The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: The Christmas Clash

Series: Standalone

Author: Suzanne Park

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Holiday

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Chloe Kwon doesn’t like Peter Li, and their families have a standing rivalry. Their families have competing restaurants in the Riverwood Mall- Korean for the Kwons and Chinese for the Lis. It’s getting harder to avoid each other during the holiday season, with Chloe working as a Santa photographer right outside the VR place Peter works. When they find out the mall is closing, Peter and Chloe have to work together to save the mall and their family businesses.

My greatest qualm with the “Christmas” books I have been reading this month is the lack of Christmas. Taking place around Christmas doesn’t make it a Christmas book. The characters having jobs that do themed things for the holiday and it not having a very big influence on the story doesn’t make it a Christmas book. When there was more focus on Thanksgiving than Christmas, it means it should not be advertised as a Christmas book.

I’m frustrated with the advertisement of some of the Christmas books I have read this year. These books are advertised as Christmas, but it really isn’t that Christmas-y. The Christmas Clash had the same problem. It was a wonderful story, but I wouldn’t place it in the holiday category. Christmas had a very small place in the story, except as the photographer and Santa sleigh VR monitor. The book started in late October, early November and ended on December 23rd. There wasn’t a focus on Christmas.

Despite my complaints about the advertising, I did enjoy this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! It took place at the mall, which is one of my favorite places to visit. It was also rivals-to-lovers. The characters were fun and realistic. There was also dual point-of-view, which is one of my favorite bookish things. There was also Asian American representation, which I enjoyed.

The Christmas Clash was a cute rom-com book, with Asian representation, cute characters, an adorable romance, though it wasn’t exactly a holiday book.

If you’re looking for a cute romance to escape into this holiday season, this is the one!