In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren is a good book if you want to turn your mind off. It’s Groundhog Day meets…every Hallmark Movie ever. A young and single protagonist, Maelyn Jones, travels with her family and two other families to a Utah cabin for Christmas break. Maelyn hates her job in California and has a crush on one of the family’s eldest sons, Andrew. Maelyn struggles with a love triangle involving Andrew and his younger brother and finds herself disappointed at the breaking of her own family’s Christmas traditions. As she leaves the cabin, her heart sinks with sadness at the ruined vacation. Suddenly, she wakes up on the plane to Utah, restarting the whole holiday all over again. The time loop plot almost seems unnecessary and is something that Maelyn questions throughout the book, making her wonder if it is trying to teach her a lesson.  While it sort of teaches her about taking risks in life, it ultimately feels like it is forgotten by the end. There are no answers or resolution – it is just there – and then all of a sudden it is gone. 

All the characters in the book are one-dimensional: Maelyn is caring and fun. Her love interest Andrew is also caring and fun but has no flaws or personal goals, and is really just there for Maelyn to have a crush on. There is Benny: his character trait is that he’s Australian and he gives advice. There’s a gay couple, and they like Broadway and dancing. There’s a set of young twins, and they say cute things. No character is very profound, but the book is easy and nice if you just want to cozy up to the book form of a Christmas-themed movie over the holidays.