ARC Review: Love, Secret Santa by S.A. Domingo
10:00
Series: None
Author: S.A. Domingo
Published October 31st 2019 by Hodder Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
All I want for Christmas is . . . you! A festive clean teen romance that could melt even Scrooge's heart!
It's nearly Christmas, but Angel Green isn't celebrating - she's too busy studying for a scholarship exam. On top of that, she's organising her school's charity fundraising campaign to help a local hospice. Unfortunately, her fundraising partner is Caspar Johnson: handsome, creative and fun, but TOTALLY unreliable.
Thank goodness for her Secret Santa who keeps leaving her amazing presents, including an intriguing hand-made advent calendar! Angel is dying to find out who her secret admirer is . . .
As they spend time together planning festive events, Angel realises that Caspar has hidden depths - and a secret that he's hiding behind his easy-going facade. Her advent calendar encourages Angel to take risks and open her heart - but has she left it too late to tell Caspar how she really feels?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
I read this book back during October Half Term, when it wasn't exactly the time for a Christmassy read, but the nights were starting to draw in, and I was in the mood for a nice contemporary read. Love, Secret Santa was a UKYA that, honestly, I didn't know much about when I first requested it, but I was drawn in from the first page, and I'm glad I was off work, as I couldn't put the book - or rather, phone - down to stop reading. Our main character, Angel, isn't really in a festive mood yet. She's studying for a prestigious scholarship exam, and anything else will just take away from their studies. However, she is also conscientious and charitable, and had signed up to help with the school fundraiser, and is paired with once close, but now estranged friend, Caspar. Wanting to discover just why Caspar started to pull away from her when they started secondary school, she realises that they can be just as close as they always were, just with the complication of some pesky feelings thrown in. To top it all off, while Angel is dealing with her rediscovered feelings for Caspar, a secret admirer, using the guise of Secret Santa, has stepped onto the scene, which is too much for Angel to handle.
I really enjoyed Angel, and wish I had had this book when I was her age. Everything about the book just reminded me of times when I was at school, and Angel was exactly like a true teenager, and not an imagined one. She was real, with real issues, and real feelings. Everything about the book was diverse, from the cast of characters, the sexualities, and the situations. Like I said, this book reflects reality so well, and all British teenagers should read it.
The romance was a slow burn, and the fact that Angel and Caspar had once been friends who reunited and fell for each other, made it even better. Some aspects of the plot were a little far fetched, and the identity of the Secret Santa was a bit obvious, but all in all, I really enjoyed it, and it's definitely a book to get into the festive spirit.
Dates Read:
October 18, 2019
Rating
4 Stars
October 18, 2019
Rating
4 Stars
0 comments