IMO: 4/5. Sweet, easy read, hard topics with a soft holiday approach. A little romance, but so much more.

First of all, who is this Richard Paul Evans? Now that I have picked up one of his books, I see his name gracing the cover of many a Christmas books. He may not be the official Father Christmas, but he may very well be the Father of Christmas books!

In all the nerdy Facebook reader surveys that ask my book preference, I always say PAPERBACK. I ended up with Finding Noel in hardback and I’m so glad I did. On the inside cover, Evans shares that he wrote Finding Noel after his mom died and how he’s sorry that this is the first book he won’t be giving her for Christmas. TEARS already! And I haven’t even turned the first page!

Before the story begins, there is an extremely thoughtful Acknowledgements section, followed by a Note to Readers. How unusual to find this at the beginning of the book. His bio is amazing. Richard Paul Evans has a heart for his mama and for Christmas, volunteers for humanitarian causes, writes award-winning stories and he does things his own way… I like this guy!

One more thing to note that doesn’t have anything to do with the content of the story… I LOVE the simple beauty in this book’s format. Written in 2006, but with the attention to detail of years past. A cover reflecting a piece of the story and exudes the traditional feels of Christmas. Very classy chapter breaks, and a quote from the main character’s diary before each chapter begins.

Before the first line, I already deemed this Christmas story more my taste than the last (attempted) holiday story (Holidays on Ice) I read.

I hesitantly gave Finding Noel 4/5. A book that receives 5/5 is one that exceeds expectations; whose characters live within my soul long after I turn the last page. A book that is formatted beautifully, punctuated correctly, that smells like books should, that I can’t help but stay up too late to read and that I read while I am at stop lights. To receive a 4/5, the book must be just below the 5/5 standards. I’m not sure that Finding Noel lives up to that. BUT… I fell in love with the author and the book itself, and the story made me happy, so it thus received the 4/5. Pick it up at the library and decide for yourself if it’s worth the ‘4’.

The main characters are Mark and Macy, both in their early twenties, already having lived a life of hard knocks. Evans did well at not making it completely obvious what was going to happen. Be as it may, it is still a Christmas story so I was still willing to place my bet on how the story would wrap up (pun intended).

Mark and Macy found each other miraculously and ultimately saved each other’s lives in multiple ways.

Although there is a taste of romance in Finding Noel, there is so much more substance. Evans wrote a novel about grief, abuse, neglect, depression, friendship, family and vulnerability with the beautiful backdrop of snow and Christmas and love so perfectly authentic. The hard parts were written in way to get the point across, but not in enough depth to send the reader into despair. It is a Christmas story after all, not the next Kristen Hannah historical fiction.

Spoilers Ahead!

The story line is of a young man whose mother unexpectedly dies, he misses her funeral, loses the scholarship he needs to stay in college and has a horrible relationship with his dad; and a young woman working at restaurant, living with a friend, was adopted by a wretched woman and desperately wants to find the little sister she was separated from. Evans tells so much story in the quick 304 pages of this book.

Evans ability to paint a perfect picture of a budding relationship with no pretense and no unrealistic fluff was impressive. The young people’s banter and teasing is so genuine. I remember those days of early romance with a new potential suitor. Awww.

Early in the story, Macy is a child and is about to be taken away from her home and her drug-addicted father, by a lady from the state. She wonders, “Why didn’t the caseworkers take the drugs away instead of her?” Her internal dialogue will stay with me forever. In the brokenness of our world, I imagine there are a lot of kids that wonder why they are getting taken away rather than the drugs. It breaks my heart. Very insightful reflection for Evans to show us.

Another great line… “I turned the corner where a battered yellow theater marquee overhung the street. What letters remained partially spelled the title of some forgotten movie from a previous decade, like an interrupted game of hangman.” Beautiful. Can’t you just see the marquee??

Finding Noel may have had some spelling and punctuation hiccups and the characters were not exceedingly memorable, but the story was one of semi-unexpected twists and delightful connections. I cried. I laughed. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience inside Macy and Mark’s journey and I recommend you meet them yourself.

Next up… Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol!