My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

Holly Black, Ally Carter, Mathew De La Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, and Kiersten White

This is a collection of joyful festive stories that will keep you warm during the cold winter months. On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays. This hardback edition features a ribbon marker and pink sprayed edges, and is the perfect gift. It includes stories by: Ally Carter; Holly Black; Laini Taylor; Rainbow Rowell; Matt de la Pena; David Levithan; Stephanie Perkins; Kiersten White; Kelly Link; Jenny Han; Gayle Forman; and, Myra McEntire.

• ISBN10: 1250059313
• ISBN13: 9781250059314
• Publish Date: 25 October 2016 (first published 9 October 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: St. Martin's Griffin
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[maeyuka]

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.

[Nany]

Individual ratings:

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

[Sam@WLABB]

One of the things I loved about this, and anthologies in general, was the wide array of genres and styles I got to enjoy. When you bring that many great authors together, you are bound to produce something worthy of my time and I was not disappointed. I loved all the different approaches to the holidays and all the different holiday traditions that were shared. I smiled often during this book and felt some holiday joy in my heart.

[stefu1]

Midnights by Rainbow Rowell (/b)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cute delightful story, a little predictable, but adorable. I did like how the entire story was set on the same day every year. That was pretty creative, and it's the reason why I gave it another star.


The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cute and sweet, didn't really feel it, but I did like fenny.


Angel in the Snow by Matt de la Peña
⭐️⭐️
First I was all "whuuut" then it grew one me and I was all "m'kay". Then the ending for me was like "uhhhhh"


Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han
⭐️⭐️
I didn't really like the story, but I liked the idea, the idea was really creative and for that, I can give 2 stars.


It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins
⭐️⭐️⭐️
It's was pretty cute and creative, like I would read a sequel, but is there is non, I'll still be ok.


Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan
⭐️⭐️
Meh.


Krampuslauf by Holly Black
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Written like a true Holly Black book, weird, slightly creepy, and wonderful. I loved this book and all it's interesting themes.


What The Hell Have You Done Sophie Roth? By Gayle Foreman
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cute, but a tad to slow. Just the right amount of detail for a sort story.


Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire
⭐️⭐️⭐️
i liked it, it was short, cute and idk, something about it makes me really like it


Welcome to Christmas CA by Kierstien White
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
speechless. I loved it. I relate to Maria. Wow.

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Classic Ally Carter, massive plot twist and semi-open endings.

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Talyor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
it was really strange a little hard to follow, but it was still pretty neat. Would have been better with a little more detail.

total 3.4 or rounded 3,
most were really boring and slow, while some were super good and creative.

[Stephanie]

This was my first anthology, so I wasn't completely sure how I was going to like something like this. It was hard for me to completely switch gears every time I started reading a new story, especially if I really enjoyed one story, and then had to start a completely different one.

I'll break it down into each short story because some of the stories I have a lot to say about.

Midnights by Rainbow Rowell: 5/5
This one was really cute and fun and I would definitely read this if it was a full length novel.

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: 1/5
Reading this story right after Midnights was hard, especially since I liked Midnights so much. This one was weird. I had no idea what was happening most of the time and really didn't care for the main character and what happened. There's really no explanation to what is going on, which kept me from really committing to the story. The fact that this girl falls in love with a guy she's only seen a handful of times on Christmas was unbelievable to me.

Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña: 3/5
I liked this story, but sometimes I got really frustrated with the main character. He was starving most of the time, and this girl was offering him food, but he would turn down her offer because of his own stupid pride. He was frustrating at times, but the story was cute once we got past the annoying part.

Polaris Is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han: 2/5
Another weird one where the main character is pretty much the adopted daughter of Santa and all the elves are jerks to her, besides one, who she is in love with. I couldn't get into it. I felt sorry for the poor girl who really had no place in the north pole. I like the little glimmer of hope we get at the end, but I still had trouble really caring.

It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins: 5/5
I loved this one (of course)!! I don't know how Stephanie Perkins does it, but she had me rooting for these two people to get together after only knowing each other for an hour. And I just want to hug them both. And I want a full length novel about them.

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan: 1/5
I hate that I have to give the LGBT story a 1 out of 5 but, ugh. I really got tired of the main characters depressing thoughts. His boyfriend, Connor, wants him to dress up as Santa, sneak into his house at night and act like he's putting presents under the tree for Connor's little sister. It's a cute idea. But the main character (I don't remember his name) had thought's like "he wants me to be Santa because I'm fat and will fit the suit better" I mean, come on. And then there's the constant thoughts about their relationship and how he's sad that he will never be in that house as Connor's boyfriend, because Connor doesn't want to come out to his family about their relationship. There was barely any hope there that made me want to cheer on the couple.

Krampuslauf by Holly Black: 2.5/5
This one was weird. It was kind of hard for me to get into, but the ending was very satisfying and I liked the little magic that was in it. It was sort of fun, but nothing spectacular.

What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman: 2/5
I liked this one, but there were time when I got very annoyed by Sophie. Sophie is from the "big city" so she feels very out of place in the small town college. She feels like no one gets her or understands when she uses sarcasm (which apparently is so "big city" of her). I found it kind of insulting. I did really enjoyed the romance and how it made Sophie open her eyes to how she was acting.

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire: 4/5
This is fun! And definitely a nice relief after the Sophie Roth story. It was fun to read about how this little church production would manage to pull everything off after everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White: 5/5
I loved this one. I wasn't that into it at first, but the more I read the more I loved it. I really liked that this new, young chef comes in and just happens to know what people want to eat, even when they don't even know. There was a little but of magic in there, which I would say is exactly what Christmas is about, that little bit of magic.

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter: 3/5
This story was cute and I liked how I didn't know what was going to happen until it happened. It was a fun idea, what would happen if two girls switched plane tickets? The story was a little far-fetched, but that didn't really keep me from liking the story. I thought the ending wrapped up a little too quickly and a little too nicely, but overall, it was a good story.

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor: 1/5
I feel like I'm the only one who didn't like this story. It was weird, to the point where I would set down the book and think "WTF am I reading?" I would go online and read reviews for it and how awesome it is, which would give me hope that I would like it the more I read. But that didn't happen. It was unique, I'll give it that. But I had no interest in what would happen to the characters at all and I was just happy to be finished with the book.

[leahrosereads]

4/5 Stars - Midnights by Rainbow Rowell

This was an excellent story to start of the book. I really liked how the story was told over a couple of years, and I felt like I really got to know the characters in very few pages. And, it was adorable (I'm sure I'll say that pretty often with all the other stories). Easily up there as one of my favorites in the book.

5/5 Stars - The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link

I read a couple of reviews of this book, and I feel like I'm the only one that LOVED this story. I think it's because of the magic in it, but I was just absolutely fascinated with the characters and the world that Link built here. I would actually love to see this as a full novel. It was excellent.

4/5 Stars - Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Pena

First there's a cat - that's an instant star for me, always. I love kitties. The story itself was great though, and just really uplifting. I felt like I really got to know the characters, and I loved who they were. I thought this was an excellent story.

2.5/5 Stars - Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han

This was a meh story for me. It was cute, but the story itself just wasn't for me.

5/5 Stars - It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins

I just felt like everything was right about this story. The writing, the characters, the setting, just yes to it all. This was easily my favorite story of the book, and having never read Perkins before now, I definitely need to try out her other works.

3/5 Stars - Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan

Cute story, but it just didn't completely hold my interest. Most of the previous stories had stronger characters and more interesting plots, so yeah. Still cute and could have pulled on the heartstrings if it was a little bit longer, I think.

4/5 Stars - Krampuslauf by Holly Black

The magic. The characters. The setting. Again, yes to it all, and I definitely liked the darker take of a Christmas-y story. So freaking good.

5/5 Stars - What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth by Gayle Forman

Sweater orgies...'nuff said. (OK, but seriously, I freaking loved these two characters. Easily two of my favorite characters of the book).

3.5/5 Stars - Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire

This was a cutesy story, but other than that, I just didn't really care for this story all that much.

4/5 Stars - Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White

Again with the magical stories. They're my Achilles heel clearly with this book. I liked that the magic was more subtle in this one, than in the other two stories, but I still liked that there was something special about the characters.

3/5 Stars - Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter

I think I needed this to be longer. It felt too short, and I didn't really connect with the characters or the story itself. It was cute, but I didn't feel like it had anything else going for it.

5/5 Stars - The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Magic - check. Great writing - check. Powerful characters - check. Strong story to end the book - check. This was an excellent conclusion for MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME..., and I'm really happy it ended on such a spectacular note.



Overall, I really loved reading this over the past week or so. It's been nice to read all of these really cute, feel good stories right before the holiday, and I'm happy that I picked it up from my library.

[shannonmiz]

I have never read an anthology before. I have also never read a holiday themed book before. I have read books that have happened to include some kind of holidays of course, but not one specifically designed for December holidays. I figured this would be a good place to start on both counts, but only if I had the pretty blue and gold book with the hot pink pages. Obviously. I figure a nice little blurb about each story should suffice, no?

1. Midnights by Rainbow Rowell This was my first foray into Rainbow Rowell's writing. The verdict? Success! I shall be needing all her otherbooks immediately. I liked this one so much for a few reasons: I loved delving into the past New Years, I connected with Mags (and related to her so much), and I was impressed at how developed the story was in such a short number of pages! 5/5

2. The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link Well, I liked this one too! I didn't completely "get" what happened and what the deal with some of the characters was, but it was overall good. 4/5

3. Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña I really enjoyed this one, thought that the romance was adorable, but Shy's pride was driving me nuts! Overall, another win! 4/5

4. Polaris Is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han This story and I did not click. At all. At first, I found it silly, and then I found it was bumming me out, and then it just kind of ended. 2/5

5. It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins Adorable! I loved it, and I loved the kindness that was shown in a world that can be so very unkind. Definitely a good one! 4/5

6. Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan It was cute and hopeful, but I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters. 3/5

 7. Krampuslauf by Holly Black Well. This was a mixed bag for me. I did enjoy it, and there were some funny moments, but the whole thing was really pretty weird. And since it was a short story, there wasn't really time for explanation, so it just ended up being... weird. 2.5/5

8. What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman Another win. I really related to Sophie and how lonely college can really be. Sophie and Russell were fantastic, and their banter was so fun. I definitely laughed during this one, and I liked it a lot. 4.5/5

9. Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire Okay, fine, I really kept thinking about Reba McEntire. Especially with the southern theme. Sorry. But anyway, I liked this one too. The message was really cute, and even though it wasn't completely enthralling, it was solid. 4/5

10. Welcome to Christmas, CA  by Kiersten White Another solid story. I may have cried a bit during this one (don't fret, it was happy tears). I really liked the message in this one too, but there was a weird food-magic element, and I still don't completely get it. Whatever, it is a nice story either way. 4/5

11. Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter Well, aside from the fact that the story was unbelievable, I really enjoyed it. The writing was good, and I really cared about all the characters, even the more minor ones. Another enjoyable one for me! 4/5

12. The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor I... don't know what this is exactly. I mean, fantasy for sure. Anyway, I was extremely impressed with the amount of world building that Laini was able to put into such a short amount of pages! It was kind of incredible. Neve was a likable character too, and I enjoyed the story, although I am still a little confused about "the Dreamer". But that's probably on me. This just makes me excited to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, because if she can create such an elaborate world in 30 pages... well a whole series should be epic! 4/5

Bottom Line: My first anthology and first holiday book was a success! There is truly something for everyone in this book. I loved the amount of diversity too, there were characters from quite a few different backgrounds, which was refreshing. The book brought a smile to my face, and served as a nice reminder about the real reason for celebration and togetherness.
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: As a whole I liked the concept of a collection of short holiday stories. Where My True Love Gave to Me shines is the multiplicity of views. There are stories for Christmas, Hanukkah and Winter Solstice. There are stories about people who subvert heteronormativity. There are stories about people from multicultural and non-White backgrounds.

Sadly, not every story struck a chord with me. One I even would've abandoned if I hadn't listened to the audiobook. It's easy to flip to the next chapter with written words but not so with spoken words. In any case, I thought the narrators were chosen well to portray each of the stories and they certainly added to my enjoyment of My True Love Gave to Me.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Review coming soon.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I received My True Love Gave to Me, edited by Stephanie Perkins to review last month, but have been saving for closer to Christmas. Christmas is likely to be very difficult for me this year, so I decided to read this sooner than planned to help get me into the holiday spirit. I'm really glad to say it has made me a little cheerier about this time of year.

My True Love Gave to Me is a YA anthology of 12 stories set around Christmas. The tag line for the book is "Twelve winter romances", and this is pretty accurate, because they're not all technically Christmas stories. They're set around Christmas, and Christmas is mentioned in all of them, but in some, Christmas is the backdrop to some, or isn't something the characters celebrate due to different religions. But each story was very sweet and made me smile, even if some leave more to be desired. I'm going to review each story individually.

Midnights by Rainbow Rowell - A story set around New Years Eve over four consecutive years, and the relationship between two friends, Mags and Noel. It was a really sweet story, written with Rowell's recognisable style, but it was too short! I wanted it to go on much longer. Story itself is kind of forgettable, I hate to say, but how it made me feel - like how all Rowell's stories make me feel - is familiar and lovely!

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link - Miranda discovers a stranger outside at a family friend's Christmas ball, who only appears when it snows and never comes inside. Year after year. I was really hooked by this story, it gripped me fast and kept me turning the pages; the mystery, the magical element... but there were so many questions when it finished! A nice paranormal/fantasy Christmas story, but there were no answers to any of my "why" questions.

Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña - Shy is cat sitting for his manager over Christmas, but is left without food. He is fed by the neighbour above, Haley, in exchange for using Shy's shower, as hers has stopped working. I loved this story! It was so sweet, and so there was much chemistry between Shy and Haley! But again, was over too quickly. Ended just as things were beginning.

Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han - Natty, Santa's adopted daughter, is feeling left out during the Snow Ball, as the only human there besides Santa. I was loving this story! Elves that aren't tiny! Santa's has a daughter! A ball! And then it ended all of a sudden. I turned the page thinking there was more to come, but nothing. It really felt like I was only halfway through the story. Wasn't expecting it to end there, it could have been so good if there was just more. So much potential! I wish Han had expanded the story further.

It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins - I don't even know how to summarise this story, so much happens. Marigold requests the help of North, a guy selling Christmas trees, to bring holiday cheer to her home. This is one of the longest stories in the anthology! And it's a full story, people! It has an end, and one that's satisfying! And seriously, so much goes on in this story, with a whole lot of chemistry! A story to sigh happily over.

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan - Connor asks his boyfriend to dress up as Santa and visit his home in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve to keep his younger sister's believing. Oh my god, this story is so cute! Very Levithan, and just the sweetest, cutest story. I love how the narrator - who isn't given a name - acts as Santa, despite being Jewish, to keep Riley's belief in Santa alive! So cute! But still there's the romance aspect, which has him worrying about his relationship with Connor, feeling like he doesn't fit into his life. Adorable!

Krampuslauf by Holly Black - After taking part in the Krampuslauf charity run, Hanna and her friends Wren and Penny decide to throw a New Year's Eve party at which they'll humiliate Penny's cheating boyfriend. But then some otherworldly creatures turn up. This one started off pretty interesting, with the folklore of the Krampus, and the run where people were doing dressed as Krampuses for charity. Then things got better when things got kind of magical... and then it ended, just as it was getting really good. And skimmed over a lot of the better moments. I wanted more.

What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman - Sophie has been regretting going to uni in the middle of nowhere, until she meets Russell, who shows her not everything is as it seems. Another sweet story, and a little emotional. It was really good when I was reading it, but now, it's kind of hard to remember much about it.

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire - After accidentally burning down the Church shed, Vaughn has to help get things ready for the Church's Christmas Nativity to make up for it. But when everything starts to go wrong, as chaos is his element, Vaughn is the only one who can fix things. This was a pretty funny story, and I really enjoyed it. Probably the funniest of the lot. It's not laugh out loud, but it's quite amusing. I loved Vaughn's voice!

Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White - Maria is beyond eager to get out of her deadbeat town, but when Ben, the new cook at the Christmas Café she works at, starts changing everyone's mood with his beautiful food, he shows her that maybe Christmas isn't so awful after all. Slightly different to the previous, and another emotional story, but also kind of cheesy. Ben was just a bit too nice. But I still enjoyed the story.

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter - Lydia swaps plane tickets with an Icelandic girl to escape her life, but finds more than she was expecting. I really liked this story! So much! This is the kind of story I'd love to read as a full length novel. It's more about Lydia than it is a romance, but there is that element. I really enjoyed trying to guess what Lydia was running from.

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor - A poor orphan made to work until she's 18, Neve has only one possible future to escape poverty and hard work; marriage. But when marriage is it's own slavery, praying may be the only way out. But Neve prays to an old God, and wakes him, and her life will never be the same again. Oh my god! Laini Taylor is just so incredible! Even this short story moved me like her full length novels! The fantasy, the emotion, the hard life! Fantastic! Most probably my favourite of the lot!

Such a fantastic anthology, despite feeling let down with some of them. And what's brilliant about this anthology is how diverse it is! So many different races, a few religions, and LGBTQ characters in a number of stories. There really is something for everyone here! And I've discovered some new authors I'm going to have to check out. A great book for this time of year!

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Books for the review copy.