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flyingwargle's review against another edition
4.0
If you told me straight up this was a summer vacation novel with romance, I wouldn't have read it, so kudos to whoever wrote the synopsis because you fooled me completely. I freaking loved it, 9/10 will recommend to anyone looking for a good read about two girls falling in love and struggling to find their wants and needs.
hellomadalyn's review against another edition
4.0
*3.5 stars*
Gorgeous writing and fantastic representation, but these characters didn't quite feel fully developed, imo. This is a quietly melancholy story, but it's hopeful in the end. Loved the romance! Despite some small qualms, this is still a book I'll be recommending to everyone.
Gorgeous writing and fantastic representation, but these characters didn't quite feel fully developed, imo. This is a quietly melancholy story, but it's hopeful in the end. Loved the romance! Despite some small qualms, this is still a book I'll be recommending to everyone.
giulay's review against another edition
4.0
"No one really expects a wish to come true."
TW: alcoholism, neglecting parents
Wow. This was intense™️. This was overwhelming. This was too much.
I loved this.
Firstly, the representation and the diversity were truly wonderfully done:
Bi main character (#OwnVoices)
Biracial, lesbian secondary character
Grace was such a strong female character.
I loved how angry and messed up her voice was. How she didn’t know how to deal with this shitty and harmful situation but continued being this fantastic, loyal, caring, true to herself person.
She was sarcastic and cynic; she was hopeful and a dreamer. She had to grow up too fast. She was still a child in need of her mother.
She was a real teenager and I truly loved her.
Her relationship with her mother was toxic and painful to read. I definitely felt for her and pity her when her mother acted or said something bad. And in a very bizarre (and maybe wrong) way it was still intriguing and engrossing reading about it because I wanted things to get fixed and I just simply wanted Grace to be happy.
It was so tough though, to read about this bizarre relation.
From the outside it’s so easy to judge Grace’s mother (Maggie) and almost dislike Grace herself for her opposing feelings towards her mum.
For example, Grace was super defensive of Maggie when people outside of the family criticized her (hence me almost disliking Grace. I was just there like "c’mon girl! She’s bad influence, she’s not treating you right! Stand up for yourself!") but then, our main character herself would judge her mother and be mad at her (thus me judging Maggie. Like, can’t you see you’re hurting your daughter?! Stop being like this and listen to her!).
But these opposing feelings - both the reader’s and Grace’s - indicated a wonderfully complex, convoluted, raw and real story about family and love.
After all, how can you blame Grace? It’s her mother we are talking about; she loves her unconditionally and has to accept both sides of Maggie: her motherly and caring one and her dysfunctional and distant one. And that’s not easy.
So, what I’m trying (and failing) to say is that: the relationship was seriously complex and it was emotional and deep, and it was handled wonderfully.
Another deep and emotional relationship was the one between Luca and Grace.
Luca, sweet cinnamon role love of my life.
He was so loyal and supportive and caring. I adored his and Grace’s friendship: it was healthy and real, full of love and inside jokes. And there was no miscommunication between the two of them, no sexual tension either! They were open and honest and it was splendid.
Moreover it was…a GuY?! and a GiRL?! Just being the bestest of FriENDs?!! Can you believe that that can actually happen??! Ah, I loved it so much; male-female friendships are so rarely encountered in YA. The trope goes that the guy has (obviously) a crush on the girl but here it was not the case and it was glorious 🙌🏻
Eva was such a lovely and delicate character. She went through so much and she came out of all that chin up, smile on. I was proud of her.
And a special shout out to Emmy - Luca’s mother - for being the fucking embodiment of a ray of sunshine.
[a:Ashley Herring Blake|8545130|Ashley Herring Blake|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1511916369p2/8545130.jpg]’s writing style was stellar. She managed to create this atmosphere that was both full of grief and full of hope; both sad and happy. Her characters jump out of the page and their personalities are incredibly well flashed out and detailed.
Only problem (hence the four stars), was the beginning of the romantic relationship. I though it was a bit too instalovey. It developed naturally and splendidly but the beginning was kinda rocky, in my opinion.
Moreover, I can’t really say that this was a super original story - the plot, after all, was: girl meets the new kid in town and things happen - but it nonetheless was fantastic and wonderfully done.
The bi representation was spectacular.
The biracial representation was marvelous (racist comments were challenged and beautifully handled)
The characters and their relationships were compelling.
The plot was intriguing and had a bite.
And the writing style was phenomenal.
Beautiful read.
I can’t wait to pick [b:Girl Made of Stars|31351689|Girl Made of Stars|Ashley Herring Blake|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501116083s/31351689.jpg|52030589] up.
If this is what is to expect from [a:Ashley Herring Blake|8545130|Ashley Herring Blake|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1511916369p2/8545130.jpg], then we are off to a great start!
"The stars won’t help me. No one will, not really. No one can.
No one except me."
TW: alcoholism, neglecting parents
Wow. This was intense™️. This was overwhelming. This was too much.
I loved this.
Firstly, the representation and the diversity were truly wonderfully done:
Bi main character (#OwnVoices)
Biracial, lesbian secondary character
Grace was such a strong female character.
I loved how angry and messed up her voice was. How she didn’t know how to deal with this shitty and harmful situation but continued being this fantastic, loyal, caring, true to herself person.
She was sarcastic and cynic; she was hopeful and a dreamer. She had to grow up too fast. She was still a child in need of her mother.
She was a real teenager and I truly loved her.
Her relationship with her mother was toxic and painful to read. I definitely felt for her and pity her when her mother acted or said something bad. And in a very bizarre (and maybe wrong) way it was still intriguing and engrossing reading about it because I wanted things to get fixed and I just simply wanted Grace to be happy.
It was so tough though, to read about this bizarre relation.
From the outside it’s so easy to judge Grace’s mother (Maggie) and almost dislike Grace herself for her opposing feelings towards her mum.
For example, Grace was super defensive of Maggie when people outside of the family criticized her (hence me almost disliking Grace. I was just there like "c’mon girl! She’s bad influence, she’s not treating you right! Stand up for yourself!") but then, our main character herself would judge her mother and be mad at her (thus me judging Maggie. Like, can’t you see you’re hurting your daughter?! Stop being like this and listen to her!).
But these opposing feelings - both the reader’s and Grace’s - indicated a wonderfully complex, convoluted, raw and real story about family and love.
After all, how can you blame Grace? It’s her mother we are talking about; she loves her unconditionally and has to accept both sides of Maggie: her motherly and caring one and her dysfunctional and distant one. And that’s not easy.
So, what I’m trying (and failing) to say is that: the relationship was seriously complex and it was emotional and deep, and it was handled wonderfully.
Another deep and emotional relationship was the one between Luca and Grace.
Luca, sweet cinnamon role love of my life.
He was so loyal and supportive and caring. I adored his and Grace’s friendship: it was healthy and real, full of love and inside jokes. And there was no miscommunication between the two of them, no sexual tension either! They were open and honest and it was splendid.
Moreover it was…a GuY?! and a GiRL?! Just being the bestest of FriENDs?!! Can you believe that that can actually happen??! Ah, I loved it so much; male-female friendships are so rarely encountered in YA. The trope goes that the guy has (obviously) a crush on the girl but here it was not the case and it was glorious 🙌🏻
Eva was such a lovely and delicate character. She went through so much and she came out of all that chin up, smile on. I was proud of her.
And a special shout out to Emmy - Luca’s mother - for being the fucking embodiment of a ray of sunshine.
[a:Ashley Herring Blake|8545130|Ashley Herring Blake|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1511916369p2/8545130.jpg]’s writing style was stellar. She managed to create this atmosphere that was both full of grief and full of hope; both sad and happy. Her characters jump out of the page and their personalities are incredibly well flashed out and detailed.
Only problem (hence the four stars), was the beginning of the romantic relationship. I though it was a bit too instalovey. It developed naturally and splendidly but the beginning was kinda rocky, in my opinion.
Moreover, I can’t really say that this was a super original story - the plot, after all, was: girl meets the new kid in town and things happen - but it nonetheless was fantastic and wonderfully done.
The bi representation was spectacular.
The biracial representation was marvelous (racist comments were challenged and beautifully handled)
The characters and their relationships were compelling.
The plot was intriguing and had a bite.
And the writing style was phenomenal.
Beautiful read.
I can’t wait to pick [b:Girl Made of Stars|31351689|Girl Made of Stars|Ashley Herring Blake|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501116083s/31351689.jpg|52030589] up.
If this is what is to expect from [a:Ashley Herring Blake|8545130|Ashley Herring Blake|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1511916369p2/8545130.jpg], then we are off to a great start!
"The stars won’t help me. No one will, not really. No one can.
No one except me."
alyssapleong's review against another edition
4.0
*4.5 stars
my seventh and final book for the reading rush! and arguably the best one I’ve read for this readathon
my seventh and final book for the reading rush! and arguably the best one I’ve read for this readathon
donnereads's review against another edition
4.0
This book is hard to read at times but so, so well done!
menshevixen's review against another edition
5.0
Now and then the question comes up: what book did you need when you were a teenager? This is that book.
misha_ali's review against another edition
5.0
I have deep empathy for YA characters stuck with shitty parents that results in them growing up too soon and having to parent their parents and feel guilty for the thought of "abandoning" them to seek their own lives and happiness. Let's face it, this book was always going to make me cry.
I loved everything about this book. The deep sadness and shame the MC feels about her parent, the life she misses out on because of her guilt and the complexity of grief and not being able to open up to someone who doesn't understand it.
As the cherry on top, there is some excellent representation here with a bisexual MC who doesn't really feel the need to make a big announcement about coming out, it's just who she is. A lesbian POC main character as well. A deep friendship between a boy and girl that is never teased as anything beyond platonic, which is also great to see. Some seemingly simple characters having unexpected depth to them.
“And that's the funny thing about wishes - only when one comes true do you realize the full scope of that wish. What you really wanted. The beauty of it. The complexity.
The cost.”
I loved everything about this book. The deep sadness and shame the MC feels about her parent, the life she misses out on because of her guilt and the complexity of grief and not being able to open up to someone who doesn't understand it.
As the cherry on top, there is some excellent representation here with a bisexual MC who doesn't really feel the need to make a big announcement about coming out, it's just who she is. A lesbian POC main character as well. A deep friendship between a boy and girl that is never teased as anything beyond platonic, which is also great to see. Some seemingly simple characters having unexpected depth to them.
“And that's the funny thing about wishes - only when one comes true do you realize the full scope of that wish. What you really wanted. The beauty of it. The complexity.
The cost.”
minervaxyz's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
agggg
deep emotional sensitive caring sapphics sapphicing while talking ballet
if you liked: ginny and georgia(TV), my first summer(film)
deep emotional sensitive caring sapphics sapphicing while talking ballet
if you liked: ginny and georgia(TV), my first summer(film)
bluebeereads's review against another edition
3.0
Quite The Novel Idea ~ Words from the Clouds
This is one of those books that's hard for me to review. Because while I LOVED some parts of it and want to flail about those, there are also parts I really didn't like that kept me from loving the book as a whole. But those things are personal issues I have with the book and therefor might not bother other readers. But if I list those dislikes, I might keep people from picking this book up, which I don't want because I still think lots of people should read it. Am I making any sense whatsoever? Probably not. Oh well.
How To Make a Wish is about Grace and her mother Maggie. They have a complicated and dysfunctional relationship in which Grace has had to be the grown-up more times than she can count. And this really is the heart of the story. This mother-daughter relationship that's kind of messed up and needs a lot of work and is actually not very healthy. And while I loved parts of this side of the story, I had some problems with it too. Which relates mostly to the characters, but I'll get back to that. I did love how it developed, even if it got a bit too dramatic sometimes etc. I loved that romance wasn't a cure for anything in this book and that it ultimately came down to the mother and the daughter having to fix stuff together. But I also love that it didn't all wrap up in a neat little bow with rainbows and sunshine.
I also want to give a shout-out to the awesome friendship between Grace and her best friend Luca. I LOVE that they're not more than friends and it never even gets hinted at that it could be more. It's just a fantastic, platonic friendship between a boy and a girl and YES. THANK YOU. It's possible, people. Romance need not be involved every time.
Speaking of Luca, I loved him and his family. He was a great friend and I loved his mom and brother and honestly wouldn't mind having a book about them alone. Though I did kind of want more of Luca's girlfriend Kimber and his brother Macon. But we can't have everything, I suppose. I also ended up liking Jay and Pete, which I did not really expect. But I did. So yay.
My main problem with this book lies with Grace, Maggie and Eva. Maggie, and I say this in the nicest way possible, was a horrible mom. And I find it sad that their dysfunctional relationship went on so long without anyone doing something about it because it's just not healthy for either of them. When Eva comes into Grace's life, she changes a lot of things up and while I didn't necessarily have a problem with her, I didn't feel like I got to know her as well as I would've liked. And then we have Grace... who I just didn't connect with. She frustrated me SO much and yes she grew in the story and was developed well enough, but I just wanted to hit her with a frying pan. I'm sorry. I just did. I didn't like how she brushed off her mother's behavior for SO long and how she acted towards Luca sometimes when he confronted her about it. I'm also mildly disappointed that her music didn't play a very big role ultimately. Which is sad because it's so important to her but in the story itself it's just... not.
The romance was both great and frustrating. The latter because sometimes it took over a bit and I didn't like that because I wanted to focus on the other stuff. And sometimes it felt like it was going to make the story in one of those "love cures all" situations. Which no. Just no. But it was also great because the author didn't shy away from anything. This book is very sex-positive with an f/f romance, which I enthusiastically applaud and flail over because THANKS. YA needs this.
In the end, How To Make A Wish has a lot going for it, but it frustrated me personally a lot. I still highly recommend it because this is just my opinion and therefor not necessarily yours. If you're a contemporary fan, you should definitely check this one out.
This is one of those books that's hard for me to review. Because while I LOVED some parts of it and want to flail about those, there are also parts I really didn't like that kept me from loving the book as a whole. But those things are personal issues I have with the book and therefor might not bother other readers. But if I list those dislikes, I might keep people from picking this book up, which I don't want because I still think lots of people should read it. Am I making any sense whatsoever? Probably not. Oh well.
How To Make a Wish is about Grace and her mother Maggie. They have a complicated and dysfunctional relationship in which Grace has had to be the grown-up more times than she can count. And this really is the heart of the story. This mother-daughter relationship that's kind of messed up and needs a lot of work and is actually not very healthy. And while I loved parts of this side of the story, I had some problems with it too. Which relates mostly to the characters, but I'll get back to that. I did love how it developed, even if it got a bit too dramatic sometimes etc. I loved that romance wasn't a cure for anything in this book and that it ultimately came down to the mother and the daughter having to fix stuff together. But I also love that it didn't all wrap up in a neat little bow with rainbows and sunshine.
I also want to give a shout-out to the awesome friendship between Grace and her best friend Luca. I LOVE that they're not more than friends and it never even gets hinted at that it could be more. It's just a fantastic, platonic friendship between a boy and a girl and YES. THANK YOU. It's possible, people. Romance need not be involved every time.
Speaking of Luca, I loved him and his family. He was a great friend and I loved his mom and brother and honestly wouldn't mind having a book about them alone. Though I did kind of want more of Luca's girlfriend Kimber and his brother Macon. But we can't have everything, I suppose. I also ended up liking Jay and Pete, which I did not really expect. But I did. So yay.
My main problem with this book lies with Grace, Maggie and Eva. Maggie, and I say this in the nicest way possible, was a horrible mom. And I find it sad that their dysfunctional relationship went on so long without anyone doing something about it because it's just not healthy for either of them. When Eva comes into Grace's life, she changes a lot of things up and while I didn't necessarily have a problem with her, I didn't feel like I got to know her as well as I would've liked. And then we have Grace... who I just didn't connect with. She frustrated me SO much and yes she grew in the story and was developed well enough, but I just wanted to hit her with a frying pan. I'm sorry. I just did. I didn't like how she brushed off her mother's behavior for SO long and how she acted towards Luca sometimes when he confronted her about it. I'm also mildly disappointed that her music didn't play a very big role ultimately. Which is sad because it's so important to her but in the story itself it's just... not.
The romance was both great and frustrating. The latter because sometimes it took over a bit and I didn't like that because I wanted to focus on the other stuff. And sometimes it felt like it was going to make the story in one of those "love cures all" situations. Which no. Just no. But it was also great because the author didn't shy away from anything. This book is very sex-positive with an f/f romance, which I enthusiastically applaud and flail over because THANKS. YA needs this.
In the end, How To Make A Wish has a lot going for it, but it frustrated me personally a lot. I still highly recommend it because this is just my opinion and therefor not necessarily yours. If you're a contemporary fan, you should definitely check this one out.
saskiacb's review against another edition
4.0
I was not expecting to love How To Make A Wish like I do. I really didn't know much going in, all I knew was that it featured an f/f pairing, and interestingly, this was not the sole focus of the narrative.
The toxic relationship between Grace and Maggie was heartbreaking, I swear I felt my heart clench every time Grace was left disappointed and neglected by her mother. This novel highlights the cruelty of hope and being stuck in a damaging relationship.
But it also presents a gorgeous friendship between Grace and Luca. I am a sucker for close friendships so the book gets an A+ on that front.
Eva and Grace's relationship was cute, but not the best part of the book. A scene that did frustrate me was when Grace spoke about her first crush, Natalie; I really dislike how bisexual people are always made to justify their sexuality.
Overall, it was very compelling, I was pleasantly surprised.
The toxic relationship between Grace and Maggie was heartbreaking, I swear I felt my heart clench every time Grace was left disappointed and neglected by her mother. This novel highlights the cruelty of hope and being stuck in a damaging relationship.
But it also presents a gorgeous friendship between Grace and Luca. I am a sucker for close friendships so the book gets an A+ on that front.
Eva and Grace's relationship was cute, but not the best part of the book. A scene that did frustrate me was when Grace spoke about her first crush, Natalie; I really dislike how bisexual people are always made to justify their sexuality.
Overall, it was very compelling, I was pleasantly surprised.