3 out of 4 stars
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I liked reading The Elf Brief by Jordan David. It is a short book compared to others I've read and that made it easier to read. It started out a little slow for my liking but about one third of the way through it began to pick up the pace. It takes place at the North Pole as a new Santa is being chosen because the old Santa has decided to retire.
The story focuses on a single elf named Noel and the new job he is given to write a brief each day about how a new Santa is chosen. As he begins writing the reports for Santa, he begins to question how things are run around him. Noel wants to understand why there is a limit to how long a Santa serves and how long each elf serves. Noel prides himself on always doing a good job though he's not sure this time exactly what it is he is to be doing. No one has ever done the job he has been asked to do. He enlists a few of his closest friends to help him make some discoveries and do his job. As time progresses Noel starts to tell his friends what he knows but he is advised by others to keep things to himself. The elves in charge don't want everyone to know how things run. Noel decides that only Santa can tell him if he is doing something wrong. He sets out to find out the truth behind how the North Pole is ran.
The author does a great job of describing the surrounds so that you paint a full picture in your mind of what Noel sees. You can almost hear the voices as they are described when the person is speaking. The author hints at a mystery surrounding the Retired Elf Village and the retired Santas. The author does not distract you with the side story though and stays focused on the changing of the Santas. I figured out a few things as the book progressed but others were a bit of twist I didn't expect.
I liked the faster pace the book developed about one third in. I didn't like the slow start. I found it a little hard to get into. As the pace sped up, I could really get into the book and not want to put it down. The main character was well developed and it was easy to follow his interaction with everyone else he met.
Overall this book appears to be professionally done and has few errors. I can rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I subtracted one star only because to me it was a bit slow and boring in the beginning. The Elf Brief gives a new twist on Santa and his elves. A glossary in the back helps define the main terms just in case the reader forgets what something is. I would recommend this book to others especially those who love all things Santa and Christmas.
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The Elf Brief
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