Wisher

by Jocelyn Wadsworth

WISHER: it's just a book, an old red leather bound journal. Or is it? When WISHER falls into the hands of two teenage girls, what do they wish for? Clear skin? A car? That cute boy to like them? Or something less obvious... more ominous? Ruby Vandelay and Kat Milton are tempted to take chances and make choices with this strange book of wishes, learning from their mistakes and finding solutions to the havoc they create. All the while a dark storm is brewing over the small town of Black Forest, where the unintended consequences of a simple wish prove dire. A hard lesson for young girls to learn, especially when a couple of cute boys get thrown into the mix... and learn their secret. Do they help the girls? Or keep WISHER for themselves? Hmmmmmm..... Everyone wishes, but not everyone realizes what would really happen if they had everything they ever wished for.

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 2013

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the concept of the book and think it had great potential but it was overly descriptive with some situations which I think didn't required so much detail. I chose this book without knowing what it was about nor what kind of people it was meant for. At first I thought it was an YA but the descriptions were too childish at times that it seemed it was for a much younger audience.

The story itself wasn't bad but was overshadowed by the amount of descriptions. I really think it had potential and maybe some tweaks on the writing as well as some changes in the story and the flow of the chapters could make it better as well as the way the relationships are formed which, curiously didn't have much detail at all.

[Arthur Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

WISHER is a story of unintended consequences and human nature. The story begins with a setup the reader will find familiar (ala W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw"), but an adjoining story that is both charming and accompanied by a host of charismatic characters. This is the sort of book one gives a young person to both entertain and challenge them without needing a dictionary to step up to the vocabulary. It's clear that WISHER was written to give the vocabulary used the context the young reader needs to reach out to more elusive words.

The same could be said of the way WISHER addresses the idea of unintended consequences. I expected there to be a point where the book yields and departs the concept allowing the protagonists to quietly dodge accountability for their actions. Generally, the notion fails to be communicated properly outside of the horror genre. However, the author does resolve this without resorting to darker outcomes by providing an ending that her readers will find satisfying.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! It's definitely for younger readers and I thought it really hooks you in quickly. Loved the quirky names and descriptions of personalities. I have an 8-year-old son who's just getting interested in books, and with the adventure, mystery, relatable characters and sometimes funny situations, (not to mention a great moral at the end) I feel like this is a perfect book for him to segue into "novels" over picture-books. Looking forward to a sequel!

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehh..
Very descriptive..on things that really didn't need to be described. I ended up speed reading through this to get it over with. Too many cliches and just blah. Good concept, though and some parts weren't so bad.

[Sarah Centrella · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I both read this book, and LOVED it! He's 12 and even though he's a boy, he still really enjoyed it. It's going to be Christmas presents for my nieces!