BOOK REVIEW: Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle
"Make my wish come true!"
This was my second holiday read of the season, and the book we discussed on the December book club episode of our Speaking LITerally Podcast. (If you haven’t listened to it yet, don’t wait! Link is at the bottom of this review!) OK, anyways. I will start by saying that this was an interesting read. If you are looking for a cute holiday read that is far removed from the predictable plotlines of the Hallmark movie book structure, this one's for you.
After losing her millions in bad investments, Bettie finds herself poor and hiding in a dead woman’s house in the small Colorado town her grandparents live in, where she is supposed to be spending the holidays with her large, self-absorbed, entitled and materialistic family. In a drunken stupor, Bettie mistakenly plays the vinyl of Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You backwards. Poof! Apparently, that is how to summon the Holiday Spirit. Hall is sent to help Bettie reach a 10 on her holiday spirit meter. She begins at a lowly 1.5. And so, the adventure begins when Bettie decides to make Hall into her fake fiancé during the week stay with her family.
I hated Bettie at the beginning of the book. My dislike for her was so strong that I really was tempted to put the book down. She is selfish, greedy, jealous, petty, spoiled, self-centered and simply obnoxious. Having a spirit that can grant her wishes, she focused on getting revenge on all the people she felt wronged her or even those that have what she wanted and feels she deserved. Hall on the other hand is pure and innocent and is the embodiment of holiday cheer. What I love most about his character is that he is unapologetically himself. He is over the top Christmas and doesn’t bat an eye at the snickers and looks that he gets.
She and her husband exchange smug, self-satisfied looks. A child whose name is either Terracotta or Ricotta rolls her eyes. Target once paid her fifteen grand to do that in a commercial, so now she keeps doing it. I glare at her. She isn’t better than me.
While Hall’s purpose is to help Bettie find her holiday spirit, it is inevitable that he impacts those around him - Bettie’s two sisters and brother, her parents, her grandparents and the unspecified number of nieces and nephews. Bettie’s parents seem to fall through the cracks of the story and are pretty much static characters hanging on the periphery. Her siblings are very much like her - having been raised in the shadow of their superstar grandmother.
Obviously, I didn’t give up on the book and read it through. The further through the book you get, you begin to learn so much about Bettie and her siblings and are reminded that there are so many aspects to people’s lives that you just don’t know, even when you think you do or even when they are members of your family. Still, you only really know what people share, project or portray, whether it is truthful or embellished. While Kaia, Athena and Felix all seem very much like Bettie on the surface - greedy, jealous, snobbish, arrogant - you begin to see that there is a depth to them.
If you couldn’t figure it out, this story is very much character driven. No matter how much Bettie fights against Hall and his mission to bring cheer, she is unable to resist. Honestly, I think anyone would struggle to resist the authenticity of his excitement of the holiday. And, by the end, the concept of the importance of family, acceptance, and relationships is clear. That holiday cheer comes from being together, making memories together, and accepting each other. But, it is also about giving from the heart and not boosting yourself by making others fall, and ultimately, it is about being honest about how you are and accepting that.
Hall also has some major character development. As a spirit, he is not fully human even though he is in a human body. Through his time with Bettie and her family, he develops some very human feelings which thoroughly confuse him. While you know that’s coming because it is a holiday romance book, it still felt a little weird to me. Besides the beginning, this was the one other time where I felt like I didn’t really care to finish the book. It changed how Hall acted and interacted. It impacted the essence of who his character is. But, I persevered through to the end.
The conclusion did an excellent job of bringing everything full circle. While I didn’t really think about how the author was going to make a holiday spirit become a “real boy”, I was impressed with how it all came about. I definitely don’t want to spoil this part because it really was the perfect transition.
So, during the book Hall had a laundry list of holiday events and activities that he wanted to experience. He really wanted to fit every possible winter/holiday activity into one week, plus throw in Marilou (Felix’s wife) and there was never a dull moment. Here are a few of my favorite scenes without giving anything away!
The Cracker Barrel Road Trip
Ice Skating
Movie Theater
Felix Dueling
That’s the most beautiful happiness I’ve ever seen.
Where does this land on my bookshelf?
This one lands on the middle shelf. While I enjoyed the premise and the middle 50%, there was just too much difficulty at the beginning to get past Bettie’s character. (Yes, I understand that the worse she is at the beginning, the greater her character evolution is by the end - but it was rough.) I loved Hall, Bettie’s grandfather, Kaia, and Marilou the most. The eccentricity of Bettie’s family was at times comical and at times very clearly establishing the message of the book. There are plenty of pop culture references to make you smile, and it is definitely worth adding to your TBR if you are a fan of holiday romances.
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