This was everything that my millennial heart needed. This is such a good debut from Becca Freeman. The nostalgia, the emotions, the creativity... Bravo. Can't wait to read more from this author!

What a fun holiday read! Big thanks to Penguin Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy to read and review. What a debut for Becca Freeman!! I saved this one for my recent trip to NYC, and it made the story come alive!

Becca and Finn have spent every Christmas together since they were in college. They considered themselves Christmas orphans - Becca lost both of her parents young, and Finn was estranged from his family when he came out, What started as a holiday they dreaded became something they looked forward to every year. And in recent years they added friends Priya and Theo, and changed up exactly how they celebrated.

But as happens with all things in life - circumstances change, relationships evolve and sometimes traditions have to as well. The story is told through various Christmas celebrations through the years - a unique storytelling device coupled with the changing of perspectives that worked quite well here. We see the gang go through the ups and downs of new relationships, work transitions, and family issues. While we follow their romances, the true love story here is between these friends.

What an excellent book to read at this time of year!! Bravo, Becca!!

Will post this read to my goodreads, retail sites and bookstagram @scottonreads

This was splendid. I feel like Becca created wonderful characters who were so fun and complex.

I also loved the pop culture references and the way Becca was able to interweave timelines to reveal the story and develop the characters’ conflicts.

Hannah and Finn were such wonderful, deep characters and it was thrilling to be inside their brains. Their friendship and how the friendship came to fruition was beautiful, touching, and of course, a bit sad. I also really enjoyed Theo and Priya, who even as side characters, had a lot of growth and great character development.

Throughout the course of the book, you're constantly flipping back and forth from past Christmases to the present, and some things are held close to the chest: like the real reason that Hannah and Finn had a falling out and why a few of their recent Christmases together weren't the greatest.

When you do come to that reveal, it was shocking and made so much sense because at the start, I didn't see how anything could break these two best friends apart.

There were moments where Hannah's resistance to committing to her boyfriend was really annoying because it felt like she was throwing away something wonderful for her friends, and while that's ok sometimes, I didn't want her to sacrifice her happiness for something fleeting. I also kept waiting for her boyfriend to do something horrible but he really was a standup guy the whole time and that made me sad, yet happy.

There is so much that happens within the book and it really stands out when I think about holiday stories; there is something for everyone, and it's not your traditional holiday romance. There's friends, families, careers, and so much New York City which was really wonderful. I felt like the city was the 5th friend in the group and all of Becca's descriptions really jumped off the page and pulled you into this world.

There's twists, turns, reveals, heartbreak, makeups and a lot of other stuff in between but to me, the core of this story was the message about growing up. Hannah is having a really hard time letting go of what she has always known and giving up part of herself to grow and change. That's something I completely relate to and it was weirdly a wakeup call for me. It made me see my life in a different way, in a more open way, that maybe I do need to do some growing up and changing.

The Christmas Orphans Club also made me incredibly thankful to the many 'chosen families' I have; from my childhood friends to my college sorority sisters, there's something so special about each group and I hold them in really important places in my heart. It made me long for my friends in a way that I haven't previously. It gave me a twinge of growing up guilt, where everything isn't always as easy, your friends don't live down the block, and everyone has their own lives... but it's so important to keep tradition alive in any way you can.

This was truly a beautiful, thoughtful Christmas story that I think everyone could find a bright light in.

Christmas books are usually too saccharine for me, but I gave Becca Freeman's debut novel a chance because I love her on the Bad on Paper Podcast. And, because it stands out amid the sea of Christmas rom-coms by being a story of friendship. A coed group of 4 friends who have been spending Christmas together in New York City for years is trying to make their last Christmas together an extra special one before Finn, one of the original members of the group, moves to L.A. The story is told via a thread of the present-day lead-up to the group’s last Christmas celebration mixed with flashbacks of the group’s previous Christmas celebrations. Becca nails the little details of NYC, especially with the randomness of this group's Christmas escapades. Though there is a slight bit of romance as a side story, the focus here is on found family and friendship. And, Becca's wit keeps the story from venturing into cloyingly sweet territory.

I’ve been a big fan of Bad on Paper podcast for years and was thrilled when I heard Becca Freeman was releasing her first book! I loved that The Christmas Orphans Club is centered around a group of friends, which was so refreshing since most Christmas books focus mainly on romance. I loved that we alternated between present day and past christmases so we pieced together the history of the friend group across the years. This story really put me in a festive mood!

If you are deciding which books to bring home for the holidays, definitely pick up this one! This book is best enjoyed in a cozy spot next to a Christmas tree with your preferred festive drink of choice (mine is mulled wine). It would also be a wonderful gift for a bookish friend.

I was really excited for this holiday book, as most Christmas books are romantic l, I was excited to read one about friendships. This book fell a bit flat for me, as I found the main character a bit unlikeable. I also thought some of the side characters were not fleshed out enough, especially Priya and Theo. It was a sweet read — I just wish some parts had been a bit more fleshed lut.

I LOVED CHRISTMAS ORPHANS CLUB!! This was so wholesome, relatable, and the perfect Christmas read. For fans of Lily and Dash, I highly recommend it.

I’ve been a Bad on Paper listener since 2018 so when Becca announced this book I jumped at requesting it. I got approved for it shortly before I left a 3-week European vacation and didn’t read anything so it took. me awhile to get back into reading, this was a great book to get back into it. I went in thinking this would be a romance and in a small way it is, except this is more of a story of friendship. If you love pop culture references, then you'll love this one.

I loved everything about this. This book is the perfect Christmas read. Cannot wait for this to be made into a movie!!

I really struggled getting into the book. I am not a fan of books that go back and forth from present to past. I kept reading because I wanted to find out what happened but didn’t really love the story.

This was the perfect cozy read! You can read it anytime of year but I loved the holiday and city vibes. The found family in this story is one of my favorites of all the books I’ve ever read. I adored the characters and the writing was superb! An excellent debut novel and a new auto-buy author!

Ever read a book that you are surprised that you love as much as you do? Podcaster turned author Becca Freeman’s The Christmas Orphans Club, a story about a group of Christmas “orphans” who meet up every holiday season and spend it together because they have nowhere else to go, is that book for me.

It is Hannah and Finn’s holiday tradition to spend Christmas together. Hannah, an actual orphan, has no family except for an older sister who would rather spend the holidays with her husband than sister, and Finn was disowned by his own family after coming out as gay. Along the way, these Christmas orphans added two more members to their club - Theo, the forgotten son of a billionaire, and Priya, a fashionista from India who isn’t used to celebrating the holiday. This quartet has spent Christmas after Christmas together, making merry memories along the way, but this year is different. This may very well be their last Christmas together, as Finn is set to take a job in Los Angeles, and the group has been finding themselves pulled in different directions as of late. As the Orphans Club sets out to have their most epic, albeit bittersweet, Christmas ever, the members must face the music about their past, present, and future.

While I love holiday novels, it is a rare one that blows me away, but The Christmas Orphans Club is a book that I loved picking up. I was 100% invested in this novel and found myself looking for excuses to squeeze a little bit more reading time into my day - I actually finished this book within 24 hours (no small feat for me!) Not your typical seasonal fare, The Christmas Orphans Club is a novel first and foremost about friendship with a bit of peripheral romance worked in. It has an engaging, well-developed storyline and bold and brilliant characters. Both work seamlessly together to create a memorable holiday read.

The only thing that did not work for me in this novel was Priya. Her character was underdeveloped and one-dimensional, and she came off completely unlikable. I kept wondering throughout the book why Hannah, Finn, and Theo were even friends with her because she didn’t seem to enjoy the holidays, or even their group, as much as they did. Her sarcasm and negative attitude grated my nerves, and I kept wishing that the Orphans Club would just kick her to the curb. Thankfully, her role in the novel is small, so I was able to look past her when rating and reviewing this otherwise enjoyable read.

Loved this book! I enjoyed reading a holiday book that centered around friends who are family. Highly recommend this one. Thank you so much for the ARC!

You guys, this book. I read it in one plane ride from Las Vegas back to WI and I'm so glad I did (though I'm a little sad I never got to the audiobook because the queen Brittany Pressley reads it!). This book not only covers romantic love, but platonic love and found family, too. It's really kind of nice to read a holiday book that isn't quite a romance. Going in you know that the MMC and the FMC are incompatible (mostly because the MMC is gay), so you, honestly, have no idea what to expect...and I loved the ride!

Things I wished there was more of:
Priya. There was so much of the other 3 main characters, that it almost feels like Priya got pushed aside. You heard more about what she'd been part of or her history than you saw it.
The relationship between Hannah and her sister. Hannah has, like, an epiphany near the end of the book about how her relationship with her sister looks - and it doesn't dig all the tmuch into WHY she feels differently now than she did before. I just wish we had MORE here.

Things I really loved:
I'm just gonna say it: I love Theo. I thought he was equal parts broken and fun, but I completely believed in his motivations and that he honestly was a decent person at heart.
The aspect of found family. I loved that this book is built around 4 people who had no where else to go for Christmas and somehow these misfits became a family. Like seriously - so good.

If you want to read a holiday book, but you're not into the Hallmark-y Christmas vibe, I would go for this one. I honestly really liked it, and I think you will too!

Overall, for a holiday book this was very sweet. But it was delightfully average.

Thank you @netgally and @prhaudio for the ebook and audiobook.

3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

We follow a group of four friends whose group was started with Hannah and Finn. In college, both didn’t have somewhere to go for Christmas and spent the holiday together starting off their friendship. The next two years they were joined by Priya and then Theo, others who didn’t have somewhere to go at Christmas. Each chapter follows a past Christmas and this years holiday.

Some books that go between last and present are hard to read, but this one did it so well! I loved how it was paced and how each last Christmas related to this current one. The audiobook has two authors for Finn and Hannah, both did an amazing job!

I liked each of the 4 friends and I saw growth from them all. While the story was sweet Hannah was just kind of okay. Sometimes I just wanted her to let things go or go to therapy. While that didn’t take away from the story it just made me feel eh about it.

This book is such a fresh take on a Christmas book! I thoroughly enjoyed the found family aspect and the dual timeline that walked us through how Hannah and Finn (along with everyone else) ended up where they are in the today timeline. I thought it had a nice element of suspense and thought the ending was perfect. I loved this book and give it 5 stars!

There isn't anything bad about this book...But, for me personally, not a lot kept me engaged. I never was begging to keep reading. For how short this story is it still took me just as long because of my disengagement. That being said the content with in the storyline, being in NYC and the frequent pop culture reference were a good addition and helped cover up for the lagging storyline. Overall this could be for someones teenage niece who's parents are okay with a few bad words and other references. For this author, I see potential for growth and a bright future.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I have to say I was not expecting to love this one because cute Christmas books usually aren't my thing, but this WORKED for me. This book tells the story of four friends: Hannah, Finn, Priya, and Theo, who have spent the last 11 Christmases in New York together. Because Finn just accepted a job in LA, this could be the last Christmas they spend together. This is the story of friendship, and while there are some B stories that are romance related, it felt so fresh to read a story about complex friendships through the years. This book is also filled with of-the-time pop culture references which I thought was really fun, and it just had great Christmas vibes all around. I would definitely recommend this!