A couple, now separated. Their daughter. Their new partners. One epic Christmas vacation. What could go wrong?

This razor-sharp novel puts a darkly comic twist on seasonal favorites like Love Actually and The Holiday.

Meet The Adults.

Claire and Matt are no longer together but decide that it would be best for their daughter, Scarlett, to have a “normal” family Christmas. They can’t agree on whose idea it was to go to the Happy Forest holiday park, or who said they should bring their new partners. But someone did–and it’s too late to pull the plug. Claire brings her new boyfriend, Patrick (never Pat), a seemingly sensible, eligible from a distance Ironman in Waiting. Matt brings the new love of his life, Alex, funny, smart, and extremely patient. Scarlett, who is seven, brings her imaginary friend Posey. He’s a giant rabbit. Together the five (or six?) of them grit their teeth over Forced Fun Activities, drink a little too much after Scarlett’s bedtime, overshare classified secrets about their pasts . . . and before you know it, their holiday is a powder keg that ends where this novel begins–with a tearful, frightened call to the police.

What happened? They said they’d all be adults about this. . . .

This book landed on my radar because I needed a “toxic family holiday” book for a reading prompt, and honestly, this one sounded perfect. Christmas setting? Check. Exes and their new partners trapped together? Check. A dash of British humor and an imaginary rabbit? Double check. It really should have been a slam dunk for me. And while I didn’t dislike it, I never fully connected with it the way I wanted to.

The setup is great. Claire and Matt, who are no longer together, decide it’s “best” for their daughter Scarlett if they all spend Christmas together like one big happy modern family. This includes bringing their new partners—Patrick, Claire’s uptight Ironman boyfriend, and Alex, Matt’s sweet and slightly anxious new love—with them. And Scarlett brings her imaginary friend Posey, who is a giant rabbit. They’ll all stay together at the Happy Forest holiday park and do all the fun family Christmas activities together. What could possibly go wrong?

From the jump, you know things will go off the rails. There’s tension everywhere. The adults are trying way too hard to be mature. Everyone’s hiding something. Forced holiday activities and too much booze are involved. Hulse opens the book with a police call, and someone shot with a bow and arrow, so we already know disaster is inevitable. The rest of the book fills us in on how it all went down.

And yet, despite all that good setup, the story never fully grabbed me. My biggest problem was I never felt invested in any of the characters aside from Scarlett and Posey. Claire, Matt, Patrick, and Alex all felt very one-note, like they were stuck in the same emotional gear the entire time. They bicker, they misread situations, they try to keep the peace, but their arcs don’t develop much past that initial impression. It’s not that the book lacks tension. Everyone remains exactly who they were at the start, just slightly messier by the end. For a story built on interpersonal chaos, I wanted the drama to escalate in a more meaningful way or reveal deeper layers in the characters. Instead, it felt like the same scenes kept repeating with slightly different window dressing.

Scarlett, though, is a bright spot. Her perspective brings heart into the story, and her imaginary friend Posey steals every scene he’s in. You can tell Hulse had fun writing those moments. Scarlett’s imagination gives the book some much-needed warmth and whimsy, and honestly, she feels more emotionally dynamic than the adults who are supposed to be carrying the plot.

The book is marketed as a darkly comic mash-up for fans of Love Actually and The Holiday, and while it definitely has the comedy and the Christmas vibes, the comparison sets expectations a little too high. Those movies work because the characters are lovable, flawed, and full of heart. Here, the characters feel intentionally prickly, but without the deeper emotional payoff that would have made the tension worth it.

That said, the writing is solid, and the pacing is easy to fall into. It’s an amusing, mildly chaotic read that’s perfect if you want something light to break up heavier holiday stories. It carries a strong premise. I just wanted more spark and more layers.

Overall, it’s fine. Enjoyable enough, occasionally funny, and full of awkward holiday moments, but not something that left much of a mark. If you like messy Christmas stories with British humor, it’s worth a shot. But if you’re looking for something with more emotional depth or memorable character arcs, this one might feel a little flat.