Book Review: The Great Reindeer Rescue by Stephen Mangan

My dear bookish friends,

If you are a huge Christmas fan like me and like to read about others who love the festive season just as much, The Great Reindeer Rescue is a book you should definitely check out, and despite what it looks like you don’t need to be a child (or have a child) to thoroughly enjoy it! Please read on to find out what it is about below, and for my review!

About the Book

It’s Christmas Eve and one of Santa’s reindeers, Dave, is FED UP. He’s stuck behind boastful Rudolph again and a fart-in-the-face is the LAST STRAW.

In the commotion, Santa crash lands on the roof of nine-year-old Holly’s home causing an almighty Christmas lights explosion that blasts the reindeers to far-flung corners of the Earth. It’s up to Dave and Holly to fly round the world to rescue all the reindeers.

Can Holly and Dave get all the reindeers back to Santa to SAVE CHRISTMAS?

This funniest festive adventure is a must-read spin on The Night Before Christmas
From the bestselling creators of The Fart That Changed the World and Escape the Rooms

My Review

It is Christmas Eve and Holly can’t sleep. Of course, she is super excited because Christmas is almost here – the day she had been waiting for since the previous Boxing Day! Holly loves everything about Christmas. She loves the trees, the fairy lights, the carols. Christmas movies and a mug of hot chocolate. She obviously loves receiving gifts (who doesn’t?), but she also loves getting gifts for others. She loves writing Christmas cards and receiving cards in the post, and she loves hearing Christmas stories.

But there is another reason why Holly can’t sleep – apart from all the excitement, and that is because there is someone who is even more excited for the big day than she is. Her father Simon LOVES Christmas, and he is famous for his display of Christmas lights and decorations all around the garden and house. Well, famous among other people, but their neighbours are less enthusiastic… you see, he doesn’t have just one illuminated Santa figure climbing up the house and a few sparkly reindeer in the garden, no, he has 12 Santas climbing up the walls, and 15 reindeer!!! And trees and elves and … you get the idea. And right now, the Christmas lights are keeping Holly awake. They burn so bright she feels like it is noon and not nearly midnight!

But Holly can’t tell her dad to turn them off. Not when her mum, whom she lost when she was very little, loved Christmas even more than Holly and her dad together. So what happens when the actual real Santa and his reindeer stop on their roof, and after an explosion they all disappear – well, all but Holly and Dave, the newest reindeer recruit (after one of the originals had to retire), and the unlikely pair are the only ones who can save Christmas?

I loved this book so much! When Holly tells us how much she loves Christmas and what exactly she loves about it, it resonated so much with me – I love Christmas just as much! Holly is such a sensitive and also sensible child. She cares about her father’s feelings so much, and even though she misses her mum just as much as he does she helps him come to terms with the past and look into the future – she is so mature for her age!

I also loved all the adventures Holly and Dave went on together. Not only does the unlikely pair have to save all the other reindeer – and Santa, and Holly’s dad – all by themselves, they do so even though they are afraid. And what is courage, if not doing the thing you’re most afraid of?

Dave is such a lovely character too. It’s Christmas Eve and his first day on the job, and he has so many questions! Why can they only fly on Christmas Eve? Why are they so fast, even though they are running on air? Why does nobody ever catch Santa delivering the presents? So many – and many more – questions! He gets some answers, but not all of the reindeer are so nice to him. Especially the most famous of them all will surprise you! I loved that even though it is Dave’s first Christmas as a working reindeer and he has next to no experience he is still there for Holly through all the tough times, and together they embark on the biggest adventures of their lives!

It was very cool to learn something about the different places the adventures took them – together with Holly and Dave we visit New York and the Empire State Building, the Arctic Circle, Tahiti, Las Vegas, and many other places around the world in order to save the reindeer, and, hopefully, Christmas. We don’t just see these places but learn about them and their significance too, which I think is a really nice addition. Like an added geography class, only make it fun!

Special kudos goes to Anita Mangan, the illustrator. The first thing about the book that caught my eye was the beautiful, colourful, and shiny front cover, but the illustrations inside really enhance the beauty and fun of the story too and so they should be mentioned as well.

If you are a fan of Christmas and Christmassy stories, if you like adventures and a good bit of depth to your reads then The Great Reindeer Rescue is the book for you.

5 festive stars from me!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you all so much for reading, and do let me know if you decide to pick this book up!

Xoxo