As You Wish: A Review

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti

My Rating: 4/5 Stars!

Publisher: Sourcebooks FIRE

Publish Date: January 1st, 2018

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

If you could make one wish that was guaranteed to come true―what would you wish for?

Rules for Wishing:

1 Never let an outsider find out about wishing. (Zip your lips and throw away the key.)

2 Wishes that would impact the world are off limits (i.e. no bringing back the dinosaurs).

3 Do no harm. (Murder = no bueno.)

4 No time travel. (What’s done is done, pal.)

5 No bringing back the dead. (Come on. You’ve seen what happens in THE WALKING DEAD.)

6 NEVER BREAK THE RULES. (Seriously. We mean it. See Rule #7.)

7 There are always consequences.

Madison is a small town in the Mojave desert on the road between nothing and nowhere. It’s an unremarkable speck on the map, which is perfect for protecting the town’s secret. Because in Madison, everyone can make one wish on their eighteenth birthday-and that wish always comes true.

Most of Eldon’s classmates have had their wishes picked out for months, even years. Not Eldon. He’s seen how wishing has hurt the people around him. His parents’ marriage is strained, his sister is a virtual ghost in their house, his ex-girlfriend is dating his ex-friend…where does he even begin?

One thing is for sure: Eldon has only twenty-five days to figure it out―and the rest of his life to live with the consequences.

Opening Sentence: “The trick is to be boring.”

Musings:

I really enjoyed As You Wish! Chelsea Sedoti really knows how to write a good quirky and unique story. As You Wish although not a thriller in any way made me feel just slightly off the entire time. From the very beginning the whole idea of the wishes felt wrong and as the stories of others previous wishes were told it only added to that sinking feeling in my gut.

I didn’t like the main character Eldon. He was impulsive and selfish and mean. However, I didn’t need to like him to understand him. I could see how he got to be the person that he was and I felt that made him more real. Humans are not always likable in real life. Humans also act out of rage and pain and hurt and bitterness. Sometimes it’s good to have a character who act from the hurt inside them. Some of us are jaded. Some of us act negatively. Books should be able to portray those things as well as the positives.

The different wishes were all for so many extremely different reasons. One of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much was because some of the reasonings for wishes gave me chills and some of the stories caused me to give pause and feel such a wave of empathy for different character that I really connected with the novel. It’s another reason why the main character being unlikable isn’t a bad thing. There are so many other characters and stories inside to connect with and even if you don’t like him you want to root for him to make a good choice.

As You Wish has a really unique setting. In a town close to Area 51 adds some other levels of weirdness that I enjoyed. Especially, with the kind of people that come to pass by the town.

If you like to read something a bit unusual that has some interesting side stories that will give you all the feels, this book is for you!

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.

-Till next time!