MINI-REVIEW: My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins (and others)

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories (edited) by Stephanie Perkins
Macmillan, 2014
[Goodreads] [Book Depository]

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, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year’s 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.

1. My True Love Gave to Me is utterly charming, you guys. I know it’s full of winter-related romances, but it really didn’t matter; you can read it any time and be perfectly fine. The stories range from cute and simple to complex and heart-breaking, making this a book to satisfy anyone who likes YA romances.
2. There’s a lot of quality in this anthology. Only one story left me feeling rather “meh” and my biggest complaint of that one was just that the story didn’t seem to have any sort of satisfactory ending. I am all about ambiguity, but that story didn’t even give me that. To see my general thoughts and ratings on all 12 stories, please go HERE.
3. Stephanie Perkins, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White, and Gayle Forman were the winners for me personally. I actually haven’t read a single book by any of them yet – I know, I’m behind the times – but this has definitely made me want to pick them up!
4. One of the stories includes LBGTQA characters. It wasn’t my favorite, but I loved seeing the representation.
5. Even though it took me a stupidly long time to get through this – I took a (really long) break mid-way through – I enjoyed the stories and reading works by new-to-me authors (Holly Black and Ally Carter notwithstanding). I was surprised at the depth of emotion put into some of these short works, and finished the book with a big ol’ smile on my face.

FINAL VERDICT: This is definitely a worthwhile addition to your collection. I have the British Collector’s Edition with the gorgeous blue cover, pink-edged pages, and ribbon bookmark (which is now available in PINK!), and am happy I decided to go that route. The presentation made it all the more romantic!