Relatability. It is one of the most important aspects of any story. No matter how outlandish the storyline, there is always at least one character or situation that you can relate to. Relatability makes the story much funnier or much more emotional, depending on the genre. “Decked with Holly” has many moments throughout that anyone can relate to.

“Decked with Holly” is a modern teenage spin on the classic holiday love story. It all starts with a normal and slightly clumsy girl named Holly who lives in Los Angeles, but she definitely isn’t what you think when you picture a California girl. She has recently found out that she is being forced to go on a cruise over Christmas Break with her grandfather, who is the only person left who she considers family, and her horribly rude aunt and cousins. Her cousins are two bratty girls who love to make Holly’s life terrible. So when they board the ship, Holly is already miserable enough, but then she gets seasick. Her horrible cousins kick her out of the suite that they are supposed to share, and so Holly is then left to struggle her way to the deck to get some sleep. But on the way, she begins to feel the need to throw up, and she sees an open suite door, and she decides that it is better to borrow someone else’s bathroom than to get sick in the hallway. So she goes into the suite, and after she is done she hears a doorknob turn. The bathroom door opens and all of a sudden she gets a face full of pepperspray. It turns out, she had broken into Dominic Wyatt, the drummer of the famous band ReadySet’s, hotel room. The paparazzi then snap shots of the two together, so they are thrown into a fake Hollywood romance. You will have to read the book to find out what happens in this crazy book.

In my opinion, this was one of the best books I have read in a long time. I read it because I went to the library looking for a good holiday themed book to read, and Ms. Grief recommended this one to me. I am very happy she did, because while reading this book, I was in such a good mood. It is such a light hearted book, and it is also very quick and easy to read. One thing I noticed that I really liked about it was how the chapters were very short and they alternated between Holly’s point of view, and Dominic’s point of view. Which made the book very hard to put down and it held my attention very well, which can be hard to do in a book.

This book is mostly considered a girly book, but I think that it would be a good book for a guy to read too. It is a quick moving book, there is something happening all of the time. It also has a touch of a holiday twist, which makes it a perfect book to start off your holiday season. So grab a blanket and your cup of hot cocoa and sit next to a warm fire with this great holiday read!