Wish

by Pete Gustin

The "Big Flash" granted every person on the planet their innermost wish. On that day, some people learned to fly, others became young again, beautiful, rich or brilliant. But not all wishes were good. A super-hacker collapsed the world economy as other evil men and women were given the capacity to fulfill their darkest desires. As for Cindy Knight, her wish was simple. All she wanted was to be able to walk again, and to take revenge on the man who had put her in a wheelchair during a cowardly attack that killed her father. Will society collapse under the wishes of the evil? Will Cindy’s revenge take her down that dark path or help to lead society out of it? Buy Wish from Pete Gustin now to find out.

344 pages, Paperback

Published October 13, 2019

About the author

Pete Gustin is a multiple award-winning voice actor heard worldwide on tens of millions of TV's, radios and in the movie theatres. Pete has also worked as a Creative Director for radio, as a comedian and as a motivational speaker. Pete was born with a genetic eyesight disorder called Stargadt's Disease which has robbed him of most of his eyesight. His motivational speaking tells the story of perseverance needed to achieve success in the competitive world of media and entertainment. As an author of fiction and fantasy, he's putting a different voice and different stories out to the world.

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth reading

I gave it give stars because I felt it was deserved. I liked the character development. They were such 'real' people that I could understand their motivations easily. The premise of the story was also new. I'm sure more stories will follow. I'll try keeping up with the series.

[Lucas Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book... my favorite part is the characters. You fall in love with them in chapter 1 and by the end, you don't want it to finish. The twists are fun and exciting. It's a real page-turner. Very much looking forward to more from Pete Gustin.

[Tess (Mondi) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t. A supernatural revenge story sounds amazing, but the book definitely fell short of my expectations.
Alright, first what I liked about the book.
The bonds and personalities of the characters are very realistic and I loved the main characters rage, caused by the frustration of her disability, it felt true and real.
The side characters were very much lovable and the book had a great and unique concept. I adored the idea of everyone getting their greatest wish fulfilled and I especially loved, that it just suddenly happened and the characters were confused and had to figure out what is going on and what exactly their deepest wish was. That paired with a revenge story, was a really great book concept.
They way the author wrote the collapse of society was also brilliant. It was easy to imagine it happening just like that in reality too and was definitely interesting to read about.
Now what I didn’t like.
The emotions throughout the book felt awkward and surreal. Characters either reacting too extremely or not at all. There were several scenes, where I just thought everyone is far too calm.
The main character is also far too casual about killing people, it doesn’t make sense. She’s never killed someone before the book and is just your typical 18 year old girl, but she can casually kill several people, not the target of her revenge, and feel nothing. No guilt, remorse, reluctance, anything, despite her having nightmares from seeing other people getting killed.
Generally I had a lot of problems with the main character. She was overbearing with her vengeance, throwing all planning down in the trash, risking everyone’s life, just to try and get her revenge, despite them working towards that regardless. It was infuriating to read and it really made me dislike the main character throughout several scenes. She is also far too overpowered, without any proper explanation. For example having never fired a gun before, but can aim like a world champion. Weird supernatural abilities, never explained through her wish, which was, as by a character who could tell what other people’s powers were “she can walk”. This left me totally confused where she gets the other abilities from. The ending does try and somewhat explain it, but it is completely contradicting to the rest of the book and feels illogical and makes no sense.
The battle scenes are oddly written and I really struggled to imagine what was happening, only truly getting to understand what a character did, when the battle ends.
The author also wasn’t afraid to kill and injury characters. While I usual like that, characters were replaced too frequently. Just as you began building a connection to the characters, they were already gone and replaced. It was annoying and as a reader, you were left with no characters to root for, because they were gone again, just as you began to get to know them. The remaining characters also didn’t really react to the death much. There was hardly any grief and if, it was repressed and forgotten again, without it being mentioned once more. It was hard feeling attached to characters, when it didn’t feel like the characters themselves had enough attachment to grief.
Despite being almost uninterrupted tension, it drag quite a bit to read.
The ending was the worst. I almost gave it 3 out of 5 stars, but the ending definitely brought it down. It was far too fast and anti-climatic. The ending came on extremely sudden and ended just as sudden, with almost no explanation how the ending was even possible. It hardly seem to make sense and the half hearted explanation for it at the end, as well as the explanation for the whole events of the book, just was unsatisfying and far too fast constructed. There was no built up, it was just “here”, “done”.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason that this book is getting 2 stars instead of one is because of the character development. The ending was lazy, sloppy, and disconnected from the entire book.

[JenBsBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I liked this. It kept my interest and called me back when I'd had to put it down to do other things. I notice that the author says one of the authors that has influenced him is Brandon Sanderson, and before I saw that, I thought that this really reminded me of Steelheart. Not that I'd say it was copying or anything, but just the basic premise. Here, a "big flash", in Steelheart, it's a comet. In both, people get powers and the world is in upheaval because of that. Here, EVERYONE was gifted, granted some power ... one that they had wished for (without being asked "what do you wish for"). So, lots of the wishes weren't superpowers (although there were plenty of those too). As our MC says ... not ALL wishes could have been granted, because there were still wars, and surely someone would have wished for world peace. There is no peace.

I saw this offered on AudiobookBoom, requested and received the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Looking on KindleUnlimited, I was able to snag the Kindle copy as well, which I liked having on hand. I like to actually "read" before bed, so I would switch between reading and listening.

Addressing the audio ... I really liked this narrator. I don't know that I've heard her before (Heather Masters) but she was pretty much my perfect audiobook narrator. A very pleasant, natural voice. Good enunciation, good voices of the various characters. Not TOO distinct, in that I'd recognize the voice and remember this story. I hope to hear from her again.

I think my only complaint was the ending. It wrapped up quite well actually, then had a little bit after that just left it hanging a bit. Not really a sequel set-up, although I guess it could be. It just left me unsatisfied at the very end.

Honestly ... it made me think a little about what would have happened had I been in the story. What do I secretly wish for? I think I know ... I'm not sure. That does take some self-reflection.

Parental perspective ... there were quite a few f-bombs throughout, and LOTS of violence, a scene involving a child was a hard to take. No sex ... everybody was too busy for that.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5 stars)

Wish is a well-written sci-fi and the premise is unique, it draws you in, capturing your interest. The characters are brilliantly developed, they are genuine with depth to their personalities. I particularly liked Cindy, her inner strength captivated me from the start. The plot is rich and complex, I was wholly entertained.

Heather Masters's performance is outstanding. She captures all the nuances of the various characters, the mood, and intensity of the scenes, bringing the story to life.

Overall, the concept for Wish is genuinely intriguing with a fantastic cast and exceptional narration. I strongly recommend this audiobook. I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange book to say the least.