In her seasonal novella Oh. What. Fun., Chandler Baker cleverly balances domestic satire with a deeper message about the inequitable expectations placed on women, in particular at the festive season. It's a subject that will ring true for many female readers.
"Christmas is our mother's Super Bowl, the Masters, the Summer Olympics, and the Monaco Grand Prix rolled into one." (Loc. 251)
Christmas is only days away, and the Clauster family is gathering at the family home in Austin, Texas. Mom and Dad are joined by their three adult children, Channing, Sammy and Tyler, two partners, Doug and Angel, and Channing and Doug's four-year-old twin daughters, Lark and Sable.

Matriarch Claire is in the thick of the rather manic logistical exercise that maintaining the Clauster family Christmas traditions requires. Her adult children on one hand insist that all the fuss is unnecessary, but on the other expect that the eggnog will be homemade (they don't like the store-bought one), that Canelo the house-elf will be discretely installed in an elaborate new tableau on a daily basis and that their personal favourite dishes will be present on the Christmas-Eve-Eve-Eve buffet (what on earth is a King Ranch Casserole?).

The family confidently expect Clare to find and dispatch an appropriately thoughtful gift to her sister-in-law, wrap the Santa gifts for her grand-daughters in specially sourced wrapping paper, not to mention clean up after everyone, show unmitigated delight at the prospect of "hanging out" with the four-year-old twins whenever asked, and do all the festive grocery shopping as required. Dad, meanwhile, gets to be "the fun one", while the adult children catch up on sleep, take an opportunity for some couple time and roll their eyes at Mom's carefully arranged Christmas activities ("We let Mom have her fun.").

Claire, meanwhile, is feeling the pressure.
"... it's not that I'm looking for some big accolades or round of applause. But it would be nice, I suppose, if my family acknowledged, even a little, that special moments are made special because of special effort. By me." (Loc. 128)
All she really wants to do is watch her favourite daytime TV chat show, "The Zazzy Tims Morning Show". She's been sending links from the show to her children for weeks, but they've ignored them as irrelevant.

When the family all head off to Disney's Christmas Fantasy on Ice - the tickets are a surprise for the whole family, as Mom's traditional Christmas-Eve-Eve "pre-present" - it takes them two hours and an impromptu marriage proposal to realise that they've left her behind at home. But Claire's not there, either, and by the next morning it's become clear that she's actually disappeared.
"What would happen should our mother not return home before the twenty-fifth of December, for instance? Nothing. Nothing would happen at all. And what kind of Christmas, pray tell, is that?"
Increasingly frantically, the family retrace Claire's steps around suburban Austin, uncovering a strange altercation at the German butchers two days previously. But the crucial clue to her whereabouts arrives from an unexpected quarter. Will the Clausters be able to redeem themselves and discover the true meaning of Christmas, or will their festive season remain (to quote Dad) a complete Clausterf*ck?

I really enjoy Chandler Baker's writing, and in particular the way she captures very serious societal issues within a fictional context. The nuanced characterisations in Oh. What. Fun. are impressive in so short a work, perhaps aided by the domestic setting that will be familiar to many readers. While there are several laugh-out-loud moments, there's also the opportunity to reflect on our own behaviour in a similar context - am I a Christmas martyr? Do I let others take on an unfair load? How might we create a celebration that everyone can enjoy without exhaustion and resentment?

Oh. What. Fun. is a thought-provoking and entertaining seasonal read. I'd recommend it particularly to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction, especially those with an interest in gender issues such as the division of domestic labour.

My thanks to the author, Chandler Baker, publisher Amazon Original Stories, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this title.

#OhWhatFun:

Well, this was fun. Hello holiday fun! This is like the dysfunctional that I’ve been looking for. Not everything is happy and merry at Christmas. I mean, Kevin’s mom left him in Chicago to go to Paris and it’s understandable. Throw away the cookie cutter families and enter Oh. What. Fun.

Can’t we just appreciate all the things that happen behind the scenes to make the magic, magical? This was such a fun novella to really show that moms should be appreciated if they work their bits off to give that holiday magic. We get the silly snark of a mom longing to be appreciated, a love struck son that may not have the best love interests, and kids that are glued to their phone. Oh, we also get Elsa, cause she’s the queen.

This was short, sweet, and too fun to read! This is out now and is a perfect short story to add to your holiday happenings! Thank you @amazon for the gifted copy.

A sweet little holiday book that focuses on a family that is together for the holiday season and like in many families, the mother of this family creates a lot of the memories, but the family doesn't realize how vital she is until she disappears for a few days!

While I am not a matriarch, I know that I am thankful for my mom who creates a lot of the family memories and moments. I think it would be fun to give this little book to a mom in your life and acknowledge that you are thankful for them. And a fun little book to curl up for an afternoon during the holiday season.

Enjoyed this short story, and the writing is a typical Chandler Baker story! An interesting story, as the mom of the family disappears and it seems no one really paid any attention to her or her needs…until she’s missing!

2.75⭐️ Funny in parts but average. Was expecting much more becuase I loved the author’s last book. Oh well

Super fast, fun and cute Christmastime short story that really delves into the pressure that can come with the Holidays. It makes you reflect on your own holiday traditions and what you maybe don't realize goes into the makings of the celebrations and things falling on one lone person to keep it all afloat. I would be interested in seeing what antics the family gets up to again!

This story looked promising at the beginning. Although I sometimes had a hard time figuring out whose POV I was reading (and some times I just couldn't figure it out at all), the first part was entertaining. By the time I got to the conflict, the story was confusing but I was having a good time. Then, suddenly, there was some chaos and the story ended.

I think I would have liked it more had the story been a bit longer and with better character development.



Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

Oh. What. Fun. is a cute, holiday short story that is sure to make you smile, and more importantly, find the importance in those who make the holidays run smoothly. Claire is the mother to Tyler, Channing, and Sammy. The family is all together for the holidays and go to a Disney on Ice show. At some point during the show, they all realize that Claire is not there and no one knows where she is. The mystery unfolds as the family comes to the realization that Claire does so much for them.

This is a charming story that makes the reader ponder the true meaning of family and acceptance. I would hope that the readers will learn to show more love and respect for those in their lives that work hard to make everything come together flawlessly. I would give this book 3 1/2 stars!

This was a short fun Christmas read. I couldn't work out who was narrating at any one time and I found it really hard to follow the story.

A decent novella. I related somewhat to the main character but I also felt it was a bit far fetched.

This short story was fun, but also frustrating at the same time. Although, I did not see the ending coming. I suppose I was just getting frustrated with the dismissive nature of the family, but this is what contributed to the climax of the story.

I wanted to love this short story, but it was so difficult for me to understand what was happening to get more into it. I wasn't able to finish it, unfortunately. It is probably a good short story, but the writing style and topic doesn't resonate with me.

Fun Christmas book! Cute and quick holiday story, but I was a little confused about who was narrating. Reminded me of my poor mom who runs around like a nut at Christmas and this year she had to work.

I honestly wasn’t sure who exactly was narrating the story at any given point, which made it hard to follow. It’s a story of a family that takes the mother for granted and then she ends up missing. After all is said and done, I didn’t feel like the characters really learned anything from the whole ordeal.

I loved this quick little holiday read. Definitely makes you think about your life and the people in it. It was easy to get through during the holiday season and one that made me appreciate my mum, and my mother-in-law so much more. Would recommend - full review is up on my blog www.thebookishwiccan.wordpress.com

This was a super cute, fun, and fast read! It was entertaining and perfect for the holiday season. Totally relatable.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley.

4.5 stars for plot because it was both absurd and hella relatable at the same time.
3.5 stars for characters because I thought they weren’t really fleshed out but I also think that was partially the point.
4.5 stars for the great writing.

This is my favorite Chandler moment to date! I've read both The Whisper Network and The Husbands, and she does a great job nailing what it means to be a mother, and hits home with working mothers and women in the workforce. This book is no different. I really enjoyed the mix of holiday fun and understanding of the pressure of being a woman and/or mother during the crazy holiday season. Short and sweet!

Oh what fun

📚Book review📚

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the arc in exchange for a review!

Claire Clauster has always provided the Christmas magic for her family, even now that her three children are adults and one has kids of her own. The issue is that her family takes the Christmas magic for granted… and Mom has had enough. Chaos ensues!

A decent enough sized story for the holidays. I would say I’m glad it was a short because it did t fully blow me away but it has its moments. I did like that it was not a bore and it was interesting as far as the characters.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy. I just loved this Christmas short story by Chandler Baker. It was so dead on accurate about all the work that Moms do to make Christmas magical for the whole family, while subsequently being over looked. The mystery and intrigue, and interrogation type writing style all added to the effect for me. Definitely recommend this for your TBRs.