The Holiday Detour – Jane Kolven

This was what I’d describe as a quick read page turner. The main part of the story took place over less than 24 hours giving it a road trip caper movie kind of vibe and making me want to know what would happen next. In the moment I quite enjoyed the craziness of the storyline and the genderqueer representation, but after dwelling for a little while before writing this review I feel somewhat differently, so it’s possible that there are many people out there who will feel differently to me.

Dana is heading home to Chicago for Christmas to visit her Nana when her car breaks down. Charlie takes pity on her and offers her a ride.

Dana’s constant stream of conscious was tiring at times and her seemingly obsessive thoughts at times about a boy from her past became kind of odd after a while.

The discussions on more serious topics such as pronouns, misgendering and the dangers of public bathrooms for people like Charlie were handled well – both informative and fitting for the storyline. From my experience Dana’s reaction to these things fell in the pretty normal spectrum, so whilst frustrating and disappointing to read, I’d say they were also done quite well.

***Spoiler Start***

I can understand falling for someone in such a short span of time – but moving in together just seemed a bit much. Sure, they’d be entering into a relationship with some distance, but they weren’t going to be living on opposite sides of the world. I can see why this narrative was used, but my personal preference would have been an epilogue with them moving in together after some time.

***Spoiler Finished***

Some of the other reviews have mentioned that the premise of this book would work as a movie and I tend to agree. As a debut book I found the writing style to be ok and I’d certainly give their next book a read, I just wish this book was a little bit different.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.