Title of Book : My True Love Gave to Me
Author : Stephanie Perkins (Editor), Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link , Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White
Publisher : Macmillan Children's Books
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ...This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays.
Before I talk about the content of My True Love Gave to Me, let’s talk about the cover first. The UK edition of this book is gorgeous. I was sooo lucky that I found this edition at a local bookstore. It’s a hardcover without a dust jacket. The cover has velvety feels on it. Its edge is pink colored and it has a gold ribbon bookmark. This edition is just beautiful.
Now let’s talk about the content. To be honest, this book surprised me. When I heard the title, My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Winter Romances, I expected contemporary romance short stories. But no, there are stories that have some magical realism in it and fantasy element in it. What I like from this book is the diversity of the stories.
This book has different famous authors (mostly YA) as contributors. From the twelve stories, my favorite is ‘Midnights’ by Rainbow Rowell, ‘Angels in the Snow’ by Matt de la Pena, ‘It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown’ by Stephanie Perkins, and ‘Welcome to Christmas, CA’ by Kiersten White. ‘Midnights’ is basically a friend-turned-into-love story. Of all the short stories, ‘Midnights’ is the most realistic and relatable. I feel for Mags. I’ve never read Rowell’s books before, so based on this story I’m eager to pick her books. With ‘Angels in the Snow’, I like that it takes on different ethnicity and social classes as the theme. The main character, Shy, is likeable. He’s awkward and it’s nice to read romance story from man’s perspective. I also find Perkins’s short story adorably cute. It’s quirky and I love Marigold and North. While with ‘Welcome to Christmas, CA’, some might find this short story depressing. The main character feels like she’s stuck in a “census-designated place” with nothing much to do besides going to school and part timing at a diner. But this story has a Christmas quality that’s able to make you feel moved and maybe shed a tear. Or maybe that’s just me. Anyway, these fours are my favorites from the book.
My least favorite stories are the ones with fantasy element in it. It’s not that I don’t like fantasy. Probably because I didn’t expect that there’s any fantasy story at all in this book. I was in the mood for contemporary read. Such as ‘The Lady and The Fox’ by Kelly Link and ‘The Girl Who Woke The Dreamer’ by Laini Taylor. ‘The Lady and The Fox’ is weird and confusing. I found it creepy that there’s a man who’s staring at your window when it’s snowing. The ending is confusing. I just don’t get it. As for ‘The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer’, I’m not really sure about my perception of this story. It’s hard to get into the story at first. But as I read more, the writing is beautiful and unique and I enjoyed it. Somehow I feel that this short story is just a part of a bigger story. I haven’t read any book by Laini Taylor so I’m not sure.
Overall I give this book three out of five. I actually calculated the average ratings that I give to each stories to produce that number. This book is a nice winter reads. Like the back cover said, “Long, cold nights are for falling in love.” It doesn’t matter if you like fantasy, or contemporary, because this book has them all.
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