Reviews
It's hard to rate a book that consists of 12 very different stories. So I counted how many stories I liked and based my rating on that. I like 7 stories out of 12 so that's 58%. I opted for a 3-star. First and foremost, I think anyone who expected this book to be all about Christmas would not really get what they want. I think the design of the book cover or the foreword really did not claim that it would be a Christmas-themed book. It's just simple stories that had the "12 days of Christmas" as their prompts. I was fine with that and was even impressed by how diverse the stories are and how each author interpreted the prompts so uniquely. The very first story, A Partridge in a Pear Tree, was a difficult story to get into and it's hard to push through the other stories when you start with that. The only thing I can remember of this story was the kitchen floor love-making, and maybe a princess. Still, I managed to finish the book, so here are my short thoughts on each of the stories: Two Turtle-Doves was fine. Three French Hens was spicy and as always with stories like this, it made me roll my eyes at any men and their infidelities. Four Calling Birds was good for me. I don't know if that one uncalled scene was necessarily needed for the plot or if it was just there for a grittier effect. Five Gold Rings was a sad story, especially since it was based on a true story. Six Geese a-Laying was my favorite! It had enough mystery and spook. Seven Swans a-Swimming was not so memorable to me. I'm not even sure if I understood every part of it. Did Nick cheat on Lola? I am not sure. Eight Maids a-milking, I am not sure if the prompt was well applied here but I enjoyed the story mostly because that one line about a lingering sadness that the protagonist claims is something he can survive or live by resonated within me. I also liked that Jim questioned if there's any purpose of his living normally in contrast to his venturous past now that he claims he wouldn't meet people like Scott and Eva anymore and then the story proceeds to show a purpose for him anyway. At least I perceived the story that way. Nine Ladies Dancing was a nice touch of fantasy, but I don't easily root for the unwarranted saving of a damsel out of love at first sight. Ten Lords a-Leaping was a hard read. I didn't like it that much as well. Eleven Pipers Piping - couldn't care about it. I just can't agree on some points about that story. Twelve Drummers Drumming - this one made me teary, thanks to it's last sentence. This is probably my second favorite.