BOOK REVIEW: Let It Snow – by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle

Title: Let It Snow
Authors: Maureen Johnson, John Green, Lauren Myracle
Genre: YA, Romance, Contemporary
First published: October 2nd 2008
Finished reading: December 24th 2015
Pages: 352

“Once you think a thought, it is extremely difficult to unthink it.”

You know you’re terribly behind with your reviews if you have to review a Christmas themed read in January… Sigh. That said, it took me a long time to actually finish the three stories in Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle. The main problem with the first story was that I wasn’t exactly in the mood for this kind of read when I first picked up Let It Snow. The result: me being annoyed with Jubilee and a story so sweet it was giving me a tootache. The second time around I actually ended up enjoying The Jubilee Express, and it is my favorite of the three stories. (3.5 stars)  The second story, A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, is a typical John Green story and unfortunately not one of my favorites. It almost felt like he was trying too hard to be funny and the whole cheerleader thing was really getting on my nerves… (3 stars) Things got worse though with the last story: The Patron Saint Of Pigs. That one is without doubt my least favorite of the stories and I REALLY disliked the main characters. (low 2.5 stars). I did appreciate the fact that all the stories are kind of connected with each other and I guess it is a pretty good Holiday themed read. But if I have to be honest, I would only recommend reading Maureen Johnson‘s (the first) story.

In three different short stories written by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle we read about the adventures of three different groups of teenagers after a storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow. In the first, Jubilee has to travel to her grandparents after her parents were arrested in a very embarrassing incident. A storm takes her train by surprise and she ends up stranded in Gracetown with the rest of the train passengers… She braves the storm to a still open Waffle House and the rest soon follow. Soon various lives will be changed forever… Three friends also try to reach the Waffle House that night in a race. Whoever gets there first can stay and hang out with a group of cheerleaders that is also on the train. And more importantly, eat hash browns. Also the fate of a teacup pig will depend on a girl that can only seem to think about herself… And that is even more troublesome since she is currently very much lovesick after her (ex)boyfriend stood her up.

Like I said above, I liked the fact that all stories were connected. Unlike with other short story bundles, this one almost felt like one big story. And I say almost, because you could see obvious quality difference between them. The first one is almost too sweet, but very well written and I actually liked the cliche ending. The John Green story was quite a disappointment and the constant repetition of the cheerleaders’ presence became seriously annoying. The last story was the worst; the main problem being the horrible main character. In short: what started off as a promising collection ended up getting worse as I continued reading… And I stick with my opinion that I only would recommend the first story.