The Art Of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar

I received this galley in consideration for an honest review.

The Art Of Wishing by Lindsay RibarThe Art Of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar
Series: The Art of Wishing #1
Published by Penguin on March 21, 2013
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Goodreads
three-stars

Margo McKenna has a plan for just about everything, from landing the lead in her high school play to getting into a good college. So when she finds herself in possession of a genie's ring and the chance to make three wishes, she doesn't know what to do. Why should she put her life into someone else's hands?

But Oliver is more than just a genie -- he's also a sophomore at Margo's high school, and he's on the run from a murderer. As he and Margo grow closer, she discovers that it will take more than three wishes to save him.

A whole lot more.

 

Margo is a very driven and organized person, which is something that you know about her right away.  She is ready to work hard and expects to be rewarded for that work with the role she wants in the school musical.  When that is upended by the dark-horse casting of a lower classman, it begins the adventure into the world of genie.  There was a lot of “be careful what you wish for” in this story without it being too obvious, which worked well for the internal struggles that Margo had.  The addition of someone who is hunting Oliver was an interesting twist and I enjoyed reading the exploration of Oliver’s view of his duty as a genie.  This was no happy granter of wishes.  Oliver has had to do some pretty dark things in his time and I liked that the book addressed the darker side of what his life means.

Although it was a unique idea, there was something that kept me from totally connecting with the characters.  I just never felt that I really got to know Margo or Oliver.   While I understood the rules that Oliver has to operate within, I never really got Margo’s attraction to him.  While we do get to see a bit about Oliver’s history, I wish there had been more about his association with the person that’s hunting him.  Despite those reservations, it was an entertaining story.  It’s a series, so I expect that some of my questions might be answered in subsequent books.  After all of the book I’ve read, this was the first that dealt with the genie mythos, so I loved the foray into a new idea for the paranormal sub-genre.

 

three-stars

About Lindsay Ribar

Lindsay Ribar lives in New York City, where she works in book publishing by day and writes YA novels by night. She attends far too many concerts, watches far too much nerdy TV, and consumes fanfiction like it’s made out of chocolate. She is fond of wine, cheese, and countries where they speak English but with really cool accents. Oh, and she has a Harry Potter tattoo.

Kate


16 responses to “The Art Of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar

  1. This definitely sounds like an interesting idea, and I love that the author adds in a darker side to the story. I don’t think I’ve actually seen a genie book out there really, so that definitely intrigues me. I’m sorry that you didn’t feel like you could connect with the characters though, I’m interested to see how you feel about the rest of the series…

  2. This sounds like a novel concept for a book! I haven’t read too many books that feature genies, so that definitely kicks it up on my list. Plus, I do love that Margo seems to be a theater kid too.

  3. Oh, genies! Why didn’t I realize this was about genies? That makes perfect sense, given the title, hah. I often have trouble with books if I can’t connect to the main character, but I’m glad to hear it was entertaining overall. Thank you for the review!

  4. I’ve been really excited about this one since it’s introducing the genie! I love genies. I’m sad you could not connect with the main character, though! That’s always disappointing, and I usually give up on a book like that.

    – Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl

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