Xmas Break Book Review: A Thriller by J.E. Rowney
I joined a Psychological Thrillers book group on Facebook this year and they are always intriguing me with interesting sounding book recs. I found out about Xmas Break from them. This holiday thriller by J.E. Rowney is about two sisters (and their husbands) who decide to reunite for the holidays. But things don’t go as planned when a huge snowstorm traps them in their vacation home and a killer is on the loose. But you’ll have to read my full Xmas Break book review to find out more.
The holidays are never easy, are they? Especially not when family is involved. I knew from the start of this novella that something bad was going to happen and that was indeed the case. This book is included in Kindle Unlimited so make sure you check it out if you’re a member.
And for more Christmas book review, click here.
What is Xmas Break by J.E. Rowney About?
When Isla reluctantly accepts her estranged sister Clara’s invitation to spend Christmas at a luxury mountain retreat, she expects awkward family tension – not a fight for survival. After years of silence following their mother’s death, this holiday reunion seems too good to be true. And it is.
As a brutal snowstorm cuts them off from civilization, dark secrets begin to surface. With time running out and nowhere to run, two sisters must put aside years of mistrust to survive the night. But in a house full of lies, how do you know who to trust?
A pulse-pounding Christmas thriller that will make you think twice about accepting that family holiday invitation.
Perfect for fans of domestic suspense who like their Christmas cookies with a side of terror. (from Amazon.com)
My Initial Thoughts
Before starting this novella, I was intrigued. Spending the holidays with family is never easy and considering that Isla and Clara are estranged sisters, I figured there would be some drama. Drama is basically a given when spending spending the holiday season with family.
Isla receives an invitation to spend the holidays with her sister Clara, as well as Clara’s husband, at their luxury cabin. And when Isla and her husband James first arrive, everything seems amazing. But little by little, Isla begins to realize how off her hosts are acting. It seems that Isla and Clara are going to have to confront their past if they hope to have a happy ending.
My Positive Thoughts
I’ll be honest. I had a lot of issues with this novella. But with that being said, here are some positive thoughts that I had.
- I first heard about this book through the Psychological Thrillers facebook group where the author was promoting it. This novella has 25 chapters and so the author J.E. Rowney was marketing it like an advent calendar, where you read one chapter a day leading up until Christmas. I thought that was a really cool way to market this thriller novella.
- Love the cover.
- I liked the idea behind this book. I think most people that are familiar with thrillers and horror movies know that it’s never a good thing to go to a remote place (in this case, a remote luxury cabin in the middle of the snowy woods). The cover really fit the story and so I was excited to dive into this story about a winter break, about to go wrong.
My Critiques
My main critique is that there just wasn’t great character development in this story. And I think that’s because in a novella, you only have so much time to get out what you need to say in order to move forward the plot. While this novella didn’t really work for me in terms of character or story development, I think it could work really well as a full fledged drama. I do think it is a huge mistake to try to condense everything down into a novella.
The family drama? It was on point. I felt like the tension between Clara and Isla was totally relatable because family members are always going to have their differences. And people are always going to be stressed about money. Those are two things that I know for a fact.
I also think it might have been cool to have some chapters from Clara’s POV. But that’s just my opinion. Because she was a character with so many secrets, I think it would have been fun to get inside her head and see a different perspective.
In Conclusion
I’m not sure that I would recommend Xmas Break. If you have kindle unlimited, it might be worth a read during the Christmas season with some hot chocolate by your side. But I’m not sure that I would want to pay for it flat out because it’s not really something I would want to read again.
I’m sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy this thriller novella very much, but I’m always going to be honest in my book reviews because reading is an expensive hobby and buying books can really add up. It’s not a perfect read, but I did enjoy the author’s writing style. It looks like this author has quite a few other books available so I look forward to checking out more of their work in the future.
