Wishing Day

Reviewed by: Theresa Bonnevie Bauld - Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library, Kennebunkport, Choose Library District

Review Date: December 5, 2016

Review

A story of three sisters being brought up by their emotionally distant dad with the assistance of two aunts, after the mysterious disappearance of their mom 8 years ago. Full of tween angst, crushes and friendship struggles, the realistic story line also includes a heavy dose of pure fantasy. The main plot deals with a wishing day tradition where all the girls in the town make three wishes on their 13th birthday. Is magic involved? Will the wishes come true? Switching gears from one genre to the other makes this a confusing read. Heavy topics like depressions, loneliness, an emotionally absent father coupled with an off the wall "bird Lady" character and the on-going hints of magic make this feel like two different stories. The ending is very disappointing with way too many unanswered question and no closure whatsoever. With this book being the first in a trilogy, the assumption is, that future books will provide clarity. However, after this confusing, somewhat muddled first book in the series, many readers may not continue for the answers. Hopefully, the second book will provide some answers early on and provide more of a fantasy angle to the story as the basic story plot is imaginative and interesting.

Overall Book Score: fair