It wasn't a bad book but it could have been better. The idea was there just poorly executed. There were a few spots where it was repetitive. I figured out the whole plot before I was even half way done. Then the ending were they gave him the hero complex and then said not to give him the hero complex seemed dull and didn't need to be stated.

Thank you BooksGoSocial and Netgalley for this gifted e-copy, in exchange for an honest review. Xmas Break is out now! I think my favorite setting ever in an thriller is a secluded snowy cabin. I absolutely loved the setting of this one! Otherwise this one felt like a fairly generic winter thriller. The characters were a bit bland and the plot didn't really seem to have a purpose. This one wasn't quite my cup of tea. 2.75/5

This was a free ARC. A nice little christmas 'thriller'. I couldn't take it too seriously, it was just OK. Nothing gripping but nothing terrible either. I'm sure it has an audience with some readers. Me I prefer more gritty thrillers.but I liked the premise and the christmassy setting. Just a 3 from me.

Novellas can be so fun and action packed. This was definitely that. I loved the mystery and trying to figure it out as the story progressed. A fun Christmas thriller!

I really liked the idea of an advent book that you read one chapter of every day from December 1 to Christmas. Unfortunately though, this story came together a little strange to me at the end and felt out of place. At one point, instead of trying to help her injured brother-in-law, the protagonist decided to make hot chocolate. It was almost comical. The metaphors got cheesy and too much for me.

I love a good Christmas thriller, but this one seemed a little silly and unrealistic to me. It did throw me off on who the killer was and it is sometimes hard to have a twist but it didn’t mesh together as well as I hoped. It’s a short read, so if you like thrillers I would recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

I love the idea of this book. It was a nice short Christmas thriller that you could read on the lead up to the 25 days till Christmas or you could read in one sitting. For me, it was too good to wait to read every day. I thought the writing was great, the story / plot was great. I hope the author writes more of these for years to come.

Xmas Break was meant to be read as like a little advent calendar with one chapter being read each day…but of course I couldn’t hang with that! I devoured this book. It was so good!

Stuck in a snowstorm with her estranged sister, brother in law and her husband…Isla ends up in a real life horror story. People are dropping like flies in the storm and no one can truly be trusted. Who will survive the night?

This was pretty much a popcorn book kind of thriller. It was short, moved along quickly, and held my attention. There's also a sprinkling of suspense and a dash festive vibes. It's a decent enough quick read if you're in the mood for something without much substance. The characters weren't the strongest (probably due to the shortness of the story), but I liked the sisters' relationship. That was the highlight of the book for me.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

A quick, simple, thriller novella about a Christmas vacation gone horribly wrong. The reveal was a little lackluster and the overall storyline maybe too simple for my liking, but this was a pretty painless read since it totaled just under 200 pages.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the advanced read copy. I was excited for this one, but it was a Do not Finish for me. I normally like the premise of secluded cabin around the holidays thriller. But I could not get into this one. I appreciate the copy!

This had the potential to be a great Xmas thriller, but I think some flushing out of the characters would’ve went a long way. It is a novella, so keep that in mind. It definitely has a creepy vibe though.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was a quick, easy thriller that was perfect for a holiday downtime read. Part of me wished for it to be a bit shorter, while the other part wanted it to just be a full book. Overall, I enjoyed it!

I’m sorry but there genuinely wasn’t a thing that kept me interested in this book.

The Characters
The characters were the first red flag to me. They were so flat. It felt like they had absolutely no personality and none of their actions seemed to make sense. Especially when they just wouldn’t call the police. I feel like normal thrillers and mysteries have a reason for this, as to why they can’t contact anyone, but the characters in this book just didn’t want to? It felt like the events of the whole book hinged on the characters being stupid and not doing what a sane person would do.
The plot
The plot for this book was what I hoped could save it but it fell completely flat. It felt so random like the scene for the story was created first and everything else was just tacked on to interest people in the story. At the twenty per cent mark, I just stopped caring about the plot, because the whole story annoyed me so much to the point where I began to wish the characters would die.
The setting
The setting of this book was the only thing that was done okay, I could picture it. It just felt really weird, how the decorations were described,
The writing
The writing in this book could barely keep me engaged, the best part was the descriptions of the setting, everything else felt like I was wading through a swamp. While it could work well for some readers, it could not keep my attention at all.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

The suggested reading for this is as an adventure book - read a chapter a day until Christmas. I'm glad I didn't do that and read it all in one go, I wouldn't have finished the book otherwise.

This didn't work for me. I didn't enjoy the writing, and the plot was predictable.

[NetGalley Read #21]
3.25 ⭐

Well, I'm glad for the final two chapters. Lifting the mood from absolute melancholia to a bit of hope and merriment.

Starts a bit slow. A bit repetitive. Then really picks up the pace in the middle and ends on a relatively high note.

It's not perfect (which is one of themes of the book). But it's not really bad either. There are flashes of brilliance. Then there are also some odd choices of words/sentences and repititions that are a bit jarring.

Despite all its faults, there is a certain allure (atleast to me) to the writing and the characters that I can't quite define/explain. Similar to another book from this author called The Other Passenger.

It is quite short since it is a novella. 25 chapters. Christmas themed. Easy to read.

If you're short on your reading challenge for the year, give it a read.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I don't think the writing was not great and I just felt like there was no plot. This one was short but it felt way longer because of the writing.

I hope others love this one.

Xmas Break by J.E. Rowney

Isla and her husband accept a holiday invitation from her estranged sister. Her sister has planned a magazine worthy Christmas, but what starts off as a stiff sibling reunion ends up a night fighting for survival.

I loved the setting for this story! I found the back story interesting and thought it set up the story well. I wanted to know what pushed the sisters apart and was wondering what happened after their mother's death. I thought the small cast of characters made it easy to get into the story, as you don't have as long to build within a novella. I wasn't satisfied by the ending because it just felt unbelievable, based on the first half of the book, but maybe I'm reading too much into it for such a short story.

It was a break from happy holiday romances - which I just get bored of after a while! I also started this on Christmas Eve, so I was too late, but there are 25 chapters - so you could read it as an advent calendar and read a chapter each day in December! Such a cool idea!

Xmas Break by J.E. Rowney

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0

I read this book as an advent calendar book as it was designed. I really enjoyed the idea of reading one piece each day. Each Chapter ends on a cliffhanger , so I was genuinely interested in what happens next.

The horror story id describe as Lifetime TV movie horror/thriller.

What I loved 💕:
💕 The advent chapter / Calendar style of the book
💕chapters lengths were short. (Easy to stick to the reading pacing for advent calendar)
💕The estranged sisters
💕The invitation to a secluded place trope
💕The way family & partner dynamics played off against the horror / thriller


What was not my cuppa ☕️:
☕️ The motivation for murder wasn’t grounded in strong theory.
☕️ I personally would have liked the thriller dial turned up slightly.
☕️Ideally I would have liked each chapter sealed for actually opening like I’ve seen other book advent calendars do.
☕️Because of the nature of the book & cliff hangers not really reread material

Ideal Reader:
✨Someone looking for a Christmas read that is thriller instead of romance
✨Someone keen to try a book chapter adventure calendar
✨Some on who likes a HEA thriller

This book was a fast Christmas read. While I liked the length, the story kind of fell flat. It was obviously heavily influenced by the shining, but once our villain was found out so quickly everything else fell flat after that. I also didn’t love the wholesome family element incorporated in.