Skipping Christmas

I was a little sceptical about this book, didn't think I would like it. I mean, it's a John Grisham book and the main character is not a lawyer? None of the side characters either? I wasn't convinced I should read it, but I thought it might be an interesting change. And, oh, it was!

Skipping Christmas sounds like a great thing to do, I was cheering for Luther and Nora, what a terrific idea! Spending the holidays away from the madness, relaxing, enjoying yourself, it sounded so good. What followed was a really funny story, I enjoyed it and I had a blast reading it. Like usual when it comes to John Grisham (leaving aside that this is not a legal thriller) I liked how real Luther and Nora's relationship felt. How natural the conversations flew, how they felt like actual people. John Grisham manages to have actual people in his books and I don't know how he does it. Now, after reading some of the other reviews, I agree the main characters and the side characters weren't the best kind of people, that's not my point, good or bad, they felt real.

About the plot, yeah, improvements could be made here and there, but I think the book reached its goal, meaning to point out the wasteful spending during the holidays. I really liked that. I see why other readers might not like this story and I actually tend to agree with the negative comments, but ultimately I enjoyed it. I mean, I don't go into reading a Christmas story without expecting a bunch of clichés, but they can be written well or not, and this one's really good. And funny.