Book Review - My True Love Gave to Me, Edited by Stephanie Perkins

Title: My True Love Gave to Me, edited by Stephanie Perkins, stories by Rainbow Rowell, Kelly Link, Matt De La Peña, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Holly Black, Gayle Forman, Myra McEntire, Kiersten White, Ally Carter and Laini Taylor.

Series?: No
Pages: 336
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Dates read: December 5th to 11th, 2014 (hardcover copy)

Goodreads Synopsis:

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers (Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de La Peña, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins, Laini Tayler and Kiersten White), edited by the international bestselling Stephanie Perkins.  Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, there’s something here for everyone.  So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy.  You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Overall, My True Love Gave to Me was an absolutely adorable book. I bought this because Laini Taylor, Stephanie Perkins and Holly Black had stories in it, but, unlike with other anthologies, I loved almost every single story. “Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus” by Myra McEntire just couldn’t grab my attention and I ended up skipping over it.

If I had to pick my favourites, “Midnights” by Rainbow Rowell, “Anges in the Snow” by Matt de la Peña, “Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan, “It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown” by Stephanie Perkins and “Welcome to Christmas, CA,” by Kiersten White would definitely be my favourites (even though each story is really good, don’t skip over any of them because you don’t necessarily like the author - I actually very much enjoyed Gayle Forman’s story even if I’m not exactly a fan of her books).

Each of the stories in My True Love Gave to Me is wonderful and holiday-y. I loved that there was such a diversity in the stories - some stories dealt with Christmas, others with Hanukkah, even Winter Solstice, and the characters could be hispanic, black or white. It was refreshing to see a collection of holiday stories that didn’t singularly deal with Christmas and white people. This is why variety is good. And it’s also what I think made My True Love Gave to Me so enjoyable.

The stories all fit together very nicely, some were fantastical, some not, but one didn’t feel too out of place beside the other. None of the stories were related, but I do kind of enjoy thinking that they all happened in the same world around the same time.

All in all, if you want a book to get you in the holiday spirit, I highly suggest you pick up My True Love Gave to Me.
The stories are heartwarming and the characters all very diverse, though I think everyone can find a little bit of themselves in them. This is a wonderful book that will make you feel as warm as when you’re drinking hot chocolate by a fireside (cheesy, I know, but also very true) :)