I won’t lie, it is a little early to be reading Christmas books. But when I got the email from Scholastic about this one, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. And I’m definitely glad that I read this one. It was an easy read that had me smiling quite a lot.
In this book, we follow Molly Bell, a teenage girl who tries to avoid anything and everything to do with Christmas. When she was little, her parents released a Christmas single where she dressed up as a little green elf and spoke up at the end. So embarrassing! She’s done so well making sure no one would connect her to the role until a new hit rom-com decides to use the song on its soundtrack. Going to the premiere is the last thing Molly wanted, but while there, she meets a cute boy, and suddenly? Things seem to spiral out of control.
My favourite thing about the book was actually the friendship. Molly has a best friend, Grace, the only person outside her family who knows their secret. Grace has always been big on Christmas because of her Grandpa. But after he died the year before, things had been hard on her. Molly decides to put her problems with the holiday aside to try and make this a good Christmas for her best friend. That’s the main thing that kept me turning the pages. I wanted to know what was going to happen between them and with the fundraiser.
It was so damn sweet.
I love seeing good friendships in books, and this is definitely one.
Molly grows a lot in this book. The teenagers in this book did feel real. They were very imperfect, and I won’t lie, a little annoying. But I accepted that because, yeah, real teenagers are like that. And lying to avoid embarrassment is definitely part of that. It just…it’s something that bugged me a little. But it’s definitely something that I think teenagers, the target demographic, will definitely understand and relate to.
I’m not sure if this is a book I’d pick up again. But it’s definitely one I’d recommend to young teen readers. It has all the Christmas rom-com vibes you could want but also looks at friendships and families in a great way.
If you have any young teens in your life, then check it out, guys!
Title: All The Jingle Ladies
Author: Beth Garrod
Genre: Contemporary
Age Range: Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: 13/10/2022
BUY LINKS
Lace and Dagger Books 