A Darcy Christmas was supposed to be the fun book in my collection of books. I was looking forward to having a romantic book involving my second favorite holiday. Unfortunately for me, the stories from Amanda Grange, Sharon Lathan, and Carolyn Eberhart left me wondering if I am even a Darcy fan at all and what the fuss is about.
I will admit my holiday spirit is a bit lacking this year. And this book didn’t help things, especially the story “Mr. Darcy’s Christmas Carol.” We all know a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Heck we have all seen how the majority of the TV shows will use the Christmas Carol as the framework. So starting off A Darcy Christmas with the most stereotypical form of a Christmas Carol was the akin of starting off a concert on off key and out of sync. Please for the love of god, use a little bit of creativity and show some diversity in the tale. I literally ended up the story going “yuck”.
Then I read “Christmas Present,” I hoped for better but didn’t really think it would happen. It was still a typical read just like the story before. A birth of a baby and tying the love together even stronger then ever. It added nothing to the lexicon or used any imagination.
Then the last bit of the book was probably the best book. “A Darcy Christmas” actually used some imagination. It was still pretty typical read and in most bits of the story, you knew how it was going to end. Each chapter showed a different Christmas.
My biggest problem with A Darcy Christmas was the absolute lack of creativity in the whole book. I read fiction in order to get away from the world and to see something new. I don’t like it when I read a book and I know how it will go moments into a story. In a way the book highlights my reason I’m struggling to get into the Christmas spirit: it’s too much of the same old thing and lack of effort.
Then the next problem in this book was the lack of continuity. There were several elements of where the stories completely overlap: characters, ideas and etc. But they don’t agree on stuff. Lizzy and Darcy have children but they never named the same. Nor are the character traits carrying over fully. Those of the little things that could have unified the book. Plus in many ways, I never even was able to connect to the prior age: since little details made me rethink if they were around when Jane Austen was writing.
In the end, A Darcy Christmas was a disappointing read and poor tribute to Jane Austin and to one of her most beloved characters. I wanted some imagination. I wanted to see something new in a Christmas story to feel the tug of a magical tale with a familiar character. But I didn’t get that. So when Miriam returns Wolfsbane and Mistletoe I might reread that to get into the holiday mood.
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