The Christmas Gate ~Book Review~

The Christmas Gate

By: T.A. Cline

Cleanliness (See “About” for scale): Very Clean (Topics to consider: religion, spirits, drinking, and brief kissing.)

4.5 stars

This book was so extremely sweet and heart-warming! I really loved it! It’s a story of heartbreak and forgiveness and is very well-written. I’d consider it a fiction book presented in a non-fictitious way.

The Christmas Gate was a lot like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was so much so that I would actually call it a retelling (though it’s not meant to be). The main (slightly odd, yet intriguing) difference between the two [SPOILER ALERT] is that this book only features the “past” and “future” ghosts, and those ghosts are candles… Sounds crazy, but it’s actually pretty fun! You’ll have to read it for yourself if you want to understand my statement.

Even though I loved this book, there were a couple things I didn’t like. First, it was overly descriptive. It was especially bad in a certain chapter where all you basically read about was what the interior of the house looked like. The other thing I didn’t like was that the second half was fairly predictable. But, these things were easily overshadowed by the good parts of the book.

This book was an effortless, short read, but also deep and thought-provoking. It is actually the first book of two, so it finished on a slight cliffhanger. Part of the ending actually made me tear up! The probability of me picking up the second book is very high.

 

~I was sent a free copy from the author for an honest review. Not only did he give me a free copy, but he signed the book and wrote a note in it. He also sent me a pen with The Christmas Gate title on it. This was above and beyond what was expected. It did not affect my review, but it made me very happy. Thank you~