Chloe Kwon is a busy teenager. Beside her classes and spending time with her friends, she also has a job as a Christmas photographer at Santa’s Village and helps out with her parents’ Korean restaurant in the mall’s food court. And as if all that wasn’t enough, she was also entering the National Arts Council Youth Photography Competition, which could win her a mentor as well as a cash prize and public acknowledgement of her talent.
Peter Li is also a busy teenager. He helps his parents out with their Chinese restaurant in the mall. He has high school and his friends, and he also works at the North Pole VR Experience, offering customers a chance to ride around in Santa’s sleigh in several different levels of excitement, from mild to needing a mop. His older brother Sam gave him some advice before he left for school. and Peter has followed that advice and tried not to rock the boat. He has been personable and easy-going, and that has worked for him so far. For the most part.
Chloe is fond of rolling her eyes at Peter and the way he runs the VR experience. Right next door to Santa’s Village, he is known for poaching customers sometimes when Santa’s line is longer. But Chloe is known for her ability with crying babies and toddlers, so people show up for her photos specifically. She uses humor and squeaky toys to get the kids’ attention, but the way she captures the joy on their faces is all her photography talent.
Her parents don’t really understand her interest in art, but they’re super busy with the restaurant too. And they definitely don’t like the Li family and their restaurant. So when Peter and Chloe suggest a dinner swap, they have to keep it quiet. The Kwon’s spicy pork for the Li’s shrimp lo mein, and both teens are happy. But when Chloe finds some paperwork in the restaurant office about eviction, Peter is the first person she talks to about it. They find out that his parents have received the same eviction notice, and with a little mire investigating, they discover that the mall’s owner is planning on selling the mall to someone who wants to tear it down and put up condos.
Despite their parents’ animosity toward each other, Peter and Chloe decide to work together to try to save the mall. Chloe recruits her older sister Hannah to help because she’s a paralegal, but she’s also working 60+ hour weeks at the law firm, so she can only do so much to help. Chloe and Peter understand that if they want to save the mall, and their family restaurants, then they will have to figure out how to convince the owner not to sell. That means they have to unite the shop owners, research the history of the mall, gather the leases from as many of the mall’s tenants as they can, and brainstorm ideas to bring more business in.
And when some surprising and warm feelings start to bubble up between them, Chloe and Peter have to decide how to balance all their responsibilities with the flirting. But when they find out a secret that their parents had kept from them, that they once had a restaurant together, Chloe and Peter know they also have to get to the bottom of the feud their parents have been stoking for so many years. Will Chloe and Peter help their parents put the past behind them, or will the family feud keep them apart?
The Christmas Clash is a fun enemies-to-crushes story, with lots of family love and holiday fun. There is a lot going on, between regular high school kids stuff, trying to save the mall, all the work Chloe and Peter put in both in their family restaurants and at the holiday kiosks, and the adorable feelings growing between them. It is filled with sweetness and fun, intelligence and heart. From master storyteller Suzanne Park, this charming holiday rom com is perfect for fans of holiday movies or anyone looking for a quick, charming Christmas love story.
I really loved The Christmas Clash. These characters are so much fun to read about, and stepping into a real, old-fashioned mall adds so much texture to this story. The sweetness of the love story and the mystery of their parents’ animosity add extra drama and intensity to this YA romance. There are lots of funny moments, but mostly there is just a story that rolls along beautifully, that drew me in chapter by chapter, rooting for these high schoolers and (I never thought I’d say this) for them to save the mall. This is one not to miss this holiday season!
Egalleys for The Christmas Clash were provided by Sourcebooks Fire through NetGalley, with many thanks.
