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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Thank you NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Melissa Wiesner for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Wish I Were Here is a story about Catherine. She has spent all her life being the responsible one and trying to inspire her father to step up in his adulting. Catherine has finally landed her dream job, her first apartment on her own and is enjoying the organization and clutter free living. The apartment seems to come with some quirks like the residents and doorman but she simply starts budgeting in more contingency time into her schedule.
However, even showing up 2hrs early to her orientation can prepare her when she finds out there were issues with her paperwork - there is no record of her in state and government records.
The last person Catherine would think would step up to help her is Luca, the charismatic but seemingly irresponsible doorman at her new building. Luca, his extensive family and community of friends become invested in helping Catherine solve her lost identity issue.
3.5 rounded up. Closed door. Magic-ish?. Community/found family. Charismatic guy and by-the-book girl.
Wish I Were Here is a story about Catherine. She has spent all her life being the responsible one and trying to inspire her father to step up in his adulting. Catherine has finally landed her dream job, her first apartment on her own and is enjoying the organization and clutter free living. The apartment seems to come with some quirks like the residents and doorman but she simply starts budgeting in more contingency time into her schedule.
However, even showing up 2hrs early to her orientation can prepare her when she finds out there were issues with her paperwork - there is no record of her in state and government records.
The last person Catherine would think would step up to help her is Luca, the charismatic but seemingly irresponsible doorman at her new building. Luca, his extensive family and community of friends become invested in helping Catherine solve her lost identity issue.
3.5 rounded up. Closed door. Magic-ish?. Community/found family. Charismatic guy and by-the-book girl.
I can not recommend this book to you, especially with it listed as romance & scifi/fantasy.
The scifi/fantasy element is ghosts, but I don't really think that makes this a fantasy read at all. There are like 2 ghosts mentioned throughout the book and they are very much not the focus. The world itself has nothing fantastical going on.
The romance is well, nonexistent on the page too. There is no real chemistry there, and honestly all the characters are just obnoxious and flat.
At <10% through, I wanted to give up because Luca was so crappy and annoying. It was obvious that Catherine was stressed and what does he do? Purposefully drive under the speed limit to get under her skin when she missed the bus because of him. Like what???
The message of this book is to live life and remember people are more important than a job. Awesome, however, I don't think a literal clown dad that gave our main character severe anxiety & trauma from the lack of stability in her childhood should be a shining example here.
---
Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an eARC of Wish I Were Here in exchange for an honest review.
The scifi/fantasy element is ghosts, but I don't really think that makes this a fantasy read at all. There are like 2 ghosts mentioned throughout the book and they are very much not the focus. The world itself has nothing fantastical going on.
The romance is well, nonexistent on the page too. There is no real chemistry there, and honestly all the characters are just obnoxious and flat.
At <10% through, I wanted to give up because Luca was so crappy and annoying. It was obvious that Catherine was stressed and what does he do? Purposefully drive under the speed limit to get under her skin when she missed the bus because of him. Like what???
The message of this book is to live life and remember people are more important than a job. Awesome, however, I don't think a literal clown dad that gave our main character severe anxiety & trauma from the lack of stability in her childhood should be a shining example here.
---
Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an eARC of Wish I Were Here in exchange for an honest review.
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
hopeful
lighthearted
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Love finding a new-to-me author whose writing completely clicks.
Thank you to Hbg Canada for my gifted copy of Wish I Were Here by Melissa Weisner for review!
This rom-com is the opposites-attract tale of Catherine and Luca. Catherine has a PhD in mathematics and does everything by the rules, structured and scheduled.
Luca is the doorman in her apartment building, and much more lackadaisical about the elements that make up Catherine's every day. He loses deliveries, forgets service requests, sleeps in the lobby on shift. Or so it all appears.
Cat lands a faculty role at the local university, but can't start teaching as her identity has inexplicably disappeared from all documentation.
It's the characters that immediately drew me into this one. Everyone, from main characters to supporting, has charm. Witty banter, found family, and interesting reveals make this a book I definitely recommend.
Released on Oct. 15.
Thank you to Hbg Canada for my gifted copy of Wish I Were Here by Melissa Weisner for review!
This rom-com is the opposites-attract tale of Catherine and Luca. Catherine has a PhD in mathematics and does everything by the rules, structured and scheduled.
Luca is the doorman in her apartment building, and much more lackadaisical about the elements that make up Catherine's every day. He loses deliveries, forgets service requests, sleeps in the lobby on shift. Or so it all appears.
Cat lands a faculty role at the local university, but can't start teaching as her identity has inexplicably disappeared from all documentation.
It's the characters that immediately drew me into this one. Everyone, from main characters to supporting, has charm. Witty banter, found family, and interesting reveals make this a book I definitely recommend.
Released on Oct. 15.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Katherine has finally landed her dream job as a professor of mathematics. But with school just a couple of weeks away from starting, it's discovered there's a problem with her paperwork. As in, Katherine Lipton doesn't seem to exist. Her birth certificate, social security card, ID, it's like she's been erased from the system. With the help of her apartment building's charming doorman, Katherine scrambles to get her identity back. Along the way, she confronts some long-held resentments about her childhood, and potentially begins to see that maybe losing yourself a little can actually help you find out who you are.
I really enjoyed Melissa Weisner's previous book Second Chance Year. Based on that, I knew I would be picking up Wish I Were Here. I like that it follows in the same vein as that previous book with the slight case of magicality to it that upends our protagonist's life and we, as readers, are along for the journey.
While the idea of suddenly ceasing to seemingly exist seems implausible in the extreme, the story definitely gave me a sense of unease at how much in Katherine's life was effected. But then, in essence, it kind of shows how precarious everything really is, and highlights those people who show up for you and stick around when things get tough.
Looking back at the story after finishing, this doesn't seem like the surprise that it turned out to be, but I think Melissa Weisner did a great job of framing the narrative of the story to the point where you don't consider it in those terms until closer to the end because the rush of Katherine's deadline is looming ever present. If she doesn't figure this out, she loses her job and her sense of stability. This gives her an opportunity to reflect which is something she hasn't been able to do because she's been on this track for success from a young age when she had to be the responsible one in her household where her single father was more of the free-wheeling type.
I appreciated the juxtaposition between Katherine's father and Luca, the aforementioned charming doorman. On the surface they both seem like people who don't take things too seriously, which leads to this sense of not being stable, not being able to count on them. This might be slightly true for Katherine's father. Although he does love her, and provided a home for her, that home was always in threat of being lost when he couldn't keep a job instead feeling like going to Burning Man was more worth-while. Luca may present similarly, but as he sticks by Katherine's side throughout she begins to see that her assumptions weren't always correct.
Despite loving the interactions between Luca and Katherine, the highlight was seeing Katherine, so tightly wound and tied to her schedule, become a little looser. It was not only being a stickler for the rules, it was following the rules to a T, sometimes to the detriment of her own ideas. Not wanting to rock the boat and advocate for herself, she would never speak out in fear that she would lose, in this case, her job. Over the course of losing her identity and gaining a slight freedom in ceasing to existing, Katherine is able to truly figure out who she is, and conversely who she wants to be. I appreciated that Katherine's story wasn't lost in the romance.
Melissa Weisner is quickly becoming an author whose releases I look forward to. In particular, I'm very interested to see what kind of magic she'll imbue within her next book that merges seamlessly with real-time conflicts.
I really enjoyed Melissa Weisner's previous book Second Chance Year. Based on that, I knew I would be picking up Wish I Were Here. I like that it follows in the same vein as that previous book with the slight case of magicality to it that upends our protagonist's life and we, as readers, are along for the journey.
While the idea of suddenly ceasing to seemingly exist seems implausible in the extreme, the story definitely gave me a sense of unease at how much in Katherine's life was effected. But then, in essence, it kind of shows how precarious everything really is, and highlights those people who show up for you and stick around when things get tough.
Looking back at the story after finishing, this doesn't seem like the surprise that it turned out to be, but I think Melissa Weisner did a great job of framing the narrative of the story to the point where you don't consider it in those terms until closer to the end because the rush of Katherine's deadline is looming ever present. If she doesn't figure this out, she loses her job and her sense of stability. This gives her an opportunity to reflect which is something she hasn't been able to do because she's been on this track for success from a young age when she had to be the responsible one in her household where her single father was more of the free-wheeling type.
I appreciated the juxtaposition between Katherine's father and Luca, the aforementioned charming doorman. On the surface they both seem like people who don't take things too seriously, which leads to this sense of not being stable, not being able to count on them. This might be slightly true for Katherine's father. Although he does love her, and provided a home for her, that home was always in threat of being lost when he couldn't keep a job instead feeling like going to Burning Man was more worth-while. Luca may present similarly, but as he sticks by Katherine's side throughout she begins to see that her assumptions weren't always correct.
Despite loving the interactions between Luca and Katherine, the highlight was seeing Katherine, so tightly wound and tied to her schedule, become a little looser. It was not only being a stickler for the rules, it was following the rules to a T, sometimes to the detriment of her own ideas. Not wanting to rock the boat and advocate for herself, she would never speak out in fear that she would lose, in this case, her job. Over the course of losing her identity and gaining a slight freedom in ceasing to existing, Katherine is able to truly figure out who she is, and conversely who she wants to be. I appreciated that Katherine's story wasn't lost in the romance.
Melissa Weisner is quickly becoming an author whose releases I look forward to. In particular, I'm very interested to see what kind of magic she'll imbue within her next book that merges seamlessly with real-time conflicts.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes