Category: Reviews

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti – Review

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[I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.]

Imagine a town named Madison in the desert where everyone gets one wish. On the night that they turn eighteen, they’re allowed to make one wish for almost anything they want. There are only a couple rules. One is that no one can know about the town, so you can’t wish to become the next international superstar. The other rules are basically the same as the Genie’s from Aladdin. No wishing for more wishes and you can’t bring someone back from the dead.

Already my mind went to some terrifying conclusions with this, conclusions that (to be fair) As You Wish doesn’t shy away from.

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Deer Life by Ron Sexsmith – Review

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[I received a copy of this book through an ARC giveaway.]

It already looks like I’m going to be in the minority on Goodreads for my thoughts on Deer Life.

Normally it doesn’t bother me if my opinion goes against the grain, but I don’t like giving out low scores. I know how much effort it takes to write a novel and I know how much it can hurt to have your work criticized, so I try to be honest while softening my opinions. I can be truthful without being a jerk, you know?

But with Deer Life, there wasn’t a single thing I liked beyond the cover. The cover is gorgeous and whoever drew it should be getting a ton of money. One look at the cover and I knew it was a book that I wanted to read, but the story itself didn’t hold up to scrutiny.

Nothing else in the book works for me.

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Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch – Review

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I’m going to level with you right now. My first instinct was to call shout from the heavens that I’ve found Eat, Pray, Love for young adults, but… I haven’t read Eat, Pray, Love and I only have the loosest idea of what it’s all about (I do know that Julia Roberts was in the movie though, so that’s something). So let’s not be disingenuous or misleading and instead look at Love & Gelato it’s own merits.

The title is apt and I guess what I wasn’t expecting out of this was the interesting dynamic between all the main characters. Normally parents in young adult novels play strictly supporting roles. They’re there to smile, help out, and then possibly die when the stakes need to be ramped up in a hurry.

Not so with Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch. Kind of… It’s complicated.

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