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teresa_1231's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
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
4.0
theinvisiblelifeofareader's review against another edition
1.0
I haven't been this mad at a book in quite a bit. I recently read another book by this author, Girl Made of Stars, which I really liked and I rated it 4 stars so I was expecting to actually like this. But in the end I was disappointed. A lot of people seem to love this book. I have seen so many
great reviews and that makes this book even more disappointing.
Seventeen year old Grace Glasser just wants a normal life. A normal life in which she sleeps in the same bed for more than once and doesn't have to be the one giving the money she earns to pay bills. But Grace is trapped by her unreliable mother, Maggie. She tries to focuse on her best friend and upcoming audition in New York instead of the problems her mother causes for her. Her attempts to lay low until she graduates are disrupted when she meets Eva. Grief stricken, Eva pulls Grace on midnight advantures and their worlds open up. But because of their losses, Eva also shares a connection with Maggie, something that won't end up being good for either Grace or Eva.
This book started out very strong. I was reading to give it 4 stars, but as I read more, it started getting worse and worse. Everything that I liked in the beggining wasn't really there in the end or the author has somehow managed to ruin it.
I have a very important question for this book:
Where the hell was child protection?
So many people knew the state Maggie was in and the life that Grace had, yet no one, not even her best friend's mother who was this responsable adult and that didn't really seem like the kind of person to let this situation get so bad, called child protection. One simple call and Grace wouldn't have been in this situation.
I really did not like any of the characters and when I don't like them it's very hard for me to actually enjoy a book. Grace wasn't a very interesting character to follow. Her only character trait was that she had mommy issues. Nothing else. Nothing to make her interesting or stand out. No personality whatsoever. Eva recently lost her mother before the start of the book and I appreciated the way it showed her dealing with her grief, but I also think that it could have been done better. I don't think we were shown enough of Eva either. When I think of book characters or characters in general, I like to come up with some personality traits that I noticed tehy had, but with these characters I cannot even come up with one trait for each character.
I really liked the friendship between Grace and Luca in the beginning. This was something that in my opinion the author has managed to ruin in the end. Everything was going so well between them until Eva and Maggie came along. It was like the world was revolving around them and Grace and Luca haven't been best friends for years. I just wanted to see a nice friendship between them but I guess I didn't get my wish.
I didn't care about the romance. Eva and Grace had no chemestry at all. They randomly meet on a beach and then Eva just shows up in the middle of the night at Grace's window. What the hell? What kind of person does that? Also they instantly become friends? Has the other ever been a teenager? Well let me tell you that these kind of friendships where they trust actually eachother don't build up overnight. And the worst of all, like two or three weeks after they meet they are in love *unimpressed*
The ending piseed me off the most. I could have done without it honestly. Maybe some people will find it nice and sweet, but not me. Maggie was such a bad mother and a necklace shouldn't be what makes Grace go back to her.
I regret reading this book, but honestly after Girl Made of Stars I was expecting to like this just as much. In the end it was not meant to be.
great reviews and that makes this book even more disappointing.
Seventeen year old Grace Glasser just wants a normal life. A normal life in which she sleeps in the same bed for more than once and doesn't have to be the one giving the money she earns to pay bills. But Grace is trapped by her unreliable mother, Maggie. She tries to focuse on her best friend and upcoming audition in New York instead of the problems her mother causes for her. Her attempts to lay low until she graduates are disrupted when she meets Eva. Grief stricken, Eva pulls Grace on midnight advantures and their worlds open up. But because of their losses, Eva also shares a connection with Maggie, something that won't end up being good for either Grace or Eva.
This book started out very strong. I was reading to give it 4 stars, but as I read more, it started getting worse and worse. Everything that I liked in the beggining wasn't really there in the end or the author has somehow managed to ruin it.
I have a very important question for this book:
Where the hell was child protection?
So many people knew the state Maggie was in and the life that Grace had, yet no one, not even her best friend's mother who was this responsable adult and that didn't really seem like the kind of person to let this situation get so bad, called child protection. One simple call and Grace wouldn't have been in this situation.
I really did not like any of the characters and when I don't like them it's very hard for me to actually enjoy a book. Grace wasn't a very interesting character to follow. Her only character trait was that she had mommy issues. Nothing else. Nothing to make her interesting or stand out. No personality whatsoever. Eva recently lost her mother before the start of the book and I appreciated the way it showed her dealing with her grief, but I also think that it could have been done better. I don't think we were shown enough of Eva either. When I think of book characters or characters in general, I like to come up with some personality traits that I noticed tehy had, but with these characters I cannot even come up with one trait for each character.
I really liked the friendship between Grace and Luca in the beginning. This was something that in my opinion the author has managed to ruin in the end. Everything was going so well between them until Eva and Maggie came along. It was like the world was revolving around them and Grace and Luca haven't been best friends for years. I just wanted to see a nice friendship between them but I guess I didn't get my wish.
I didn't care about the romance. Eva and Grace had no chemestry at all. They randomly meet on a beach and then Eva just shows up in the middle of the night at Grace's window. What the hell? What kind of person does that? Also they instantly become friends? Has the other ever been a teenager? Well let me tell you that these kind of friendships where they trust actually eachother don't build up overnight. And the worst of all, like two or three weeks after they meet they are in love *unimpressed*
The ending piseed me off the most. I could have done without it honestly. Maybe some people will find it nice and sweet, but not me. Maggie was such a bad mother and a necklace shouldn't be what makes Grace go back to her.
I regret reading this book, but honestly after Girl Made of Stars I was expecting to like this just as much. In the end it was not meant to be.
Happy Pride Month! In honor of Pride Month, I plan to only read books that have LGBTQ+ representation this month. I always try to read more books with queer representation so this month I will be trying to find new favourites and underrated reads.
1. Girl Made of Stars: 4 ★
2. They Both Die At The End: 2 ★
3. Darius the Great is not Okay: 3 ★
4. Every Heart a Doorway: 5 ★
5. How To Make a Wish: 1 ★
6. Felix Ever After: 5★
7. The Song of Achilles: 3 ★
8. Clap When You Land: 4 ★
9. Last Night at The Telegraph Club: 4 ★
10. The Falling in Love Montage: 2 ★
soporificeffect's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
moonstrucksue's review against another edition
3.0
I like How to Make a Wish enough to cry and get emotional over certain scenes, but not enough to warrant a four star.
What stood out for me is the barb portrayal of unreliable parent. I'm a sucker for that. It's imperfect but it's spot on. However, I'm also a prolific romance reader. That's one of the defining factors for me. I'm not a fan of pairings where they hit off immediately. I don't like the instant let's-have-a-heart-to-heart conversation. I believe that it takes time to build relationship. It takes time for people to let other people see their deepest scars. The pairing seems superficial to me, I couldn't get into it. This is just a personal preference. Since, I tend to favor slow burn romance with a long (preferably years) of build up.
Overall, this novel is pretty alright. It moved me but I'm not in love with it. The biggest census is everyone love it if you're curious you should give it a try. Though, if you want my recommendation for stellar YA f/f: go try Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan and Dirty London by Kelly Yorke.
What stood out for me is the barb portrayal of unreliable parent. I'm a sucker for that. It's imperfect but it's spot on. However, I'm also a prolific romance reader. That's one of the defining factors for me. I'm not a fan of pairings where they hit off immediately. I don't like the instant let's-have-a-heart-to-heart conversation. I believe that it takes time to build relationship. It takes time for people to let other people see their deepest scars. The pairing seems superficial to me, I couldn't get into it. This is just a personal preference. Since, I tend to favor slow burn romance with a long (preferably years) of build up.
Overall, this novel is pretty alright. It moved me but I'm not in love with it. The biggest census is everyone love it if you're curious you should give it a try. Though, if you want my recommendation for stellar YA f/f: go try Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan and Dirty London by Kelly Yorke.
silverperri's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful and emotional and gay and made the mommy issues pop out-- basically everything I need in a book! The cover screams contemporary summer, which isn't usually my thing, but the story is so much more and it has such a stellar depiction of what it's like to be a child to a struggling, impossible-to-lean-on parent. Plus, the bi rep is lovely, as is Eva and Grace's romance. 4.25 stars, I wanna reread this and I just finished it.
horrorbutch's review against another edition
5.0
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Grace has just returned home when her mother tells her that they are moving. Again. And this time her mother's new boyfriend's son turns out to be Grace's Ex-Boyfriend, who posted private texts between them on his tumblr after she broke up with him. And then there is that audition for a top music school that Grace wants to go to, but how can she ever leave her self-destructive mother alone? Oh, and there is also Eva, a girl who just moved into town after her mother died. She is one of the few things that cheer Grace up, but of course, not even that is easy.
This story was definitely way better than I expected. I had heard a lot of praise about the biracial LI and the story's treatment of loss, but I was still positively surprised when I read this story and I have to say I adored it a lot. I can't speak about the treatment of biracial characters (here's a review by someone who can), but I found the lesbian and bisexual rep amazing and their relationship was incredibly well written and just adorable.
I also feared that the romance would maybe push the rest of the story into the background or that too much would be going on in the novel, but this didn't happen and so I absolutely adored the story. Everything was well thought out and the pacing was amazingly well done so that I never got bored with this book and was barely able to put it down once I started reading. Also, the romance was so cute, featuring kissing in a tree, late-night trips and talking under the stars and making out on a boat during the 4th of July (I need cute fanart y'all). It is the cuteness overload, that stands opposite to some other parts of the story.
Because there are some parts of the story that are harder to handle. I don't want to spoiler any of you, so I'll just mention them shortly, but you can also skip this paragraph if you want. There's short talk about drug abuse, the MC's mother drinks a lot of alcohol and emotionally abuses her daughter, there is quite a lot of talk about the loss of loved ones and grief and about healthy and unhealthy coping methods with that. There is also a few short scenes that deals with sexual assault, some that were just viewed by the MC, and two that happened to her personally (a drunk man followed her to the toilet while she was a young teenager, but nothing happened + in the other scene her ex-boyfriend is really invasive and it was a bit hard for me to read since I worried about what might come, so please be careful there). All of these, except the one with the ex-boyfriend, are really short if that helps. And of course, there is the relationship between Grace and her mother, which is really messed up, since her mother was absent (physically or mentally) for a lot of Grace's life and yet Grace thinks it is her responsibility to save her mother. If something like this upsets you, please be really careful with this book.
However, all the relationships are incredibly well written, especially the dysfunctional one between Gracie and her mother, and the one between Gracie and Eva. This is a very quiet contemporary book too and if you're expecting action you will be disappointed, but for me, this book worked perfectly. All in all, I have to say this is one of the more fantastic and awesome book that I can just recommend to all of you, please read it.
Grace has just returned home when her mother tells her that they are moving. Again. And this time her mother's new boyfriend's son turns out to be Grace's Ex-Boyfriend, who posted private texts between them on his tumblr after she broke up with him. And then there is that audition for a top music school that Grace wants to go to, but how can she ever leave her self-destructive mother alone? Oh, and there is also Eva, a girl who just moved into town after her mother died. She is one of the few things that cheer Grace up, but of course, not even that is easy.
This story was definitely way better than I expected. I had heard a lot of praise about the biracial LI and the story's treatment of loss, but I was still positively surprised when I read this story and I have to say I adored it a lot. I can't speak about the treatment of biracial characters (here's a review by someone who can), but I found the lesbian and bisexual rep amazing and their relationship was incredibly well written and just adorable.
I also feared that the romance would maybe push the rest of the story into the background or that too much would be going on in the novel, but this didn't happen and so I absolutely adored the story. Everything was well thought out and the pacing was amazingly well done so that I never got bored with this book and was barely able to put it down once I started reading. Also, the romance was so cute, featuring kissing in a tree, late-night trips and talking under the stars and making out on a boat during the 4th of July (I need cute fanart y'all). It is the cuteness overload, that stands opposite to some other parts of the story.
Because there are some parts of the story that are harder to handle. I don't want to spoiler any of you, so I'll just mention them shortly, but you can also skip this paragraph if you want. There's short talk about drug abuse, the MC's mother drinks a lot of alcohol and emotionally abuses her daughter, there is quite a lot of talk about the loss of loved ones and grief and about healthy and unhealthy coping methods with that. There is also a few short scenes that deals with sexual assault, some that were just viewed by the MC, and two that happened to her personally (a drunk man followed her to the toilet while she was a young teenager, but nothing happened + in the other scene her ex-boyfriend is really invasive and it was a bit hard for me to read since I worried about what might come, so please be careful there). All of these, except the one with the ex-boyfriend, are really short if that helps. And of course, there is the relationship between Grace and her mother, which is really messed up, since her mother was absent (physically or mentally) for a lot of Grace's life and yet Grace thinks it is her responsibility to save her mother. If something like this upsets you, please be really careful with this book.
However, all the relationships are incredibly well written, especially the dysfunctional one between Gracie and her mother, and the one between Gracie and Eva. This is a very quiet contemporary book too and if you're expecting action you will be disappointed, but for me, this book worked perfectly. All in all, I have to say this is one of the more fantastic and awesome book that I can just recommend to all of you, please read it.
agall645's review against another edition
4.0
Review on my blog: http://aideensbookobsession.blogspot.ie/2018/01/how-to-make-wish-by-ashley-herring-blake.html?m=1