Christmas, and past Christmases so we get the full backstory on Hannah and her friends. We also alternate POV between Hannah and Finn, so we get two different perspectives, which I loved. There's also a lot of underlying themes such as family, found family, love, grief, etc. It's the perfect mix of a holiday read with some deeper segments that will tug at your heart.

I love to point out that this is a DEBUT novel (SO WELL DONE!), and I can't wait to read more from Becca!

The Christmas Orphans Club follows a group of friends who get together to celebrate Christmas in different unconventional ways every year. There are so many things I loved about this debut! It reads like a romance but this book is all about the friendships between Hannah, Finn, Theo and Priya. I loved the concept of making your own family and also how much meaning friendships can bring to your life.

This book leaps back and forth between present day and past Christmases and it was really fun the way this was done. I loved reading about all the previous Christmases and each added a layer to the present day story. It made me want to keep reading just a little bit more!

I also loved it being set in New York! Just such a fun setting for a book like this.

I would have liked more on Priya but that’s my only complaint.

This book was just pure delight and exactly what I needed to read. It gave me the warm and fuzzies and I just loved it. Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a really cute “found family” story featuring a group of young adults with individual family issues that choose to spend their Christmases together and consequently end up being the dearest of friends. There are good times, there is drama. There are happy times and a couple of sad times. There is some romance in here, but the friend-relationships are far more prevalent. I liked it.

I didn’t particularly love the nonlinear aspect of the story-I couldn’t keep up with the timeline at all. (Which year is it, again?) But when I chose to ignore the time settings of each chapter, I ended up liking it. I’m not sure I would want to be friends with this entire group, but it was fun to read about the development of their friendship.

Readers who love found family stories and “big city” settings-especially NYC-will likely enjoy this one.

I received an early digital arc of this title from Penguin Books & NetGalley in exchange for a review. However I had a hard time reading the arc due to font size, so I grabbed it from library as soon as it was available and was able to enjoy it that way. Thank you, Penguin!

Yes, I’m digging into my holiday book tbr already! 💙 After reading almost solely dark books for a couple months, a holiday-themed book is just what I needed!

Read this if you enjoy:
🧤Found family trope
🧣Friendship themes over romance
🧤Nonlinear timelines
🧣Dual POV

This is a quick holiday read about friendships and learning to adapt to changes. I think I went into this expecting it to be more of a rom-com, but it’s definitely more friendship focused for the vast majority of the book which is so cool and unique!

Found family tropes are always fun and I admire the author for tackling the topic of being “alone for the holidays” which goes against the societal grain of what holidays are supposed to look like.

Overall, the book was a sweet and easy read. There were side characters with less development and page time than I’d hoped for and I didn't always like the MC that much so it hurt my enjoyment of the book to an extent. Still an easy, cute holiday read!

Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Books for the eARC!

It was cute and festive! I liked the outlook of a friends romance and found the relationship between the two main characters to be relatable actually.

This is the perfect kind of Rom-Com that I absolutely love! As someone who has spent a lot of my adult years as a single person, I can really connect with these characters in many ways. I have always found "friend family" to be so important. I loved every one of these characters and grew to love them as friends that I will miss. This one made me laugh out loud, smile a whole lot and even shed a few tears. As a longtime listener of the @badonpaperpodcast, I am so very happy for @beccamfreeman. I think she wrote a wonderful book that was the perfect start to the holiday reading season. I cannot wait for her next one! Many thanks to @netgalley and @penguinbooks for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.