Have you guys checked out my post with 10 Diverse (AND AMAZING) May book releases? On the top of the list I got “How to Make a Wish”, so of course I had to pick it up and review it for you guys!
Thanks to HMH Teen for providing me a copy for review!
How to Make a Wish
by Ashley Herring Blake
336 pages
Publication Date: May 2, 2017.
Goodreads Rating: 4.27 stars (190 Ratings)
My rating: 4.5 stars (⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆)
All seventeen year-old Grace Glasser wants is her own life. A normal life in which she sleeps in the same bed for longer than three months and doesn’t have to scrounge for spare change to make sure the electric bill is paid. Emotionally trapped by her unreliable mother, Maggie, and the tiny cape on which she lives, she focuses on her best friend, her upcoming audition for a top music school in New York, and surviving Maggie’s latest boyfriend—who happens to be Grace’s own ex-boyfriend’s father.
Her attempts to lay low until she graduates are disrupted when she meets Eva, a girl with her own share of ghosts she’s trying to outrun. Grief-stricken and lonely, Eva pulls Grace into midnight adventures and feelings Grace never planned on. When Eva tells Grace she likes girls, both of their worlds open up. But, united by loss, Eva also shares a connection with Maggie. As Grace’s mother spirals downward, both girls must figure out how to love and how to move on.
This book is #OwnVoices, has a bisexual main character, a lesbian girlfriend and a f/f interracial romance. (And the rep is SOOOO GOOD!)
I’ve found myself to be reading a lot of YA books featuring LGBTQ+ characters recently, so when this book was “sold” to me as having a beautiful f/f romance, I had to have it! I must add… while it is true that there’s a beautiful relationship developing, don’t expect it to be the focus of the story.
Our story begins with Grace, the girl who’s in a troubling relationship with her mother. A daughter that had to grow up too fast and gave up too much to make her mother happy; a girl trying her best to be there for her mother, but feeling like it was never enough.
Thanks to her mother, who has new boyfriends constantly, Grace is unable to live in one place for more than a couple of months. Which means that it is no surprise when Grace is back from summer camp and hears the news of having to move, yet again, to live with her mother’s new boyfriend.
Maggie, Grace’s mother, has made her daughter’s life difficult and puts too much responsibility on her, which is why Grace – a wonderful pianist – feels guilty when she wants to audition for a top-class music school! She doesn’t want to leave her mother because knows her mother would end up destroying herself without Grace in her life.
As you can see, the relationship between Grace and her mother, is a toxic one. The story shows us a mother who never paid attention to her daughter, an alcoholic, a woman who puts men first… and maaaany other messed up things. (I kept hating the mom through the whole book… I just could never find myself believing that she would ever change, sorry.) It hurt me so much to see Grace trying to get her mother to see what’s wrong. Their interactions were so frustrating and sad for me… you could see Grace’s anger mixed with love and frustration.
As the story progresses, we meet Eva; the girl who just moved to town because her mother died. Eva has to move in with her guardian, who’s also the mother of Grace’s best friend. The girl who just lost her mom, and the girl who’s mom is alive but not really there, become close. From the moment they meet, their interactions are just adorable! They have late night talks, they open up, and they find comfort in each other. I would have loved to see a bit more of their relationship developing, but nonetheless, you will find yourself rooting for them without a doubt.
From the hard-hitting relationship between mother and daughter, to the soft and beautiful romance between two girls, How to Make a Wish is beautiful, honest, and real.
Overall rating: 4.5 stars
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