Finding Cheer by Heather Schneider is the sequel to the Christmas story, Chasing Cheer. This book, which comes out on April 5th, takes place in the fictional city of Emerald Hollow, Oregon. It involves a man who is found unconscious on a trail with amnesia. The only thing he remembers about himself is his name, Isaiah.
My Thoughts
This is such a fun book. While this book does make sense on its own, I would definitely recommend reading the previous book first. There are a few things about the town and about the characters, especially Holly, that I feel like won’t make as much sense if you haven’t read the previous book.
One thing I really like about this book is that there are short chapters. If you are the sort of person who hates to stop in the middle of the chapter, you also will likely appreciate this.
Amnesia, Tulips, and More
When Isaiah shows up with amnesia, I kept trying to figure out how he fit into the story. Since Holly Claus, from the previous book has some Santa Claus connections, I wondered if Isaiah was going to be from the same world. Could he be Jack Frost? Somehow connected with the Easter Bunny?
Soon after he arrives, spring arrives a little early. The snow melts, and the tulips start blooming. That made me think that maybe he was connected to Mother Nature.
I love how I found myself trying to figure out where the magic was coming from throughout the book. I spent a good portion of the book wondering if Isaiah had some magical abilities.
Potential For More Books
As the book comes to an end, there are some unanswered questions. There are hints of more to come. While this story is complete, there are enough questions about Emerald Hollow, the Claus family, and other related things that I really hope that there is at least one more book planned in the series. Based on the information that’s still needed, I feel like there should be one or two more books. Anything beyond that, and I think the author would be dragging out the story too much.
Clean or Not
This is a fairly clean novel. There’s some mild swearing, some of which some people don’t even consider swearing. The big one is that two or three times a character takes the Lord’s name in vain. Then I think there are maybe two other swear words. There’s no violence or sexual content. Mild kissing is as far as it goes.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this is a really good book. As I said earlier, it can be read on its own, but I think you’ll miss out on some important elements of the story if you skip the first book.
