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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Mediocre teen story. I just can't get into a story if I don't like the main character, and I was given nothing to like her for. She's needy, whiny, and depressing. No wonder guys don't like her without magical help. Don't see why one finally did.
Clean with mostly mild physical talk, alcohol and smoking at parties, and almost no language except 1 very bad word. Hate that word in teen books, so unnecessary.
Clean with mostly mild physical talk, alcohol and smoking at parties, and almost no language except 1 very bad word. Hate that word in teen books, so unnecessary.
In a genre saturated with vampires, it's always nice to find a teen romance that isn't an obvious attempt at cashing in on the Meyer craze of vampires. While the cover is certainly iffy on this, the content itself is a solid little romance with some excellent morals thrown in.
Viola's an excellent heroine, with very believable motivations and desires, and of course the indecision that generally goes along with being a teenager. When she summons a jinn by wishing to just fit in and no longer be an "Invisible Girl," her life gets a lot more complex as she tries to decide just what she really wants, while at the same time developing an unexpected romance.
My favorite part was the world-building of the jinns, ifrits, and Caliban itself. The idea of jinns having their own world was interesting, and all the rules that go along with their relationship to humans. It was a well thought-out world with rules and consequences, as well as some solid history to link it to the genie stories that most of us have grown up with.
The writing is solid, and considering this is a first novel I was very impressed with how well the present tense and alternating first-person point of views were done. Present tense seems to be pretty tricky for writers to pull off without sounding awkward, but it's done here so well that I hadn't really noticed until a few chapters in.
Definitely recommended to fans of light, unique romances!
Viola's an excellent heroine, with very believable motivations and desires, and of course the indecision that generally goes along with being a teenager. When she summons a jinn by wishing to just fit in and no longer be an "Invisible Girl," her life gets a lot more complex as she tries to decide just what she really wants, while at the same time developing an unexpected romance.
My favorite part was the world-building of the jinns, ifrits, and Caliban itself. The idea of jinns having their own world was interesting, and all the rules that go along with their relationship to humans. It was a well thought-out world with rules and consequences, as well as some solid history to link it to the genie stories that most of us have grown up with.
The writing is solid, and considering this is a first novel I was very impressed with how well the present tense and alternating first-person point of views were done. Present tense seems to be pretty tricky for writers to pull off without sounding awkward, but it's done here so well that I hadn't really noticed until a few chapters in.
Definitely recommended to fans of light, unique romances!
As You Wish is a fantastic debut novel by Jackson Pearce. The book has a great plot and is very well written. This book has great description, word choice, etc. With so many young adult books with a fantasy element to them, it can be hard for one to stand out. As You Wish stands out. The author's take on wishes and genies is great and is presented in a creative way that one has not seen before.
The book goes back and forth between Viola's point of view and Jinn (the genie's) point of view. Pearce does a great job at creating a distinct voice for each character allowing the alternating points of view to really add to the quality of the book. The book is full of suspense wondering what or if Viola will wish. All characters in the book are well-developed and the interactions between them are realistic. Both the fantasy and non-fantasy elements of the book were well thought out and presented. The book made me feel like the characters could be people I know and the settings could be places I have been.
Many books are easy to predict the ending, but this book was not one of them. Until I read the end, I did not know what it would be. From the time I started the book to when I finished it, I could not put it down. I highly recommend anyone looking for a fun, creative, well-written book to read to pick up this book. It will not disappoint. I look forward to reading more of Jackson Pearce's books in the future.
The book goes back and forth between Viola's point of view and Jinn (the genie's) point of view. Pearce does a great job at creating a distinct voice for each character allowing the alternating points of view to really add to the quality of the book. The book is full of suspense wondering what or if Viola will wish. All characters in the book are well-developed and the interactions between them are realistic. Both the fantasy and non-fantasy elements of the book were well thought out and presented. The book made me feel like the characters could be people I know and the settings could be places I have been.
Many books are easy to predict the ending, but this book was not one of them. Until I read the end, I did not know what it would be. From the time I started the book to when I finished it, I could not put it down. I highly recommend anyone looking for a fun, creative, well-written book to read to pick up this book. It will not disappoint. I look forward to reading more of Jackson Pearce's books in the future.
Instead or retelling fairy tales this one seems to be a beginning of a new series about Genies or Jinns. I found it just as good as the others.
3.5. 3.75? It was cute and a nice quick read (300 pages double spaced!)
It is a heartwarming story. There were places that I identified with the protagonist, who is my age, and there were places that moved me to tears. I was reminded that anything is possible as long as one has an open mind and positive heart.
A teacher at this school let me borrow this book to read, and judging from the summary, it sounded to me like it would be a good read, as fantasy / high school / teen romance are some of my favorite genres.
Except, here's the thing: the book wasn't as good as I had expected.
The book switches points of view between Viola and Jinn. And what happens in Viola's point of view, is repeated again in the next chapter by Jinn, except towards the end of the chapters he always vanishes. So, as things were repeated again and again every other chapter, I felt the book wasn't going anywhere and it was quite boring.
I did not like Viola as a character at all. She seemed to have no emotion, she was cliche. First she's all whiney because she "doesn't fit in" and all that typical high-school cliche crap put into a book aimed for teens. And what made me dislike the book is that the author, Jackson Pierce, seemed to break the show-don't-tell rule on that one. The popular kids acknowledge Viola, as did Jinn and Viola's ex-boyfriend / now best friend.
Then, all of a sudden, Viola gets popular Aaron to be her boyfriend thanks to an accidental wish she made while Jinn was standing right there. And then she turns into some clingy, PDA girlfriend who gets upset when she isn't with Aaron, and when she's not spending time with him, or when Jinn and/or her best friend interfere with her time with Aaron.
Finally, repetative chapter after repetative chapter, Viola and Jinn fall in love. This was only a couple chapters from the end of the book. Only then did the book seem less repetative and cliche and teen-age crap and more like how I had pictured the book from the beginning.
All-in-all, this book deserves a 3 star rating, and I don't see myself reading it again.
Except, here's the thing: the book wasn't as good as I had expected.
The book switches points of view between Viola and Jinn. And what happens in Viola's point of view, is repeated again in the next chapter by Jinn, except towards the end of the chapters he always vanishes. So, as things were repeated again and again every other chapter, I felt the book wasn't going anywhere and it was quite boring.
I did not like Viola as a character at all. She seemed to have no emotion, she was cliche. First she's all whiney because she "doesn't fit in" and all that typical high-school cliche crap put into a book aimed for teens. And what made me dislike the book is that the author, Jackson Pierce, seemed to break the show-don't-tell rule on that one. The popular kids acknowledge Viola, as did Jinn and Viola's ex-boyfriend / now best friend.
Then, all of a sudden, Viola gets popular Aaron to be her boyfriend thanks to an accidental wish she made while Jinn was standing right there. And then she turns into some clingy, PDA girlfriend who gets upset when she isn't with Aaron, and when she's not spending time with him, or when Jinn and/or her best friend interfere with her time with Aaron.
Finally, repetative chapter after repetative chapter, Viola and Jinn fall in love. This was only a couple chapters from the end of the book. Only then did the book seem less repetative and cliche and teen-age crap and more like how I had pictured the book from the beginning.
All-in-all, this book deserves a 3 star rating, and I don't see myself reading it again.
I loved the plot of this story, funny and cute. The ending was a little vague, but overall loved this book!
Having previously read 'sisters red', I thought I would try some of Jackson Pearce's other books, and got this one for Christmas.
As you wish tells the story of a girl named Viola, who feels invisible and lonely ever since her boyfriend came out to her as gay and ended the relationship 7 months prior.... she is sat in class and wishes so hard that she ends up being assigned her very own genie, who she names 'jinn' the rest of what follows is the breaking of all the rules as viola discovers how to be happy in her own self and a has little romance along the way....
As you wish was quite an easy book to read, I enjoyed the split narrative here more than I did for sisters red, as it was split between viola and jinn and was much easier to follow. If you want a nice easy bit of teen drama meets fantasy fluff (after all , not many genie books out there) without the gore of werewolves, vampires, the complexity of dragons or other things that go bump in the night, then this one is for you!
As you wish tells the story of a girl named Viola, who feels invisible and lonely ever since her boyfriend came out to her as gay and ended the relationship 7 months prior.... she is sat in class and wishes so hard that she ends up being assigned her very own genie, who she names 'jinn' the rest of what follows is the breaking of all the rules as viola discovers how to be happy in her own self and a has little romance along the way....
As you wish was quite an easy book to read, I enjoyed the split narrative here more than I did for sisters red, as it was split between viola and jinn and was much easier to follow. If you want a nice easy bit of teen drama meets fantasy fluff (after all , not many genie books out there) without the gore of werewolves, vampires, the complexity of dragons or other things that go bump in the night, then this one is for you!
Very poignant, laughed out loud at parts, read it amazingly quickly. I kept turning pages just thrilled to find out what was coming next and enjoyed the three main characters.