My True Love Gave to Me

Review soon

★★★★☆ (4) “But people don't need to remember how it felt to be happy and safe in the past. They need to have hope that they can get there again in the future.” I've been planning to read this book for a long time because i love christmas and i love stories and this is basically those two things together. I want to spend this month reading things that get me in the mood for the season, so this seemed like the perfect start. Overall, i think it was a great book. Each story was so different from the others, and while that may be a good thing for some of them, i didn't love them all. I felt the need to move on to the next one a couple of times because i was bored or sad, but i stuck with it and eventually changing my opinions of them. I'll do a brief review of each of the stories, so that way i can fangirl over my favorite ones. 1. Midnight by Rainbow Rowell. ★★★★★ (5/5) “You're a kaleidoscope, you change every time I look away.” We started off strong. I didn't expect to love this one so much, considering that i have some mixed opinions on Rainbow Rowell's works, but I'm easily won over with a best-friends-to-lovers trope (my all-time favorite trope) and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love how the story travels through the years to follow Mags and Noel's friendship dynamic, how it changes as they grow older and how they try so hard to hold on to each other. When i felt the emotion of the protagonist throughout the pages, as i did when Noel was holding Mags so close, i completely fell in love with this story. This one set my expectations really high for the ones coming up. 2. The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link. ★★★☆☆ (3/5) “She knows, every part of her knows, that she wants to kiss him. That he wants to kiss her. All of her skin prickles with longing. Her insides fizz. And my expectations crashed on this one. It was okay, nice story, a good writing style, but i never really connected with what was going on. I really like the fox detail because it reminds me of the Little Prince, but the romance seemed kinda odd to me, i don't know. I think i didn't really enjoy those chapters that were related to magic, and some of them were actually a bit depressing, which was the exact opposite of why i was reading this. 3. Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña. ★★★★☆ (4/5) “I guess I don't really know what I want to do, either. Sometimes I feel like a shook-up bottle of soda. Like, I have all this passion that wants to explode, but I don't know where to aim it yet.” I have mixed opinions on this one. The story: good, i like it. My urges to punch the protagonist with a book in the head: huge. I understood Shy's concerns and his reasons for lying, but it still didn't seem like a good justification to keep doing it and i was really worried that he might starve to death on Christmas and that would had been really sad. For a moment, i had some conflicting opinions about the romantic relationship too, but they disappeared down with the wine scene. Like i said, I'm an easy woman and romance have a soft spot in me. 4. Polaris Is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han. ★★★★☆ (4.5/5) "Living where I live, it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between magic and make believe." SO CLOSE TO A 5 STAR'S STORY. SO CLOSE. This is my first time reading Jenny Han and i was really excited. It was when i started this story that realized that this book had many authors that i was looking forward to reading and i was happy about it. Jenny didn't disappoint me, but she made me feel kinda sad about everything. About Natalie. About Flynn. About the ending. It was my least favorite ending because it felt so bittersweet, like getting something you really wanted and then realized that it isn't how you imagined it. I had no idea what the ending was trying to say: did she leave the north pole? If i was in her place, i would, because I'm such a cry baby and i felt so bad about how the elves treated Natty. But it was her home, she had nowhere to go. It was all really confusing and sad. 5. It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins. ★★★★★ (5/5) “Would you rather be great at something you like, or just okay at something you love?” Stephanie, if one day you want to do a whole book about this story, I'll accept it with open arms. I still thing about this, every day, every time i started a new story. It just felt so right, funny and special to me, exactly what i was looking for this christmas. At first, i was a little bit

I really liked this collection, although some stories were way better than others in my opinion. I have not read many short story collections but I will probably try to find more, since I enjoyed the format quite a lot. Midnights by Rainbow Rowell: 5 stars. As usual I loved Rowell's characters, they just speak to me. It was so enjoyable, can't wait to read "Almost Midnight" The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: 3 stars, it was interesting but did not give me any lasting feelings Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Pena: 3.5 stars, the story was ok but the characters lying all the time annoyed me, I kept rolling my eyes at Shy, they were not likable Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han: 3 stars, it was too short to really get into the story and the ending was too abrupt, even though it's a short story it felt like she didn't plan it carefully and parts were missing It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins: 5 stars, I loved this story so much, the characters were sweet, I just wanted them to be my friends! Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan: 2.5 stars, I didn't care for any of the characters and the story just lacked something to make it magical Krampuslauf by Holly Black: 3.5 stars, I enjoyed this one and was pleasantly surprised because I DNFed all of Holly Black's books. I enjoyed the story and the setting, and for once the characters had more personality What the hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth by Gayle Forman: 5 stars, enjoyed this one so much, I loved the characters who were original and funny, I enjoyed the narration, the story was planned well to fit the format. Really funny, and now I want to try apple pie with cheese! Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire: 1 star, I hated the main character. What is wrong with all those characters, lying all the time? And having shitty parents doesn't justify being an ass, I know people who have had rough childhoods and are still nice (see page 232 where he tries to justify his attitude...). And the story was not entertaining at all, I almost didn't finish it (I almost stopped after a page because the main character was so annoying) Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White: 5 stars, I loved it. In this one all the characters were so sweet, it was full of hope and compared to the previous one it showed that people who have shitty lives can still be nice, and people who make mistakes can be forgiven. Loved the magical aspect of this one too. I couldn't say which of the characters was my favorite, because I liked them all (ok it's Ben or Rick) Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter: 3.5 stars, it had such nice characters (loved aunt Mary) but the story was so far-fetched and unbelievable that I didn't feel really invested. Too much drama for me The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor: 4 stars, I think it was magical and loved the writing style but it felt a bit dry. That's probably due to the subject matter and the settings, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the sweet ones.

Read this review and more on my blog October Tune. I love short stories, and I love books that are a compilation of short stories. Last year, around Halloween I read the book Halloween edited by Paula Guran, and this year I decided to read My True Love Gave to Me in December. This book is compiled of twelve short stories all happening around Christmas or New Year's Eve. A lot of well known authors are in this book, including Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins and Laini Taylor. I am going to review all the stories in separate. Midnights by Rainbow Rowell - 5 stars I thought this story was adorable. It happens over the course of a couple of years, and during New Year's Eve. The main characters are Mags and Noel and they are best friends. I just thought they were incredibly sweet together and Rainbow just made me love these characters in only twenty-some pages. I just love her writing (Fangirl is still one of my favourite books, and I adored Eleanor and Park), and I thought it was just such a shame that the story ended! The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link - 2 stars This one was a bit odd. It also happens over the course of a couple of years, and always on Christmas Eve; but it was completely different from Rainbow's story. For most of the time I had no idea what was going on, and that ending was just very strange and very abrupt. No, this is a perfect example of a short story that should have been a complete book. Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Pena - 4 stars This was also a very nice story. It's about Shy (yes that is really his name) who is cat-sitting for his boss in a house that is completely empty of food. Also, he doesn't have any money. So basically, he's starving on Christmas Eve. Then he meets the girl who lives above his boss' apartment and they end up becoming friends. I thought it was such a sweet story and I really wanted to read more about these two characters. It was really such a shame the story ended, a bit abruptly in my opinion, but yeah it was so sweet. And the cat. THE CAT! Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han - 2 stars Hmm, nah I didn't like this one. First of all it just felt a bit odd, and I didn't really like any of the characters. The ending was also so abrupt, and I just didn't like it. That's basically all I've got to say about this story. It's a Yuletide Miracle Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins - 4 stars This story started off with me feeling like it would be a bit supernatural-ish. With a girl celebrating the solstice and wanting someone's voice. It turned out to be a normal contemporary story but I really liked it in the end. Though I am not a fan of insta-love, I did really like these two main characters together. They were adorable, and North was just a really sweet kid (he just had a bit of an unfortunate name). Again, this ended a bit abrupt and I just hoped for a bit more but alas! Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan - 3 stars I believe this was the only story in this book with a gay couple in it, and I really liked it. The fact that this guy was willing to dress up as Santa for his boyfriend's little sister was just adorable. I didn't really make that much notes for this story, but yeah I thought it was nice. Krampuslauf by Holly Black - 3 stars Personally, I thought this story was a bit odd. I mean yeah it was nice with the three girls trying to organise a party in a trailer, but the whole goatboy thing was a bit strange. Perhaps I would have liked this story more if it had been a book but it just felt way too weird for a novella. What the Hell Have You Done Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman - 5 stars I love Gayle Forman's writing. I fell in love with it after reading Just One Day, and I was really excited when I found out she'd written a story for this book. Though I am still not a fan of insta-love I kind of got over it with this story, because the two characters; Sophie and Russell, were just so awesome. Like with the story by David Levithan, I didn't write down much for this story but I just loved it (hence the 5 stars)! Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire - 3 stars I didn't really feel anything for this story in the beginning, because the main character was a bit of a trouble maker and loved to wreck other people's stuff. But in the end, I really started to like the guy, after he tried to save the play his friend was going to perform in. Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White - 4 stars This story was about a small town called Christmas, where Maria worked as a waitress at the diner. The diner has just gotten a new cook, who seems to know what people want/need to eat before they even order. I really liked this story, because of the cook, Ben. I just liked him right from the start, and he made everyone really happy in that town. This is one of the stories that I would want a sequel off, definitely! Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter - 5 stars In Star of Bethlehem, two girls (one from Iceland, one from America) trade plane tickets so one can go to New York and the other can escape New York instead. We follow the latter to a town called Bethlehem, where she meets the family the Icelandic girl would have gone to and she stays with them for a while. I am not really sure why I liked this story so much, but it's probably just because of that family. They were so nice to the girl hover to read spoiler. and Ethan was so nice as well. The ending was a bit of a surprise to me, but I loved loved LOVED it! The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor - 1 star I actually didn't read enough of this story to write a good review about it. I didn't like it from the start, it felt a bit weird and then there was a lot of explaning going on before the actual story started. So I just put it down and didn't pick it up again. I am curious for Laini Taylor's books though, but this story just wasn't my cup of tea apparently. In the end, I really enjoyed My True Love Gave to Me, it had some amazing stories, some not so amazing stories, but it was a very good book. If you want to read some fluffy Christmas stories, you should definitely go and pick up this book! My opinion on this book in one gif:

Midnights by Rainbow Rowell 3/5 The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link 1/5 Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña 4/5 Polaris Is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han 4/5 It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins 5/5 Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan 3/5 Krampuslauf by Holly Black 4/5 What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman 5/5 Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire 2/5 Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White 4/5 Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter 3/5 The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor 1/5

I was seriously rushing this book, but really enjoyed some stories and not so much with others. Overall it was a pretty good short story set! xoxo, Bebe

Definitely like some stories more than others, but overall a fun book and there is something here for every taste.

I really love some of the stories in this book. It’s a good book. I’ve been wanting to read this book for so long and I enjoyed it. Love the Christmas vibes in this book ❤️

I’ve had this on my to-read list for yeeears and finally got around to it. Some stories are for sure 5/5 but some are easily a 1 or 2. Overall easy read with the stories being so short it was easier to power through the rougher ones and made you wanting so much more from the cuter ones.

Most of the short stories were okay, nothing too wonderful or awful. But that cover art is so lovely!

*3.0 stars* Another wintery romance book. 12 short stories, some great, some just alright. Individual ratings (without explanation because that would require ages to write) Midnights by Rainbow Rowell - 4.0 stars The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link - 1.5 stars Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña - 3.5 stars Polaris Is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han- 4.0 stars It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins - 5.0 stars Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan - 3.0 stars Krampuslauf by Holly Black - 1.5 stars What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? - 4.0 stars Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire - 3.0 stars Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White - 3.5 stars Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter - 2.5 stars The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor - 2.5 stars

I don't particularly like short stories, but some of these were really good. The issue with short stories is, once you finally get a hold of who the characters are and what their purpose in life is, the story ends. However, I did really like how they were all kind of christmassy themed, so that is 1 christmas book I actually read in December.

My True Love Gave To Me is such a light, heartwarming, and easy read. After all the fantasy books I've been recently reading, I decided it was time to take a break from all that. And besides, I haven't read a YA Contemporary in ages. I know I'm a little bit early to be getting on the Christmas spirits and reading a book for the holiday season, but I thought to myself what the heck- it's September already. One thing I loved about each and every short story in this book was the endings. I personally think that endings are always the hardest to write, whether it's an essay, a story, a speech. When it comes to writing endings, you have to keep in mind that you have to leave an impression to the reader. Although I didn't really like some of the short stories, the endings of each one always seemed to fill my heart in one way or another. I'm not going to dwell on each story since there's quite a lot. So I'm just going to write down my ratings for each short story. * Midnights by Rainbow Rowell- 4/5 * The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link- 3/5 * Angels in the Snow by Matt De La Peña- 4/5 * Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han- 3/5 * It's A Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins- 2/5 * Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan- 4/5 * Krampuslauf by Holly Black- 2/5 * What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman- 2/5 * Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra Mcentire- 2/5 * Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White- 4.5/5 * Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter- 4/5 * The Girl Who Woke The Dreamer by Laini Taylor- 2/5 My favorite short story would have to be Christmas, CA by Kiersten White. I really appreciate how there was so much character development with the protagonist in such a small number of pages. And the romance between Maria and Ben was adorable. (Ben's dishes also made my stomach grumble, am I the only one? Lol). I also love how the relationship of Maria, her mom and stepdad came to be in the near end. Tbh, I got teary-eyed. This was such a good short story. Strong plot, characters, and setting. "But it doesn't matter anymore if you can't find my home. I found it for myself."

3 stars | I listened to these on audiobook. Individual ratings: Midnight by Rainbow Rowell | 4 stars The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link | 3 stars Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña | 4.5 stars Polaris Is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han | 2 stars It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins | 4.5 stars Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan | 5 stars Krampuslauf by Holly Black | 5 stars What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman | 2 stars Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire | 1 star. (Fastforward the ending, I just couldn't do it.) Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter | 3.5 stars02 The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor | 4 stars

DNF at 197... these stories are so boring!!

Full Review Here: http://thebooksplorer.tumblr.com/post...

3.7*

Really cute! Kind of wish a little more than 1/12 of the stories focused on non-straight relationships. I think my favorites were the one by Kiersten White and Jenny Han. Matt de la Pena's kind of confused me - Shy, like the guy in The Living? All of the stories were pretty good though!

Christmas feels ❤️ Angels in the Snow “Would you rather be great at something you like, or just okay at something you love?” Star of Bethlehen “And I wasn’t running away anymore. I was running toward. This moment. This place. This boy.”

Will update this every time I finish a story. Last update // January 12th 2016 Midnights - 3.5/5 While I absolutely love Rainbow Rowell's writing and her books I was a tiny bit disappointed by this. Her story is separated in a couple of smaller chapters but I wish they differed from each other ? I felt like I was reading the same thing all over again just with small changes. I liked the characters, liked how it was a story more suitable for New Year but I personally think it had a lot more potential. Giving it 4 stars only because I thought it could be a bit better otherwise I was satisfied with everything else. The Lady and the Fox - 2/5 I don't think I have enough to write about this one. The story was a bit strange? No matter how much I tried I just couldn't get into it. I might give it another chance (already gave it two, hoping it would get better but no) so we will see if my opinion ends up changing after that. Also 1 star is not enough for this story but 3 are too much so I stuck with 2. Angels in the Snow - 5/5 This is the first story I have ever read from Matt de la Peña and I suddenly want to read more of his works. His writing style is so interesting and also so much fun to read. The story itself made me feel all kinds of things. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy but it also made me pretty sad. Polaris is where you'll find me - 3/5 I wasn't really disappointed by this story from one of my favorite authors but it definitely didn't make it high up in the list. I couldn't really relate to the main character since it was pretty young but it was still cute story. Something I wouldn't mind reading after a long day to relax a bit! It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown - 5/5 This one was the best one in my opinion. While I loved Angels in the Snow I personally think I liked this one even more! I really wish it was way longer, I would actually love it if Stephanie Perkins dedicated a whole book to the characters in this short story. I fell in love with them and got attached to them in only a few pages and it's kind of hard to suddenly let them go and move on to another story. Pretty sure I will reread it soon and come back to it once again! Your Temporary Santa - 3/5 A lovely story. I loved Riley, she was so cute. I am not sure about others but I really got that sad vibe from this one? So I was pretty much sad the whole time I was reading it. I feel like this story should have been longer because while I liked it, it was good, I also thought I didn't really get much from it? At least not as much as from others. I would also love to know more about the characters of this story. If David Lethan decided to talk about this a little or even write something else following the same characters, it would only make me happy (as long as I would get some answers). Krampuslauf - 2/5 Not your usual Christmas story. It was interesting but once again I felt like it could have been developed more and delivered better. In general it was pretty confusing. I think if it had more pages (not just 30) it could be developed better and it wouldn't feel like you are just flying through a storm. What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? - 4/5 What a lovely, diverse story. I love Gayle Forman's writing and so far I have enjoyed everything I have read from her. I feel like I wanted a bit more from this though. It didn't fully satisfy me but it didn't disappoint me completely either.

3 star rating for the entire book. Out of the 12 stories in this book I read 8 (the other four I just wasn’t interested in). I LOVED the 8 stories!! Some of them made me cry, smile, laugh and made me feel so christmassy! But because there was those few stories I didn’t like I’m giving this book 3 stars.

I started this around Christmas 2014 to finish it today (there were three stories left, and even if it's not Christmas time at all, I felt like reading them. Right!). It's difficult to rate this at I liked all the stories in different ways. Overall I enjoyed this, but most stories didn't moved me as much as I'd have thought they would. So, for the ones who did, here are the three stories that I trully enjoyed--and will most definitely read again next Christmas: Midnights, by Rainbow Rowell; Angels in the Snow, by Matt de la Peña; and It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown, by Stephanie Perkins. I'd also like to mention: Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus, by Myra McEntire; and Welcome to Christmas, CA, by Kiersten White which were also very nice to read. The rest of the book wasn't bad at all--that's not what I'm saying--yet it didn't feel very Christassy magical. So, now, is it Christmas yet?

(Actually 3.54167, when you do the actual math from my individual story ratings, but let's just choose to round that down to 3, okay?) I've been pretty busy lately, and my reading time has fallen by the wayside. Because of that, I read this story by story, rather than in one sitting. :) Midnights: 4/5 Cute, but a bit predictable. Although, I always love a sweet Rainbow Rowell story. However, this wasn't as good as her other works, so if you're only buying the book (as I intended to) because you are excited for the Rainbow Rowell story, I don't think that it's necessarily worth it. At least read all of her other novels first. :) The Lady and the Fox: 5/5 Surprisingly good. I was drawn in by the beautiful language and imaginative imagery and storyline. My favourite story so far. :) Truth be told, this satisfied my longstanding need for a Peter Pan-esque story where the boy follows the girl, rather than leaving at the end of the novel, so this was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, haha ;) Angels in the Snow: 3.5/5 I vaguely enjoyed this, but there was nothing completely stand out about it. Polaris is Where You'll Find Me: 3/5 The timeline didn't make much sense, and it was too short to get any real emotional connection to the characters. I also just don't really like stories where they personify santa claus. Idk. It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown: 4.5/5 Cute, well paced. Plus, the short animated films thing was cool. Your Temporary Santa: 2.5/5 I was expecting more. I though that this was kind of creepy when I was reading it, but I don't really remember enough of it to give an informed opinion now. Krampuslauf: 3/5 It had its moments, but wasn't the most spectacular story in the collection. What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth?: 4/5 This was cute. :) Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus: 3/5 Sometimes sweet, but a bit unbelievable. The problems were too grandiose, and there is no way that they could fix them so quickly. :( Welcome to Christmas, CA: 4.5/5 THIS WAS SO CUTE. AHHH. <3 It did have some issues, but overall, SO CUTE. SO CUTE. Star of Bethlehem: 2.5/5 Strangely paced, too short, and I never developed a full sense of empathy for the characters. The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer: 3/5 Nice, in some spots. I had to drag myself through most of it, and some of it just seemed strange, rather than magical.

Don't be fooled by the 3 star rating...I really enjoyed this! Midnights by Rainbow Rowell: 3.5/5 The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: 2.5/5 Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña: 4/5 Polaris Is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han: 3/5 It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins: 4.5/5 Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan: 4/5 Krampuslauf by Holly Black: 1.75/5 What the hell have you done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman: 4.25/5 Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire: 2.25/5 Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White: 1.5/5 Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter: 3/5 The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor: 1.5/5 There were stories in the collection that I absolutely adored and am gonna want too reread before Christmas.