Disclaimer
This is a spoiler free review!
It was in fact not a Christmas romcom.
Rating
⭐️.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review
It's the holiday season, which means I want to curl up under a warm blanket with a hot mug of tea and a good Christmas romcom. However, Wreck the Halls was not a Christmas romcom. Full transparency, I went into the book without any knowledge of what the book was about. I saw the cover and saw it being hyped up in the book community, so I decided to read it. This was my first Tessa Bailey book, I'm curious if all her books are like this one. I felt quite disappointed because the cover and title are very Christmas-y , but the plot does not revolve around Christmas at all.
The plot, if you can call it that, was kind of childish. The concept of the MCs having to get their mothers back together for a band reunion made me feel like I was reading a middle grade book. Do these 30 year old adults have nothing better to do? The Insta-love in this book was the wildest one I've ever read. The MCs met ONE time 14 YEARS AGO and talked for like FIVE MINUTES and have been "in love' with each other ever since. Keep in mind that they did not keep in contact after that one encounter. Then when they meet again at 14 years, they somehow still have "feelings" for each other? I felt zero chemistry between Beat and Melody (Side note: what kind of name is "Beat" and why didn't he ever change it? I would not be able to take someone seriously when their name is Beat). The "romance" was lacking and felt a lot like lust honestly. The way they interacted with each other was like two middle schoolers with their first crush. The whole story felt very rushed and messy. The only thing I liked was the banter, it was the only thing that kept me entertained.
Beat was an absolute ick. He seemed to only want to sleep with Melody and didn't have actual romantic feelings for her because every time he was thinking about her, it was always very sexual and never cute and wholesome. When he looked at her, he was looking at her breasts every time. Beat came across as kind of a creep and that made him my least favourite MMC. A quote to prove my point, "This woman was his refuge, the fulfilment of his lust.." I honestly don't have anything nice to say about him. He wasn't even funny.
Melody was funny and witty. I didn't like that she was 30 years old and hadn't really dated anyone because of a guy she met one time 14 years ago. I thought her job doing old book restoration was interesting and I liked her passion for books. Like a lot if other romance novel FMCs she grew up with a single mom who didn't have time for her and has no siblings. ( Side note: I really really hate that romance authors keep using this trope for their FMCs, like it's really repetitive and boring now. I think the only romance novel FMC who actually had a supportive, loving dad parent who were still married was Kareena from Dating Dr. Dil.) Most of the funny lines in the book came from Melody. I did enjoy her character, she seemed more fleshed out than Beat. She had a lot of internal conflicts with how to fit in and struggled with social anxiety.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this book because the plot was messy, the characters had no chemistry and there was nothing Christmas-y about this book. If you want a Christmas romcom, then I would pass on Wreck the Halls.
Some of my favourite lines from Melody:
"... how to smile anymore without looking like a constipated gargoyle."
"I was going to go with clear rubber bands, but teal felt more punk rock."
"They didn't seem to be pretending to be comfortable when in reality, they were stressing about every word out of their mouth and how they looked, whether or not people liked them."
"What was it like to be confident."
"Her mother's love and attention remained out reach, however. Always had- and it was beginning to feel as though it always would."
"I lived inside those books growing up. I want to take care of them, the way they took care of me."
"Holly gohomeandstaythere."
"Beat is older." " 'Is your hearing turned all the way up dear?' she patted his forearm. 'I want to make sure you can hear all the questions clearly.'"
"None taken. She could overwrinkle a star-pei."
"At least, I think it's improv. I was too afraid to take the classes or ask for a refund."
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