This has been compared to the movie The Holiday, only featuring young adults. In that it’s a swap between a British and an American girl who both have their reasons for wanting to get away for Christmas, it’s a match. However, the Instagram challenge by the mean girl puts a decidedly modern teen spin on it, and I think it diminishes the story although it drives it.

Holly is obsessed with all the trimmings and trappings of Christmas to the point that she feels the season will be ruined if she doesn’t stick with her list and schedule. Unfortunately, her friends and family are held to these rigid traditions as well. It’s clear that, in her push for perfection, she is missing out on the true meaning of the holiday. Elle is so caught up in building her follower count that she takes on a challenge to amass 15,000 new ones, destined to repeat the heartache of her last social media contest. It’s obvious to readers that being accepted into a popular clique isn’t going to bring the satisfaction she craves if it means disappointing those she cares about.

Maybe it was the alternating POV or the raft of secrets the characters are keeping, but I found it difficult to keep all the story threads straight. I kept having to flip back to earlier pages to search for references the author made later in the story. There were a number of shallow subplots that I felt overpopulated the narrative, including the budding romance of Holly’s queer friend Ruby, the mystery behind Elle’s friend break-up with Clara, and the reason behind Holly’s mother’s selling the house. Despite this, if there are teens looking for a clean, Christmas-themed romance, they could do worse than picking this one up.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Sourcebooks through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

This book is for Christmas lovers who watch The Holiday every year and want to read a cute contemporary romance.

Elle, an American influencer, has decided to take part in a competition to gain more followers. If she loses: she has to close her account. To win, she decides to swap houses with Holly who lives in a small town in the UK. She’s going to help Elle and guide her to enjoy the Christmas spirit overseas.

Holly loves making lists and she’s obsessed with Christmas. She wants to have the best Christmas ever and going to the US could help her achieve her dream.

They’re both going to learn a lot about themselves, their family and meet new people thanks to this life changing experience.

It’s cute and funny, I really liked the different references to pop music and Christmas traditions in these two countries.

Can it be Christmas already now ?

So cute! I wasn't expecting the social media aspect to be so prominent and stand out a lot. I liked the characters, most of them. The writing was weird to me.

I really wanted to love this book. And there were aspects of it that were quite fun. I'm here for all the Christmas vibes, and between a the tow girls, all the festive fun boxes were checked...but that's pretty much where the THIS IS SUCH A GREAT CHRISTMAS READ aspects ended for me.

I was really disappointed by how inaccurately the social media influencer role was portrayed. Elle started out with 23k followers, and apparently that was enough for a company to offer her free plane tickets, and hotel?!? It's absurd. And then she was "obsessed" with instagram, but throughout the book she was spending maybe half an hour a day, snapping pics on the fly and throwing them up with little thought, not engaging with others on the platform in any meaningful way, and getting hundreds of followers a day. It felt like an almost hurtful portrayal, because for many influencers, that's their job that they take seriously (not in a bad way) and work HARD, and invest a ton of time into it. It just really made it hard to get absorbed into the story when that was a whole plot point and it was handled so utterly inaccurately. I felt it belittled anyone working hard to actually build a social media platform.

Also a lot of the drama felt like it was based solely on wrong assumptions and a lack of communication, and it's never my favorite when that's the case.

Each girl's voice didn't feel distinct enough from one another, either. So I had a hard time, sometimes, remembering whose chapter I was reading.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I absolutely LOVE The Holiday and watch it every chance I get, especially during the holidays. So, of course, I had to read BLAME IT ON THE MISTLETOE by Beth Garrod. After a rather bumpy first few chapters and a confusion of events and character introductions, I fell in super-like with Elle and Holly and their troubles.
This one's a super-cute read that will bring a smile to your face and a jingle bell to your heart.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy I received.

This is definitely me reading a holiday book in October.
It was cute. The best part about the whole book was Nick and Colin the dog.

The first chapter was written in a huge run on diary entry way that can and did confuse some readers as to the tone of the book which did change after the 2nd chapter began. It took me a few chapters to get into the story but I found it extremely cute and fluffy.
I also was not a fan of the social media obsession with followers thing but that's a personal opinion.

I wanted to love this, or even like this so much and I just couldn’t. Right from the beginning reading Holly’s letter I couldn’t get on board. It literally sounded like an 8 year old and unfortunately that remained consistent throughout the entire story. Holly was just so naive and it was way too much on every level, the capital letters and the emphasizing just did not work. Elle’s part was okay but the whole story felt really childish to me, super disappointing I just skimmed through the entire thing.

Get ready to deck the halls! Blame it on the Mistletoe brings the holiday spirit in full force with a sleighful of Christmas magic. Elle and Holly, one from the US one from the UK find each other on the ''gram where Elle, currently living in a Manhattan suburb, shares a photo of her mom's British hometown in hope of gaining hype for the social media challenge she joined. The first person to gain 15,000 followers gets to join an elite group of influencers. Holly recognizes the photo of her London suburb and the two discover their moms were friends back in the day. Their parents agree for them to swap homes for a week and holiday adventures ensue on either side of the Atlantic.
Crushes unfold, drama unfolds, but there is a strong message of support with social commentary on the way social media can distort reality and cause insecurity.

While I loved this book, it did trigger my pet peeve. The NJ to NY travel was off and the scale of the tourism in NYC was way too unrealistic. But I'll overlook it because the story was so much fun and the resolution was on point. I can see it being a Freeform movie!

Blame it on the Mistletoe is such a cute holiday romance and falls more into the teen side of the young adult genre. It reminded me so much of The Holiday movie that I ended up watching it the day after I finished this book. It’s a cute story of Elle and Holly switching places for Elle’s social media competition. Elle spends her time in Britain while Holly gets to enjoy New York during the holidays! Although Elle and Holly have alternating chapters, Elle definitely felt like the main focus of the story. She’s dealing with cyber-bullying and has her confidence shaken because of it. Holly on the other hand is dealing with a heartbreak and can’t seem to break the cycle with her ex. I can’t wait for the holidays now because of this book! I even had my Marshmallow Fireside candle going while reading this holiday gem.

Thank you to NetGalley, Beth Garrod, and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read and review an eARC of Blame It on the Mistletoe!

I will post a review during publication week.

This was a super cute and fun holiday read! For some reason I was thinking it was an adult romance book, so I was a little thrown when I actually started reading, but the characters were a lot of fun and this was a great read to get me in the mood for the holidays!

Holiday books are one of my favorite parts about Christmas. I love the goodness, the meet-cutes and the magic of the holidays. This book was marked as Tweet Cute mixed with The Holiday and that was so perfect.
I also love characters who are in social media. No real idea why, but it is one of those characters traits I love.

Definitely add this one to your December reading list!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with an advanced ecopy of this book!
Elle is a teenage social media personality desperate to gain followers and forget her past. Holly is trying to get over a Christmas heart break, and deal with her mothers decision to move house. The seemingly perfect decision is for the girls to swap lives over Christmas- and the journey they go on might just shock them both.
This was just what I needed to satisfy my October Christmas craving! I can't deny that the writing was entirely cheesy and much of what happened entirely unbelievable, particularly the social media elements, but I'm happy to overlook this because of how much fun I had reading this book and how much joy it brought me. I liked the two different settings we were submerged in and the reaction each girl had to it, although I must admit that i found it difficult to distinguish between the two narrative voices and often forgot who's perspective I was reading from. I loved the romances in this book, although I would've liked to have seen more of it- whilst I enjoyed the perspectives of both girls, I can't help but feel that this meant there wasn't enough time to sufficiently develop each characters story and particularly the romance. Another small thing I loved in this book was the side characters, I thought they were each developed well. Overall, this was a very fun and enjoyable ya contemporary, and the christmassy elements made me love it even more. I implore you to pick it up this Christmas season!

Blame it on the mistletoe had some cute parts to it though I do wish I had waited until closer to Christmas to read it to get into all of the Christmas vibes properly.

I had some trouble getting into the book due to the pacing and the format of the book this time.

It definitely had potential just didn't work well for me this time but I know lots of other readers will like this.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review. This was a three star rating.

Kind of wished I saved this for the holiday season, cause now it seems so far away!
I’m not super into YA romance anymore, but this one is one of the few exceptions.
I thought both romances were cute and was invested in all the characters!
It’s a short and sweet read that’ll get you into the holiday spirit!

First of all, thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the advance copy of this book. When I read the description, I knew I had to read this one, and I was not disappointed. It's October, and this book filled me with holiday spirit and joy! I cannot wait to share it with my students.

Super cute Christmas romance hits the spot with my holiday cravings right now. Loved the characters can't wait to get this book in physical form!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

Take the holiday (a classic Christmas movie) and add in Tweet cute and a little bit of Dash and Lily, and you get this book. If you are looking for the sweetest feel good, YA holiday romcom, look no further! Seriously add this to your holiday reading list! This has me wanting to pull out the Christmas tree and order the nearest gingerbread latte.

Elle is a social media influencer, determined to build her account, so when a competition starts to build followers, she comes up with the crazy idea to swap places with someone in England. Holly, a Christmas loving girl from Britain, is having a hard time with change. Determined to make this her best Christmas yet, she swaps with Elle and finds herself in New York for the holidays. Both girls have this time to complete the ultimate Christmas list, but love is also on the table this year!

Honestly it did take a few chapters to get in, but by the end I was hooked and totally head over heels for the characters!

Blame it on the Mistletoe is a young adult romcom that takes place during Christmas time. It follows two teen girls, one is a social media influencer named Elle from New Jersey and the other is a Christmas obsessed plan making girl named Holly from the UK. They switch places for the holidays and discover new things about themselves while making new friends and maybe romances.
The beginning of the book has a fun start, and introduces the main characters and their friends and family. I enjoyed the fun lighthearted feel to the book and thought it was fast paced for the first half of the book. I found the middle of the book to drag and by the end just wanted things to wrap up. The characters didn’t feel fully fleshed out, but there were enough fun things going on that it didn’t end up being too big of a deal. I enjoyed seeing how Elle and Holly reacted to things going different than they had planned and how they dealt with their mistakes.
I had a few problems with the book, mostly due to pacing, which I’ve already discussed and awkward dialogue. There are a lot of pop culture references and attempts to make this book appeal to gen z which, in my opinion as a member of gen z, often fell flat. Some of the references were quite outdated as in no one really says those things anymore and they felt more like 2014 than 2021. This may not bother everyone but I know a lot of people get annoyed when books try to sounds like how teens talk but miss the mark so I thought I’d mention it.
Overall, this book was a fun holiday romcom that is easy to read, but the characters and dialogue weren’t my favorite. I would recommend it to people who don’t mind those things and if you’re looking for a Christmas themed book.

Thank you to #NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for allowing me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of Blame it on the Mistletoe by Beth Garrod. This cute and fun YA romance will be published in the U.S. in November 2021. All opinions are my own.

Holly loves Christmas. It's her favorite time of the year and she has a multi-point (we're talking over 100 points) plan to the best Christmas ever. That is until she learns her mom is selling their house to move them in with her boyfriend, her sister, Naomi, won't be home until Boxing Day, and her former boyfriend has officially moved on and is kissing someone else under the mistletoe. Elle isn't really into the Christmas spirit this year. She's more focused on building up her new social media page after trolls forced her to close her previous page. When she gets the opportunity to join a competition that will launch her social media stardom and prove something to a former friend, she jumps at it. Elle and Holly end up swapping lives for the week. Elle goes to England to have a true London Christmas and win the challenge, while Holly leaves for New Jersey to have the perfect American Christmas. Obstacles arise, hijinks ensue, and Holly and Elle both learn that everything isn't always what it seems.

I love a good holiday story. Blame it on the Mistletoe reminds me of a YA version of a Hallmark movie in the best ways possible. I loved the idea of a holiday swap. Holly's friends are the absolute best. Each character has a unique personality and role in the story. I loved that there was a huge focus on family, friendship, and traditions. While the story appears to be a cute romance, there is a deeper message about what's really important at Christmas, being with the ones you care the most about. If I had one criticism/complaint, it would be that I wanted more of both Elle and Holly's stories. Because they were swapping lives, the story alternates between them and I just felt like I was missing elements of their stories. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this story and I think it will be a great winter break read.