Tag Archive | Wishing For You

REVIEW: Wishing For You by Elizabeth Langston

Wishing For You by Elizabeth Langston (I Wish #2)

Read: September 2015

Format: ARC Ebook (Kindle)

My Book Rating: 4/5 Stars

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy

 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Tip for reading this book – do not begin immediately after reading book one, I Wish. Both books are told in first person, but two different characters. Book one is Lacey’s story. Book two is Kimberley’s. I had to keep reminding myself this was not Lacey narrating, this was Kimberley.

We first met Kimberley in I Wish, as Lacey’s new-to-town friend. A cancer survivor, one major lingering side effect from her ordeal is brain damage. Short-term memory loss to be precise. Kimberley has to carry around an iPad to record everything she does, otherwise she may not remember.

When Grant appears in a puff of smoke she is only mildy surprised to learn he’s a genie and there to grant her wishes. I honestly wasn’t sure how Grant could help Kimberley. Her challenges were so different from Lacey’s I couldn’t imagine where this would go. As it turned out, Grant was entirely beneficial for her.

Due to her disability, Kimberley relies very heavily on her parents, her mother in particular. Instead of helping her to be self-sufficient, they have kept her in a protective bubble. They drive her everywhere, she has no chores aside from keeping her bedroom clean, she doesn’t know how to cook or do laundry, the list goes on. With Grant’s help, she’s able to identify the reasons she should not do a particular task, and then find a way around that obstacle safely. Most importantly, Grant helps her become her own person and not just the person her family thinks she is.

Even though Grant was there to help her, that really wasn’t the main plot point of this book. Someone close to Kimberley has been diagnosed with cancer. She’s been there, she knows what he’s going through. Her friend is keeping mum, he asks her to not tell a soul (aside from her mom) and she agrees, because how could you let down your friend when he’s terminal?

The romance in this book was far superior to I Wish, in my opinion. It built slowly and realistically. There was no love triangle for Kimberley (thank goodness!)

What really makes this book memorable though is the friendship between Kimberley and her friend with cancer. Watching their friendship grow, only to end in heartbreak had me tearing up.

I have an idea of what will likely happen to Grant next, now that he’s completed his month with Kimberley, but I won’t say anything for fear of spoiling anything from this book.

Ultimately, I’d say this book was a little better than its predecessor and I do look forward to what book three will bring.