Book Review - As You Wish

BOO! Bet you thought you weren't gonna see a single review this month eh? Nosiree! I decided to be a complete idiot and stay up reading and due to the severe adrenaline rush I got from devouring a 600 page chunkster in 3 and a half hours I am now simply staying up the rest of the night because I know that if I go to sleep now I will miss all my classes tomorrow - better to be there and half-asleep than not there at all.


But anyway you won't be getting the review of the aforementioned book for a couple of weeks yet so forget :P This is for a book I read last week.

Title: As You Wish
Author: Jackson Pearce
Date: 10/11/2010 AM
Source: Bought
Description: Ever since Viola's boyfriend broke up with her, she has spent her days silently wishing—to have someone love her again and, more importantly, to belong again—until one day she inadvertently summons a young genie out of his world and into her own. He will remain until she makes three wishes.

Jinn is anxious to return home, but Viola is terrified of wishing, afraid she will not wish for the right thing, the thing that will make her truly happy. (Description taken from GoodReads)

My Review

I'd had this on my wishlist for quite a while now since I saw a vlog review about it last year on Youtube. I was waiting to get the paperback partly because I'm cheap and I also *really* love US paperbacks (They're just so floppy!!). When I saw it in a bookshop last week I just had to get it and when I was needing some relief from severe brainache caused by Nanowrimo it provided the perfect mixture of light, fun gooey romance, fab concepts and a message.

What really makes a book awesome for me is when I really connect with the characters and Jackson really hit the spot on that front. Viola was such a wonderfully caring person and I really admired her sweetness and her whole attitude to the wish-making business. Instead of just dashing off three petty wishes she really tried to think about them and make them meaningful, a mature approach that I thought was awesome. She's the kind of person who'd be a brilliantly generous and loyal friend although I'd be slightly terrified of shocking her with my terrible penchant for swearing :P


Jinn is well -*hot*- exotic-looking, curly dark hair and has a fab sense of humour, he is so dang cute sometimes worrying about the seconds passing and his life getting shorter (by tiny amounts). There's a hilarious scene where he gets so fretful about his hair being "longer than it has ever been" that Viola offers to cut it for him. It's barely a cm or 2 longer so she's a little bewildered where to start, in the end Jinn decides to try out the long hair :P The waiting is rather agonising for Jinn (that's not technically his name but Viola wanted to call him *something*) since everyday he stays on earth he gets older and everyday he gets to know Viola better it's getting harder to want to leave.


I also loved Viola's best friend-turned-boyfriend-turned gay, Lawrence. Despite knowing that he broke Viola's heart he still cares about her a lot and how they manage to work as "just friends" is so amazing and I think Viola is so strong for it. Scenes with Lawrence and Jinn were freaking hilarious as well.


Oh yea and boy did I laugh out loud when Jinn said who one of his previous masters was- I *dare* someone to tell Keanu Reeves that he's only famous because of Jinn and his wishes :P Please someone do it.


Overall it was such a lovely story, with a fab fantasy concept and the message of "not needing 3 wishes to belong" doesn't feel hammy at all thanks to Jackson's awesome writing. Plus I got a massive craving to watch/read The Princess Bride when it finally clicked that the whole freaking title is a nod to Wesley (Just his eyes when he says "As you wish" *melts*). I have no idea if it was intended that way but I'd rather like to think it was :P


I can't wait to read Sister's Red now and I'm wondering if we're gonna get to see some more of Viola and Jinn in the future? *winkwinkprettypleasewithsparklesontop?* :P


My Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5


Technically I started this review yesterday when I was tired out of my mind so apologies for general incoherency. Oh yea and I totally watched The Princess Bride again last night :P Sighed and giggled my through it- tis an awful shame that Cary Elwes just ain't that good-looking any more.


Will hopefully have more reviews swinging your way soon folks since I've pretty much given up on Nanowrimo now although I'm still saving a dash of hope for a last-minute charge of the rohirrim as-it-were to save my novel from complete disaster. Bah who knows?


LadyV