Just Like Magic

by Sarah Hogle

[The Romantic Comedy Book Club]

Having read You Deserve Each Other, I am familiar with Sarah Hogle’s work but still never expected this little gem! Just in time for the holidays, a nice dose of Holiday spirit (Hall for Short) is about to make you rethink the true power of love (and how you use a record player).

What I liked about the book: Hogle is extremely talented with evolving a character you will absolutely loathe into someone you want to protect. Bettie is a complete nightmare of a person. She is self-absorbed, selfish, vengeful, materialistic and entitled. Even when given the opportunity of a lifetime, she still only thinks of herself and all of those who wronged her.

You read this book wondering why you should care for this person and how any “happily ever after” is just wasted on her.

As the chapters continue and the story unfolds, like an onion - you start to peel away at the layers of Bettie. You start to see how people, places, and situations have turned her into who she is and, while she has embraced it as a means to survive, she isn’t happy with it. She has fallen for her own protective narrative. As those layers continue to fall away (thanks to Hall), you start to see who Bettie was and wants to be again, a kind, caring individual who loves and wants to be loved but has been so scarred by the world around her, she just don’t know how or who to trust.

I truly enjoyed the innocence and wonder of Hall. He is what you think of when you close your eyes and imagine the Christmas holiday. His antics leave a smirk on your face and his child-like wonder makes you fall in love with him again and again.

What I didn’t like about the book: At times, I felt like the book was a little all over the place. There were moments when I had to reread passages because it just didn’t make sense or was so heavy with description, it drifted away from the story itself (instead of adding to it). I am still not sure WHY the duel scene was necessary - that was completely out of left field but I understand the outlandish concepts necessary for someone like Felix to truly appreciate his marriage. The last thing that bothered me was the excessive corporate name dropping. I can only assume it is either because Bettie was an influencer (so the concept was used for relevance to how influencers have to incorporate companies into their narrative constantly) or because Hogle had a few sponsorship agreement and was contractually obligated to list the names in her story. Either way, I have never seen so many companies mention in one book!

Other than that, Hogle took the farcical nature of this story and just ran with it. The obscurity of Bettie and Hall is what makes this laugh out loud holiday fantasy is so unique. You will be compelled to keep reading until the very end.

Thank you Netgallery for allowing me to receive an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.