I was never one to intentionally read Christmas-themed books around the holiday season but having read The Beautiful Little Things last changed that. I thought it was actually the best way to get into the Christmas spirit and actually escape to how other places and other people (though fictional) celebrate theirs.
The Story
The core of the book is about a family gathering for the most wonderful time of the year and of all the day in a year, this would be a time that when they dump all of their secrets and baggage for a little bit of drama. So, this is where it is.
Kelley, the father, used to be a New York corporate guy who decided to move into a small town and bought an Inn called Winter Street. Over time, business started to go south financially and as his business goes downhill, so did his second marriage. He found that his wife has been cheating on him for 12 years and decided to leave him days before Christmas.
So, the family members who are living separate lives found themselves drawn back to the Winter Street Inn for Christmas hoping that somehow it would mend the troubles they have on their own.
The Tip of the Iceberg
The chapters in the book give a closer look at each family member's life. We are treated with quite a few love stories or at least a glimpse of them. Actually, it's how I felt about the entirety of the book. I felt like it was a compilation of short stories that didn't even have substantial plots for me to appreciate or even just connect with them.
The stories have potential and they could have been great if only they were given their chance to be elaborated. For example, I wanted more of Ava's story with Scott like how they met and how they realised they were in love. Or there's also Kevin's story which could have pretty romantic if only I knew more about them. Everything just felt cut short.
Happiness never ends?
Or was there an ending at all? I understand that this is a part of a series but most of the series I have read did have a solid plotline on each book and even if it leaves with a cliffhanger, I knew it was a indeed one and it does constitute to an ending no matter how much of a cliffhanger or open-ended it was.
This was different. It seemed like the writer just stopped writing or maybe left the rest out to the next book. It felt really odd at the end.
In conclusion...
As I've mentioned, this book had potential but I didn't like how I was just given tons of glimpses instead of a few, but substantial plotlines.
I felt so disconnected with the book that I didn't even feel the holiday spirit at all.
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