I WISH by Elizabeth Langston — Book Review
What Lacey needs is a miracle. What she gets is a genie with rules.
Lacey Linden is hiding the truth of her life—a depressed mom, a crumbling house, and bills too big to pay. While her high school classmates see a girl with a ready smile and good grades, Lacey spends her evenings seeking ways to save her family. On a get-cash-quick trip to the flea market, Lacey stumbles over a music box that seemingly begs her to take it home. She does, only to find it is inhabited by a gorgeous “genie.” He offers her a month of wishes, one per day, but there’s a catch. Each wish must be humanly possible.
Grant belongs to a league of supernatural beings, dedicated to serving humans in need. After two years of fulfilling the boring wishes of conventional teens, he is one assignment away from promotion to a challenging new role with more daring cases. Yet his month with Lacey is everything that he expects and nothing like he imagines. Lacey and Grant soon discover that the most difficult task of all might be saying goodbye.
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You find a genie in a bottle (or lamp), rub the bottle, genie appears in a cloud of smoke and promises to grant you three wishes. Pretty generic, right? Everyone knows this and everyone has contemplated what their three wishes would be. Money? Good health? Maybe a never ending supply of books… Well, you might want to rethink this well known formula because Elizabeth Langston is about to burst it.
First, the genie is in a music box not a lamp or bottle. Eh, not a big deal. He appeared in a cloud of smoke, which is pretty normal for genie entrances. So, how about those three wishes? Nope. Try thirty. But, there’s a catch. All thirty wishes have to be humanly possible. So, no magical super powers, no instant money, and, most unfortunately, no endless supply of books. Bummer. There is tons more that Elizabeth changes and manipulates to re-write such a well known formula, and she does it well.
As with her other books, Elizabeth weaves a story with wonderful images, real characters, and just enough fantasy to keep things magical. In I Wish, she switches from time travel (Whisper Falls) to a more whimsical story with a girl and her genie.
There’s a lot going on in this story. I will admit that Elizabeth does use another formula that she doesn’t change up as much. You have a teenage girl doing her best to keep her family out of poverty by working and going to school at the same time. Like a lot of stories with this plot at it’s base, the teen girl, Lacey, fears Child Protective Services. Now, although Elizabeth does follow this formula, she changes it up a bit and keeps it fresh. Plus, I guarantee you’re going to love the characters and how they interact with each other. I especially loved Kimberley and am hoping her story is told in the next book:)
That’s right, this is a new series. But, there is no annoying cliffhanger. The ending doesn’t give as much closure as I would like it to, but I know that Elizabeth will deliver in her next book. She always does:)
Come on, sexy genie, tenacious protagonist, cute little brother, and a tactless best friend. What more could you wish for?
Elizabeth Langston lives in North Carolina, halfway between the beaches and the mountains. She has two teen-ish daughters and one husband (a geek like her). When she’s not writing software or stories, Elizabeth loves to travel with her family, watch dance reality TV shows, and dream about which restaurant ought to get their business that night.
Elizabeth’s debut novel WHISPER FALLS released in November 2013. Its sequels, A WHISPER IN TIME released in April 2014 and WHISPERS FROM THE PAST released in October 2014. Her new series begins with I WISH in November 2014. Learn more about her
Letters in the Sand 