Written by J.E. Taylor
When it comes to that rapidly approaching time of year, Christmas, people will have a number of things that come to mind. It could be spending time with your loved ones, or it might be the various Christmas carols and pop songs. It may even be the presents; those you’ve bought for others, or anything gifted to you. Those presents may even be gifted to you by a certain man in red. I imagine few people, however, would think of Santa’s daughter, Chrissy Kringle, and even fewer would think instead of the annual break and entry, of fighting monsters. Author J.E. Taylor is one of those rare few, as evidenced by Silent Night.
At an estimated 51 pages on your favourite reader—somehow the paperback is apparently three times as long at 151 pages—Silent Night is a brisk read designed for diving into and getting through in a single hit. This is the perfect length for the novella, ensuring the silly atmosphere doesn’t overstay its welcome. The plot tells the story of how Chrissy must save Christmas from a monster attack. Although the plot is relatively simple, Taylor packs more story into its pages than many of its contemporaries, and the author has maintained a great ratio of story compared to the book’s length.
Although Silent Night tells an entertaining story, the crux of the book lies with Chrissy and her characterisation. She’s a thoroughly entertaining character and a constant joy to follow. The book doesn’t delve into her character deeply. The same can be said for the other characters, who often feel like archetypes.
A large part of what makes Chrissy such a strong protagonist is her narration throughout the book. Chrissy’s first narration is imbued with an attitude that reels the reader in without letting go. The book’s prose is clean and clear throughout. While I wouldn’t classify Silent Night as a young adult book, it contains many of the hallmarks many readers of the genre would enjoy. The prose doesn’t always flow perfectly, however, between some sentences feeling clumsy and not flowing as well as they could.
Unfortunately, Silent Night’s dialogue doesn’t always flow as well as I would like. The characters don’t sound particularly natural, resulting in conversations that feel stilted. The dialogue is clear throughout, however, and as easy to follow along as improvements are made.
As an urban fantasy book with plenty of action sequences, the novella handles these wonderfully. The fighting is bombastic when it needs to be, while working at an efficient pace. Throughout these sequences, they rouse the reader, crafting an effective tone to keep them not only engaged, but having fun.
Although not marketed as such. excluding a prequel novella, Joy, Silent Night is the first book in a series. With that said, it stands perfectly alone, telling a story that wraps up within the book’s pages while teasing there may be more to come. Spoiler alert, there is.
While the prose and dialogue could have been polished further, Silent Night is a thoroughly entertaining novella. If you’re looking for a Christmas story that isn’t overcome by schmaltz, you could do a lot worse. I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here. I’ll have a review for Christmas Wish on Friday.
Favourite Passage
Joy, my sword, puts Excalibur in the dust. After all, Joy is blessed with Christmas magic. Forged by the elves, my steel can slice through the wickedest of monsters and still hum every Christmas tune known to man when it’s unsheathed.
“Joy to the World” rings out around us when I pull her from her scabbard. I grin as I swing my mighty blade. The moment it hits the beast, he explodes in a poof of red, green, and gold glitter, raining down like a ticker tape parade
Silent Night, Chapter 1
Silent Night was provided by StoryOrigin for the purpose of an honest review.
Silent Night is available in paperback and eBook from retailers including—but not limited to—Amazon.
Note: I do not post scores for reviews on this website, but do post them on my Amazon and Goodreads reviews:
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Silent Night
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