4.25 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for this eARC

I often complain that Christmas books aren’t Christmassy enough - but honestly this book has all the seasonal vibes. I came away from it feeling warm, fuzzy, happy, in the Christmas spirit - and desperate to go on a cross country train journey across Canada (seriously is it expensive? I wanna do it!). It’s a quick, easy read with great humour and a good plot I was desperate to come back to again and again - I would love this to be a film I could comfort watch every year.

I was so excited to read this book! And I am happy I did read it even thought, I have to be honest here, it’s not my favorite book by Isla Gordon. I had a hard time to be drawn to the main characters, I didn’t really « like » them but the story in itself is lovely and fun and the setting is so gorgeous and the writing style is good so all in all I enjoyed my read and I am giving it a « little » 4 stars.

The Christmas express is a great cosy festive read. It took me a little while to get used to the multi POVs but once I got into it I was hooked.

The majority of the story takes place on a train journey across Canada which is just a gorgeous setting and somehow fits perfectly for the characters. I’d definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a cosy read over the Christmas period

What an epic Christmas book that was. I was hooked from the first few pages, and I couldn't get enough of it.

For it features a cross Canada train journey, in the run up to Christmas and the descriptions were just amazing. It almost made me want to take such a journey myself, but I'm not a huge fan of the cold!

And within this train you have five estranged former friends, on their way to Bryn's wedding who used to be the sixth member of their incredibly close friendship group. And they also found Bryn's ex, Ember on the journey too, who is adamant that Bryn has been sending her signals that they should get back together.

The whole time I was curious as to just what broke up this group of friends, and also to see if the forced proximity between them on a four day train journey would aid them or destroy them completely.

I loved getting to know our various characters especially Cali, and Ember. I felt for both of them, and they were our main focus points. The dynamics at play between everyone varied continually and I also loved the fact that the train journey allowed short stops in some of the places on the route, and also put on a few activities in the run up to Christmas.

It's a gorgeously festive book that I absolutely adored. Another complete and utter winner from Isla Gordon. I loved it.

Thank you to Sphere and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

3.5 stars ⭐

This was my first festive read of the season and it was a super fun, cosy one! The Christmas Express follows six ex-friends as they travel to a wedding in Canada after not talking for five years. They end up unexpectedly taking a Christmas train across Canada for four days where they are forced to be near eachother and hopefully resolve some of their past issues so they can move on and enjoy their friend's wedding.

I found this a really easy, enjoyable read. The setting was amazing and perfect for this time of year; now all I want to do is travel on a train across Canada! I really liked the multiple POV for the chapters, they were also nice and small which I always appreciate. The characters were likeable and fun, especially Ember and Cali.

I rated this 3.5 stars; it was a nice seasonal read but didn't blow me away. However, it was a good palate cleanser to get out of a reading slump and really got me in the festive spirit!

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful christmas book, I enjoyed the story and also the atmosphere of being on the train going through snowy Canada. You can't beat a snowy train journey to get you in a festive mood.

There were quite a few characters involved in the story and you get a lot of different perspectives, which kept the pacing up. It's about 6 friends reuniting for a wedding, with a second chance romance. It is also LGBTQ+ friendly.

I like how Cali natters about her problems to random people around her. It's a fun character trait, I liked her the best. I am not a big fan of second-chance romance stories, but her and Luke are cute together.

Highly recommend this! Especially at this time of year.

I really enjoyed this book, so much so I want to go on a sleeper train.
I liked the concept of it and the characters were very well written and I liked them all, the description was just the right amount, i didn't feel there was any filler, I really liked this authors style of writing and look forward to the next.

Rating: 3.25 Stars

Firstly, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel follows Bryn, who invites a group of friends—who she hasn't spoken to in years due to a past falling out—to her Boxing Day wedding in Canada. She covers their flights, but doesn't tell them until they land in Toronto that they'll be traveling together by sleeper train to Vancouver for several days in the hopes of reconciling old tensions along the way.

It was an easy, quick read—perfect for picking up between heavier books. At first, I was a bit confused due to the amount of characters introduced all at once. I also found it frustrating that the reason behind their falling out was withheld until the later chapters, as I didn't feel the reasoning justified the wait.

I found the chapter lengths to be ideal—short enough to keep things moving but frequent enough to switch between characters' perspectives - maybe switching a little too quick though.

While it's not heavy on the Christmas themes, it's a great pre-Christmas read that gets you thinking about cozy season. Overall, it’s a warm, cozy, snowy, heartwarming story that's perfect for a quick escape.

I first want to thank the author Isla Gordon, the publishers @spherepublishers and @netgalley for allowing me to read an arc of this amazing book.

What a fabulous book!!! 6 ex-housemates, 1 ex-girlfriend, a wedding and a new love interest, oh and throw in a 4 day train ride. What could possibly go wrong? How about if I said out of the 6 ex-housemates (that now don't speak) you have 1 who is the bride to be, 1 brother and sister and 1 ex-couple. I'm not going to say anymore because it will spoil it but, I did not see the ending coming at all. I thought I had it all figured out too.

#TheChristmasExpress #islagordon #spherepublishing #NetGalley #ebook #bookreview

Six friends with questionable feelings to one another are invited to their best friends wedding in Vancouver. They havnt spoken in five long years after a spectacular bust up. They are travelling together across the beautiful winter wonderland of Canada by train, what could go wrong? Add to the mix the ex girlfriend of the bride who is also travelling to see 5e bride before the big day as she feels that there is still something between them.
Funny, heartwarming plot twisted with past hurts along the way this is a great books to hunker down with. Loved it.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I enjoyed reading this fun story.

Bryn who is soon getting married, invites her ex-friends to her wedding in Canada. As they’ve not been in contact for a long time with each other, she wants them to fix what went wrong and become friends again. For them to do this, Bryn pays for them to reach Canada together. But not by plane, but for a Christmas train trip.

So, for four days they all will be together as the train goes through beautiful Christmas scenery like snowy mountains.

Theirs tension between Cali and Luke as they have to navigate their old feelings for each other, the brother and sister, Joss and Joe fight, yet Sara is feeling that she doesn’t belong there.

But that’s not all they have to contend with, also on the train is Ember, Bryn’s ex.

Then a snowstorm happens and the train is halted. The group then take the time to talk about what happened years ago and whether they’ll actually make the wedding.

A story of friendship, second chances and love.

I recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.

The premise of this book sounds so magical - a sleeper train in Canada at Christmas time? Sign me up. The setting doesn’t disappoint and it was really nice to read about Canada throughout the book.

That said, the rest of the book just didn’t gel with me. There are 6 POVs which is too many to build any connection with each character. The big reveal at the end wasn’t as big as I was expecting and fell a little flat personally.

I would recommend to people because they may appreciate multi POV - a lot of people do!

Bryn invites her old friends to her wedding in Vancouver hoping they will all make up after they all fell out 5 years ago after all living together in a big house in London. All friends end up travelling together by plane to Toronto and then train across Canada. When they arrive at the airport they all try to ignore each other but notice that Bryns ex girlfriend is also travelling with them and they soon find out that she wants to go thinking they still have a future as her wedding plans are alike what they would have had as their perfect wedding.
The journey to Vancouver is not peaceful with multiple arguments between them, will they find peace before they arrive and will Ember ruin the wedding.
It was a lovely story to read which makes me want to travel on the train across Canada now also!

I enjoyed reading this festive book, especially as it was set in Canada. I enjoyed the different point of views depicted in the book. The only thing I was not keen on was that you didn't really get the chance to really know any of the characters in depth.
The story line was great and I couldn't wait to start a new chapter to find out what happens next.

Thank you very much to NetGalley for giving me an ARC copy of this book.

I had chosen it because I thought the idea of a sleepy train through the snow at Christmas time sounded like the background for a nice story

However the big reveal of the fight that the main characters had at the end ; I feel like should have been revealed at the start. The multiple POV that changed every chapter didn’t really give the characters any development or letting us fully get to know them. It also felt a bit rushed.

I did enjoy learning about the Canadian countryside though.

Lovely book to cosy up in front of a fire and read. I loved reading more about Canada; would love to visit at some point now I’ve read this book!
The story was really good, friendships, broken hearts and misunderstandings all revealed as the book goes on; and I definitely could relate to some of the characters thoughts and feelings.
Overall, definitely recommend this book.

This was an ok read for me. The idea of a train chugging through the snowy landscape made me want to read this book as I thought it would be a cute and cosy read which I was wrong about. I wasn’t a big fan of the multiple POVs, I just find it annoying. Overall I found the characters to be annoying and didn’t really enjoy it
Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy of this book, all opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this ARC.

This novel is about bride Bryn who invites five former friends to her wedding that she hasn't seen in five years, due to some unspecified but spectacular falling out of the entire group.

The wedding will be in Vancouver, Canada but the friends are in the UK so Bryn gets them flights to Toronto, then cabins on a four day sleeper train to Vancouver, so they can use the time to kiss and make up with each other.

I requested this book because the premise of a Christmassy sleeper train chugging through a Canadian winter wonderland sounded irresistible. However, there was not enough to keep me interested as all we got were six people sniping at each other for reasons unknown.

I got no sense of these characters and so I never got to care about or even like them. All I know is that while everybody was holding grudges, some carried torches for others, including Ember who once dated Bryn and wanted to see her again before the wedding.

The reveal about the cause of the big fight should have come at the beginning but came at the end, and I rolled my eyes about how stupid and pointless it seemed.

The story was told in multi POV but some people got a lot more airtime than others. Most characters remained disappointingly underdeveloped as a consequence. It also wasn't very festive - I can think of better ways of celebrating Christmas than being stuck on a train in a snowstorm. I'm sorry but this fell flat for me. At least it was a fast read.

2.5 stars

Hi, review below and next up ‘Traitors’ by Roberta Kray

‘The Christmas Express’ by Isla Gordon published Nov 7th by Little Brown Book Group/Sphere

What a gem of a find this was

Six old friends….now not friends after a ‘2 do’ a few years back are all invited to a mutual friends wedding…..the only catch being its in Canada, it involves a 4 night train journey and none of them can now stand each other

The Canadian setting was enough that I would have enjoyed the book, bonus it was set on a train and the combo of it all being
described so wonderfully, at Christmas….and then the crux of the matter, was the story good? Did it match the surroundings and journey, between us I doubted it would be….but I was wrong, it did, it was fun yet had sadness in it, it was honest yet there were tall tales to be told and there were no twists, until there was…..I was carried along on the tracks, the mesmerising scenery going past, and it almost had me believing I was there, with them, experiencing it

It also did very well, really well at not highlighting a couple of characters lives and relationships in some over dramatic ‘look at me, this is an inclusive book, rather by just being inclusive and not making a song and dance over it it WAS inclusive and it felt good for it

A very likeable, surprising find that was impossible not to fall for

Isla Gordon takes us again to the most gorgeous setting you can think about - Canada in winter. What could be better? And the descriptions really bring the setting and the places to life.
The author introduces us to many characters in her new book and each chapter is told from a different point of view. Some of the characters get more chapters, some less, and I think we could live without one or two characters, actually one of them was so insignificant for me that I've already forgotten her name. Nevertheless, with this number of characters, it would be easy to loode track, but Isla Gordon has done a really great job and I've never had a problem to know who is who and what's their background.
I think I'd prefer to know what has happened with this group of friends those few years ago to bring them apart at the beginning of the story. There was not enough suspense in the air to keep me this interested, it made me rather annoyed - I mean, a group of adult people behaving like small children, and why? Because of...? What? Put it at the beginning and I might have understood them better. And, let's be honest, it was not SO tragic and dramatic, this what has happened those few years ago.
Nevertheless, I think that the author has done really great to keep all of the characters and their stories in the line. The plot was interesting ans fresh, there were some funny one - liners and altogether, it was a lovely, wintery read. I missed a bear perhaps, somwhere on the way, but oh well, you can't have everything :)