The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan is a feel-good festive novel. It’s a nice story of friendship and love, set in the beautiful snowy Lapland with winter adventures. Here’s my book review of The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan.
Overview of The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan
The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan is an easy to read, enjoyable book which is perfect for Christmas. It’s mostly set in the beautiful Swedish Lapland, in the far north of Europe. The beautiful descriptions of the snowy winter wonderland, as well as the outdoor activities, make this the perfect book to inspire you to book your own winter wonderland adventure. My book review of The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan won’t give too many spoilers, so you can enjoy reading this book at Christmas time.
The book follows the story of Christy and Seb, with their 4 year old daughter Holly. It also follows the story of Alix (Christy’s best friend from childhood) and Zac (one of Seb’s best friends). They all have a Christmas holiday planned to go to Lapland. However, an unexpected emergency with Seb’s work means that Christy and Zac can’t go to Lapland straight away. So for the first few days of the Lapland holiday, Alix and Zac are in charge of their daughter, Holly.
Alix and Zac have a complicated history, so the book follows their story as they are forced to spend time together and confront their difficult past. The book also explores the friendship between Christy and Alix. These characters were best friends as children, but have been more distant since Christy married Seb. Throughout the book, Christy and Alix must have difficult conversations to try to save their friendship. And then there’s also Christy’s relationship with Seb, and an estranged aunt who lives in Lapland.
The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan follows the stories of all these characters, with chapters from the viewpoints of Christy, Alix and also Robyn (Christy’s aunt). Set in the stunning Lapland scenery with winter adventures to bring them together, this book explores a range of different relationships, from friendships and marriage to a developing romance and family.
What I liked about The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan
My favourite part of this book was the setting in Swedish Lapland. The descriptions of the scenery and winter adventures were great. I felt like this book really transported me to the snowy winter wonderland. I loved the descriptions of the cosy cabins, set in the trees in the snow. It sounded like an amazing place for a winter holiday.
As well as the cosy cabins, there were lots of great descriptions of winter activities. The characters all went dog sledding, and also snowshoe hiking. And a highlight was also their trips to see the Northern Lights. All of these adventures were described really well and sounded amazing. Reading about these adventures definitely inspired me to start planning my own trip to the far north of Europe in winter.
The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan is also a nice story. There’s nothing particularly dramatic in the story, and not really anything unexpected or anything filled with suspense. It was fairly obvious how it was going to end, despite there being a few attempts at twists in the story. But I still thought it was a nice story. It was really easy to read, and I could read big chunks in one go. And the characters were relatable and likeable.
What I wasn’t so sure about
The story and the characters
I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t love it. Although I really enjoyed the setting in Lapland, I wasn’t amazed by the story. It was a nice story and easy to read, but it felt very predictable. I don’t mind a predictable happy ending, but it’s nice to have a few surprises in a book. But I don’t think there was anything in the plot of this book that surprised me. The events between the characters were very mundane.
I liked the characters, but again they felt quite predictable and not very original. Christy and Alix were opposite characters, but it felt like the type of friendship that I’ve read about a lot before, and seen on TV and in films. Christy is the classic organised, good-girl, home-ly type. And Alix is the classic commitment-phobic, troubled-childhood type. They were likeable enough characters, but that was it. I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters. It felt far too obvious that commitment-phobic Alix was going to fall in love and that Alix and Christy would make up and it would all be a happy ending.
Self reflection from the characters
I also felt like Alix and Christy were both too quick to self-reflect in this book. In the chapters told from their point of view, the reader got to know their thoughts and feelings beyond any dialogue. And a lot of the thoughts and feelings were self-reflections about themselves, their personality, and their relationships.
I think self-reflection from a character is good, but in this book there was a lot. And often it was triggered by just one short conversation with someone else. For example, after a brief conversation with Seb near the beginning, suddenly Christy was super aware of her own personality and making changes to herself. This type of thing seemed to happen quite a lot – after one conversation, Christy or Alix would be analysing themselves and making changes. It just felt a bit unrealistic.
In the real world, a person wouldn’t be so quick to self-reflect and make changes to integral parts of their personality based just on one conversation. I understand that a big theme of this book was self-reflection and honest conversations within relationships. But it all just felt a bit too quick and a bit too easy. People don’t change themselves so easily in the real world, so this book felt a bit too idealistic and unrealistic.
Would I recommend The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan
If you’re looking for a book to inspire you to travel to the winter wonderland of Lapland, then I would recommend The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan. This book has some great descriptions of this beautiful part of the world, and some great descriptions of the winter adventures. It’s easy to read at Christmas, with a nice enough story. However, don’t necessarily expect to be blown away by the story or the characters – it’s just a nice book set in a nice location.
Hope you enjoyed my book review of The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan! If you’re looking to plan your own winter adventures in the Arctic, check out my guides to the best winter activities in the Arctic Circle, my guide to Tromso in Norway, and also my winter packing list for winter adventures.
