Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Summary (from Goodreads):

An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House ( and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.

A trio of today's bestselling authors - John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle- brings all the magic of the holidays to life in three hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and kisses that will steal your breath away.

Review:

I seriously have no idea what took me so long to get to this one. I know I bought it years ago, after discovering John Green and already knowing I loved Maureen Johnson. I really enjoy Lauren Myracle’s work too. Maybe it was the idea of the book being divided into 3 parts that was off-putting for me. I knew it would feel like I was not getting enough from some of my favorite writers. Though, that is crazy…I loved the three parts and I loved how nicely everything connected.

All the stories are linked by one, giant snowstorm. And I loved how characters from one story would pop up in others. It was super interesting to get more perspectives on particular situations and romances than you initially get. The first story (by Maureen) was about a girl on the train that crashes. She’s upset to not be spending Christmas with her boyfriend. Her parents were actually arrested due to a mob at a certain Christmas decoration store and she was on the train to her grandparents for Christmas.

On the train are also a large group of cheerleaders coming back from an important competition. And the cheerleaders are a focal point for the second story (John Green’s story), where a bunch of guys and one girl –named the Duke, are off on the ultimate race to make it to the cheerleaders before anyone else does. The girl from the first story comes to realize how much of a jerk her boyfriend is, while she falls for a guy who rescues her from the cheerleader party. John Green’s story is about two friends falling for each other. And then the third story is about a barista who used to date someone who was on the same train. Her story is about coming to terms with herself and growing up, and possibly trying to get her super sweet boyfriend back.

As you can probably induce from this, the book was a little cheesy. There was a lot of romance. And there was a lot of classic holiday romantic comedy moments. However, the cheese factor didn’t bother me. I mostly read the whole thing as super adorable. What made it adorable versus cliché, were the remarkably real and flawed characters.

There’s the boy who was heartbroken from a cheating ex who was more than aware of other people dating bad people. There’s the girl who comes to realize that she deserves more than the few minute phone calls from her boyfriend during times of emergency. There’s the girl who really sees how she makes everything about herself, and sometimes forgets to notice how everyone else is doing. There’s the boy who finally notices that his best friend is a girl, a girl with more interesting characteristics than any of the cheerleaders he’s talked to. And there’s the girl willing to do anything for her crush/best friend, including driving in a blizzard to meet cheerleaders.

It’s clear that all three writers excel at character development. Who didn’t know this already? They also all know how to write some amazing YA romance. I laughed a lot while reading this. I loved the characters’ relationships with their families. I learned about teacup pigs and waffle houses. And I was a little sad when it was over. I can’t really come up with anything negative to say here. I just loved it.

If you’re looking for something adorable to read or something to get you to forget about climbing summer temperatures, this is the book for you. I loved every moment of it. It gets a 10/10 from me.