Three things that made me happy today:
1) A stranger giving me a smile while I was on my way to work. I had to walk about 1km a day to my workplace, and lately, I'm always late for work. Today would probably be the worst, so I really wasn't in the mood while I was on my way. As I was almost reaching the bookshop, a passing car suddenly blared its honk at me, and the driver had his window rolled down, his face giving me a really wide smile. I was shocked at first, confused between I'm supposed to know him or he was trying to make fun of me. But his smile seemed sincere and he's definitely cute too so I'm just guessing that he's just the kind of person that liked to smile to everyone.
2) My boss letting me go home early and sending me home. That explained it. I love my boss!
3) Finally realising that Luhan is filming for the Chinese remake for Blind (a Korean movie). I really love Blind, it's a really nice movie, and I'm so happy to hear the news that Luhan's acting for the main role. And Yang Mi too, she's just so pretty. I'm so excited, can't wait for this movie to be released (ノ￣ω￣)ノ Luhan can you please stop being too beautiful, like, at least in the car accident scene?
Okay, like I promised yesterday, I'm here for a review. I've chosen The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar for today.
Synopsis:
He can grant her wishes, but only she can save his life.
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.
My rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5 out of 5)
Okay, so it started one day while I was walking in this quite peculiar bookstore, when my family and I noticed that they sell interesting novels at really cheap prices. We end up buying The Art of Wishing only after going through the bookshelves for a long while.
Surprisingly, it is also a signed copy! It confused me, as to whether this book would be amazing, good, or just nice, or a total failure. I'm glad to announce that I found this book in the good category. I'm not really a fan of Aladdin, but genies are a very intriguing creature. I've never read any book that uses the genie concept, and I think that Lindsay Ribar did a great job with creating her own genie.
The story started with Margo taking an audition for a musical (Sweeney Todd) at her school; she's very good in getting into a character, that's why she already expected to get the main character. But instead, she got a minor character. It was weird because the girl that got the main character, Vicky was very horrible in acting. But almost everyone seemed to like her—except, Margo of course. And a few others. Margo disliked Vicky, but she was too polite to point so.
I gave him a quick once-over—dark hair, light eyes, thin and wiry, cute enough in a nondescript sort of way—but no, I definitely didn't know him. "Sorry about what? Who are you?
— Margo
"Nobody," he said quickly, holding his hands up like a white flag. "I'm nobody. Never mind."
— Oliver
The first time Margo met Oliver, it was only by accident. He was soon introduced as a photographer taking pictures for the yearbook. Later, she accidentally found herself eavesdropping to a fight between Oliver and Vicky. She heard things about "wishes" but it was confusing. Not long after that though, after a horrible practice with Vicky, Margo found a ring inside the restroom (Vicky was there but she left when Margo came in). Without knowing what it was, she took the ring. And suddenly Oliver came. Of course she freaked out after that, but she freaked out more when he disappeared into thin air when a teacher checked on her in the restroom.
They somehow made a deal then, Margo gets three wishes. And somewhere in the middle, Margo fell for Oliver.
“...Oh God. I'm one of those girls."
"What girls?" he asked, perplexed.
"Those girls. The ones in all those books and TV shows. Some dumb high school girl falls in love with some supernatural guy, and he's all, 'Behold, I am five million years old!' and she's all, 'Oh my god, how can you ever love pathetic little me!' and he's like, 'Because of destiny!' or whatever. It's just so...ew. You know?”
I really love the parts where Oliver spoiled Margo with his magic, trying to make her happy even though he actually needed to hide and desperately needed her to complete the three wishes. He was such a gentleman, I instantly found myself liking him for the quality too.
Since I don't really want to spill the whole story, I'll just skip to the climax. Another genie, Xavier (if I'm not mistaken) suddenly appeared and started threatening Margo to give Oliver's ring to him. Oh did I mention that every genies have a significant item for their masters to call upon them? In Oliver's case, it was the ring.
Xavier disguised himself as Vicky at first, he even disguised himself as Margo to make her life horrible, giving a point that she really needed to give him Oliver. Xavier had this vision that all genies needed to be free, and stop slaving themselves to humans. But the way he's making all the other genies disappear seemed cruel to Margo.
So after a lot of fights, running and finally accepting that they both (Margo and Oliver) had only one day left before Xavier will take Oliver. In the end, Margo did something she didn't even realise was wrong. She made the fourth wish to save Oliver. (When someone makes the fourth wish, they trade their life to become a genie too. Hundreds years ago, Oliver made his fourth wish to Xavier to save his fiancee)
“Nobody ever feels just one way about another person, Margo. We're so much more complicated than that. I can see a million things you want from me, just like the million things I want from you. Some of them are wonderful. Some are awful. Some contradict each other, and some don't make sense at all. But none of those things matter, not really. What matters is what you do about them.”
— Oliver
Overall, I love this book a lot, the plot was written nicely, and I love the interaction between Margo and Oliver. Their first kiss was adorable too (..＞◡＜..) The only reason I couldn't give a 4 star is because the ending was too vague. I couldn't quite accept it, but I did understand that she became a genie without her knowing. Sure, Oliver was there with her, to be with her, but it upsets me that she lost her family and friends, basically her whole life because of this matter. For this reason, I couldn't give a full 4 star.
To my huge surprise, today, I found out that Lindsay Ribar actually wrote a sequel for The Art of Wishing! The title is The Fourth Wish, and the book is about what happened after Margo after she made the fourth wish. For more information for the prequel, read here. Maybe someday, I'll read the sequel too.
Till next time ♡ Love, Humaira
Post a Comment