This had the potential to be a great Xmas thriller, but I think some flushing out of the characters would’ve went a long way. It is a novella, so keep that in mind. It definitely has a creepy vibe though.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was a quick, easy thriller that was perfect for a holiday downtime read. Part of me wished for it to be a bit shorter, while the other part wanted it to just be a full book. Overall, I enjoyed it!

I’m sorry but there genuinely wasn’t a thing that kept me interested in this book.

The Characters
The characters were the first red flag to me. They were so flat. It felt like they had absolutely no personality and none of their actions seemed to make sense. Especially when they just wouldn’t call the police. I feel like normal thrillers and mysteries have a reason for this, as to why they can’t contact anyone, but the characters in this book just didn’t want to? It felt like the events of the whole book hinged on the characters being stupid and not doing what a sane person would do.
The plot
The plot for this book was what I hoped could save it but it fell completely flat. It felt so random like the scene for the story was created first and everything else was just tacked on to interest people in the story. At the twenty per cent mark, I just stopped caring about the plot, because the whole story annoyed me so much to the point where I began to wish the characters would die.
The setting
The setting of this book was the only thing that was done okay, I could picture it. It just felt really weird, how the decorations were described,
The writing
The writing in this book could barely keep me engaged, the best part was the descriptions of the setting, everything else felt like I was wading through a swamp. While it could work well for some readers, it could not keep my attention at all.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

The suggested reading for this is as an adventure book - read a chapter a day until Christmas. I'm glad I didn't do that and read it all in one go, I wouldn't have finished the book otherwise.

This didn't work for me. I didn't enjoy the writing, and the plot was predictable.

[NetGalley Read #21]
3.25 ⭐

Well, I'm glad for the final two chapters. Lifting the mood from absolute melancholia to a bit of hope and merriment.

Starts a bit slow. A bit repetitive. Then really picks up the pace in the middle and ends on a relatively high note.

It's not perfect (which is one of themes of the book). But it's not really bad either. There are flashes of brilliance. Then there are also some odd choices of words/sentences and repititions that are a bit jarring.

Despite all its faults, there is a certain allure (atleast to me) to the writing and the characters that I can't quite define/explain. Similar to another book from this author called The Other Passenger.

It is quite short since it is a novella. 25 chapters. Christmas themed. Easy to read.

If you're short on your reading challenge for the year, give it a read.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I don't think the writing was not great and I just felt like there was no plot. This one was short but it felt way longer because of the writing.

I hope others love this one.

Xmas Break by J.E. Rowney

Isla and her husband accept a holiday invitation from her estranged sister. Her sister has planned a magazine worthy Christmas, but what starts off as a stiff sibling reunion ends up a night fighting for survival.

I loved the setting for this story! I found the back story interesting and thought it set up the story well. I wanted to know what pushed the sisters apart and was wondering what happened after their mother's death. I thought the small cast of characters made it easy to get into the story, as you don't have as long to build within a novella. I wasn't satisfied by the ending because it just felt unbelievable, based on the first half of the book, but maybe I'm reading too much into it for such a short story.

It was a break from happy holiday romances - which I just get bored of after a while! I also started this on Christmas Eve, so I was too late, but there are 25 chapters - so you could read it as an advent calendar and read a chapter each day in December! Such a cool idea!

Xmas Break by J.E. Rowney

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0

I read this book as an advent calendar book as it was designed. I really enjoyed the idea of reading one piece each day. Each Chapter ends on a cliffhanger , so I was genuinely interested in what happens next.

The horror story id describe as Lifetime TV movie horror/thriller.

What I loved 💕:
💕 The advent chapter / Calendar style of the book
💕chapters lengths were short. (Easy to stick to the reading pacing for advent calendar)
💕The estranged sisters
💕The invitation to a secluded place trope
💕The way family & partner dynamics played off against the horror / thriller


What was not my cuppa ☕️:
☕️ The motivation for murder wasn’t grounded in strong theory.
☕️ I personally would have liked the thriller dial turned up slightly.
☕️Ideally I would have liked each chapter sealed for actually opening like I’ve seen other book advent calendars do.
☕️Because of the nature of the book & cliff hangers not really reread material

Ideal Reader:
✨Someone looking for a Christmas read that is thriller instead of romance
✨Someone keen to try a book chapter adventure calendar
✨Some on who likes a HEA thriller

This book was a fast Christmas read. While I liked the length, the story kind of fell flat. It was obviously heavily influenced by the shining, but once our villain was found out so quickly everything else fell flat after that. I also didn’t love the wholesome family element incorporated in.

This one missed the mark for me. I found the FMC to be insufferable and infuriating, making unrealistic decisions just to keep the plot going. The ending was satisfying.

XMAS BREAK I found to be exceptionally intriguing, a layered cliffhanger which held me suspended from chapter to chapter. I read it in Advent fashion, one chapter per day from 1st December to Christmas Day, and many, many times I had to hold myself back from leaping to the next chapter. I am definitely going to read more from this very talented author!

Xmas Break by JE Rowney
Release Date: November 22, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5

I really enjoyed this holiday thriller! It’s just under 200 pages, which is perfect for this time of year. I read this on Christmas Eve which is actually when this story takes place so that was fun!

While some of it was a bit predictable I was also surprised by some of it. It kinda felt the basic thriller movie you’d find on like any streaming service but make it a family Christmas dinner filled with tension.

#Xmasbreakbook #holidaythriller
#bookreview #books #arcreview #christmas #christmasthriller #netgalleyarcreview #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #jerowney #xmasbreakthriller #thrillernovella #christmasnovella

I read this as an advent, one chapter a day which made it more suspenseful and fun. Overall a suspenseful snowed in thriller that I enjoyed. This review was posted on Goodreads as well.

As I was looking for some holiday thrillers, I came across this one, written as an advent book, meaning 1 chapter per day in the 25 days before Christmas. The cover looked very inviting too so I began reading on December 1st. As I am a rule breaker, I didn't read a chapter a day but finished the whole book in just a few days. It is a quick read but the story just didn't resonate with me. I wanted more suspense, more thrills, and a more satisfying ending.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC copy! First off, I love the cover, I also liked that this could be read as an advent calendar type book, Overall, I liked this book, it was a quick read and I finished it in a couple of days rather than just read one chapter a day. It did feel a little repetitive and the ending felt rushed. The twists were obvious to me. There was a lot of foreshadowing and suspense and I did enjoy the read all together! I look forward to reading more from this author

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of Xmas Break. I really enjoyed reading this for one of my holiday reads.

I started out reading this book advent style, a chapter a day. But it just wasn't making me excited for the next days read so I just decided to finish the book. It was a quick read, but somewhat predictable. Although, it just seems like the villain came out of nowhere. This book is a slow burn thriller. It does have some very exciting parts to the story, but didn't have as many twists and turns as most thrillers do. Thank you to NetGalley for providing the book for an honest review.

There is honestly nothing a love more than Xmas horror. This was great! Can’t wait to read more by this author! Thank you Netgalley and publisher for allowed me to review!

A good, fast paced thriller. Very atmospheric which I really appreciated for the season. I did find that the author was more focused on descriptions than anything else in the story which was a bit distracting at times.

Isla reluctantly accepts her sister's invitation to spend Christmas at a luxury mountain retreat. They haven't spoken since their mother's death, and the holiday reunion seems too good to be true.

They are cut off from civilisation by a snowstorm and secrets begin to come to the surface. They must work together to survive the night. Will they manage to put aside years of mistrust to ensure they survive.