3 out of 4 stars
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The Elf Brief by Jordan David is a charming tale about Christmas. The story revolves around the North Pole and the effort needed to prepare for the most important night in the elven calendar: Christmas.
The Elf Brief tells the story of Noel, one of Santa’s elves. Noel has no idea what fate has in store for him when he receives a cryptic summoning to meet with all the department heads at Santa’s office. He soon realizes that he is in way over his head as it is not just a meeting with the most important elves at the North Pole but also with Santa himself. He learns that Santa is about to retire, and he is one of the chosen who will go out and meet the best candidate, who will replace the big man.
The book managed to shroud a lot of mystery around everything that happens around the North-Pole and managed to create a sense of anticipation about the secretive happenings that are only hinted at. The book creates a deep story that has a lot of potential for future books in the series, even if the attempt at mystery created an empty first story. The best part of the book is the way that it paves the way for the rest of the series. The book really sets up for an interesting continuation of all the plotlines that started in this book, even when some of them are only touched on for a page or two.
One of the biggest issues of the story is that everything that happens could have happened with or without Noel. The main character adds little to nothing to the actual events that happen in the story. The elves in the story also don’t really make an impact as they are mostly differentiated between by the color of their hats, that only tell you what department they work in and descriptions of side characters in the story leave nothing more than a blank slate. This is especially noticeable in the beginning of the story when facial features and physical attributes can help you form an idea of what the elves look like, yet the only thing I remembered about most characters was their age and the color of their hat. There is also no antagonist in the story and the only thing that drives the plot is the fact that Christmas is coming, and everything should be ready for the biggest night of the elfin year.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. It creates a really strong first book in the series and sets up for a lot of unexplored story I am very excited about exploring in the following books. The book sets the pace of the series too well for 2 stars. There is very little character progression in the story and when you have a story about something that has been rehashed as many times as Christmas then I feel that likeable and dynamic characters are really important. That is why I cannot give the book 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book for anyone that is looking for a fresh look at Christmas stories. I would not recommend it to anyone not interested in the administrative obligations of elves.
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The Elf Brief
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