You Wish

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 272
Realease date: August 5th 2010
Summary (from Goodreads): Kayla McHenry's sweet sixteen sucks! Her dad left, her grades dropped, and her BFF is dating the boy Kayla's secretly loved for years. Blowing out her candles, Kayla thinks: I wish my birthday wishes actually came true. Because they never freakin' do.
Kayla wakes the next day to a life-sized, bright pink My Little Pony outside her window. Then a year's supply of gumballs arrives. A boy named Ken with a disturbing resemblance to the doll of the same name stalks her. As the ghosts of Kayla's wishes-past appear, they take her on a wild ride . . . but they MUST STOP. Because when she was fifteen? She wished Ben Mackenzie would kiss her. And Ben is her best friend's boyfriend.



My review: 

Okay, you're probably thinking that the cover for this one looks like it's for 7-year-olds, but it's not.  I think the whole boyfriends-girlfriends problem gives that away a bit.  Believe me, I was a little skeptical too as I started the book.

I'm happy to say that I was very impressed by Mandy Hubbard's writing.  There was just the right amount of humor to keep it a light book, but not too fluffy that there wasn't a real point in writing it.  The plot made me want to know what was happening next all the time.  I wanted to know what the next problem entering Kayla's life would be. My only problem was that it seemed to be just a little bit too cute in some bits, like it would be something for younger young adults.  It seems like a good one maybe for newbies to the young adult genre to look at; it's not very intense in romance and is just a sweet tale.

As for Kayla as the main character, I liked her a lot.  She was easy to relate to, because of all her ordinary high school problems.  There's nothing particularly weird or abnormal about her, and she has always been okay with that.  I'm glad of her reaction when the wishes start coming true, which is freaking out.  It seems like the most regular and expected thing to do that is completely easy to relate to. She is definitely a favourite character of mine, though I did find her to be slightly annoying at times.

All the wishes I found were really good.  Each one of them was something that made me laugh, especially the guy named Ken stalking her and calling her Barbie.  That seemed like a good thing to wish for when she was into that sort of thing, maybe, but when she's16, not so much.

I haven't read anything else by Mandy Hubbard before, but she's got quite a few that might be worth looking into, including her debut, Prada and Prejudice, Ripple, and But I Love Him. I look forward to reading more from her!

Questions

I'm thinking about buying some sort of digital book device, but I'm not really experienced in this sort of thing.  There are so many different types out there, but I'm not sure which one I want.  Do any of you have any experience with a kindle/eReader/Kobo/anything like that?  If you do, can you tell me what you think about it in the comments?  That would be much appreciated! 

*Sorry for the lack of reviews recently!  I haven't been reading too much in the last few weeks, but I just finished a couple of books, so expect some up soon!*

WoW - June 22nd

WoW is a weekly meme I participate in, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  It stands for Waiting on Wednesday, and the point is to share to the Blogging world what book you're most looking forward to that week!  This week, I can't wait to read The Siren's Cry, by Jennifer Ann Kogler!

Summary (from Goodreads): Not just an Otherworldly...
an Unusual.
Fern is not like other girls. She has strange and vivid visions and has the ability to teleport—anywhere, anytime. Fern is an Otherworldly, a special kind of vampire that lives in the human world. What's more, Fern is one of the Unusual Eleven, a group of Otherworldlies all born on the same day with extraordinary powers, prophesied to change the fate of Otherworldlies and humans alike.
On a school trip to Washington, DC, Fern has a dramatic vision that reveals another Unusual in grave danger. Now it's up to Fern to put together the pieces of where he is and why he's been taken. Can Fern solve the puzzle and free the boy in time to defeat the darkness that threatens? 

Why I want to read it:  As a general rule (as long as it's well written), I like vampire books, and this sounds like a particularly good one!

Anastasia's Secret

Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap

Publisher: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books
Release date: 320
Pages: March 2nd 2010
Summary (from Goodreads):  For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia's last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family's future with agonizing slowness and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance quietly blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death?
Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap's new novel is a haunting vision of the life-and love story-of Russia's last princess.



My review: 

I don't have too much to compare Anastasia's Secret to, as I don't know much about the Russian Revolution, and I'm sorry to say that I still don't.


I loved the idea of the book.  Reading the epilogue, I saw that the author wanted to believe that Anastasia, the youngest of the Grand Duchesses, found love before she died.  I want to believe that, as well, but I did have a few problems with the book.  The first thing were the characters.  I liked Anastasia well enough, but I never really got to know the other characters.  They were just. . . There. I wish I could have gotten to know them better, but they were never just in the same scene for very long.  


Speaking of which, there was no plot.  I was never sure what was happening, and there was no pacing.  The story was here. . . And suddenly it was over there.  At the end, it seemed as though the author just decided that she didn't want to write anymore and would just tell us what historically happened.  I found this rather abrupt.  


This isn't a very long review, but I've said all that there is to say.  In all, it wasn't really a bad book, but it just wasn't one that was particularly great.


My rating:
Characters: 2.5/5
Plot: 1.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Originality: 4.5/5

In total,

In My Mailbox - June 19th

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren, in which you show the books you got that week.  They can be borrowed from friends, bought, or been taken out from the library.  This week, I got two books from the library:

1. You Wish - Mandy Hubbard
2. Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Aron Ralston

What did you get in you mailbox?  Leave a link in the comments!