[Book Review] How To Make A Wish by Ashley Herring Blake

All seventeen year-old Grace Glasser wants is her own life. A normal life in which she sleeps in the same bed for longer than three months and doesn't have to scrounge for spare change to make sure the electric bill is paid. Emotionally trapped by her unreliable mother, Maggie, and the tiny cape on which she lives, she focuses on her best friend, her upcoming audition for a top music school in New York, and surviving Maggie’s latest boyfriend—who happens to be Grace’s own ex-boyfriend’s father.

Her attempts to lay low until she graduates are disrupted when she meets Eva, a girl with her own share of ghosts she’s trying to outrun. Grief-stricken and lonely, Eva pulls Grace into midnight adventures and feelings Grace never planned on. When Eva tells Grace she likes girls, both of their worlds open up. But, united by loss, Eva also shares a connection with Maggie. As Grace's mother spirals downward, both girls must figure out how to love and how to move on.

 4 STARS

Wow this was a great book. From the cover I assumed this was going to be a light summer romance which is something I typically do not pick up very often but it had gotten great reviews and I heard there was a bisexual main female character. Which I am always here for as a bi lady still getting to know my sexuality. However, How To Make A Wish was much more than a f/f romance set in summer. It's about family, loss, grief, self worth/value, and sexuality. 

Grace is a fantastic main character. I felt  for her because she does so much for the ones she loves. She makes money to support her mom and herself while her mom, Maggie,  is taking as much money as she from Grace behind her back to spend on alcohol. Or her mom is caught up in a new romance of the month and is neglecting her daughter. Despite Grace's frustrations with her mother's neglect and poor parenting choices, she feels responsible to take care of her mom because she's her mom. Which is a lot of pressure on a high school student who is having to be an adult way earlier than she should. Grace is an incredibly talented pianist and it's one of the only things that bring her a sense of comfort and security. She wants to go to a prestigious music school in New York to work on her skills but the thought of leaving her mom makes her feel guilt. I think there's something incredibly sweet about Grace because she just wants a relationship with her mom and instead she's being forgotten by her mom. My heart constantly broke for her. Another character that constantly broke my heart is Grace's love interest, Eva, who is super adorable and going through so much. At first because of Grace's two first introductions to Eva I was worried she was going to be a bit of a manic pixie dream girl but as the story unfolds we quickly get to know Eva and I couldn't help but not only fall in love with her but also her relationship with Grace. They are immediately drawn to each other and their chemistry was definitely there. Another character I loved was Grace's best friend, Luca. Every scene with them in it was so adorable. Their friendship and basically sibling relationship felt real. I had no problem believing they have known each other for a large portion of their lives. I would have enjoyed more scenes with Grace and Luca, especially also with Luca's mom Emmy, who is a better mom to Grace than Maggie is most of the time. We don't get a lot of moments with them together and I would have liked to see more moments where Grace is being taken care of more. We are told that Emmy has been there for Grace throughout her life since they've met, but I would have liked to see it more too. 

One thing I wasn't a fan of when it came to characters was the character Kimber, Luca's girlfriend. She's in such a small sliver of the story but for some reason Grace hates her. We don't get enough of her to really even know anything significant about her. I assume it's just Grace being overprotective of Luca but it seemed unnecessary girl on girl hate. And it didn't seem to do anything to the story. Honestly Luca and Kimber's relationship as a whole seemed unnecessary because it barely came up and it didn't seem to matter.

The plot is definitely family based almost completely, but it's a lot of more depressing aspects of family. There is obviously romance in the story between Grace and Eva but often their conversations are about their families, their moms in particular. I love family based stories and although I have some issues with the execution of this one, I still really liked it. My issues are that we get a lot of sad or depressing conversations about Grace and Eva and their relationships with their moms. It can get really heavy and dark sometimes. I wish we had more moments of family oriented scenes where we are shown more healthy family moments (aka: Emmy and Luca). We are told Emmy treats Grace (and now Eva) like a daughter but we don't have many scenes where we see the love between them. I would have preferred we had more moments like that than all the happy moments being almost entirely from the romance aspect of the story. The book is only a little over 300 pages, I would have been totally okay with more content. 

I like that although Maggie's behavior and decisions are called out and blatantly labeled as wrong and toxic, Maggie isn't some big villain of the story. What she is doing is wrong, and that is something that is conveyed multiple times. But Grace, Eva, Luca, and even Emmy understand that Maggie isn't a bad person, she just needs help. She spiraled after her husband's death and she let herself become dependent of her daughter, which was incredibly unhealthy. Maggie assumes that because Grace is naturally a very strong willed girl she is fine but in reality Grace is going through a lot of stuff. It's Grace's pride that stops her from showing her vulnerability and I think that is a result is a result of her having to be the backbone of her family. And having to financially and emotionally support her mother. Although this story definitely gives off summer vibes with the setting, atmosphere, and descriptions it's far from a fluffy summer read. It's dark and often a heartbreaking story. I cried multiple times. But it also has it's funny moments. Good laugh out loud sweet moments that made me incredibly happy. 

One thing that made me happy was Grace's experience with being bisexual because it is so similar to mine. One quote in particular: “For a long time, when I was a little younger, I thought that was how every girl saw other girls— this mix between beauty and awe and curiosity, a thin layer of lust just underneath. Took until I was fourteen to realize that no, the way I thought about other girls was a little different.” really stood out to me because that was similar to how I realized I was not straight. Although my experience with being bisexual is different, it was that quote and specific part in the narration that really struck a chord with me. It's nice to see my thoughts and parts of my sexuality, something I am still coming to terms with, in a piece of media.

I love Ashley Herring Blake's writing style. This is my first time reading one of her books but it certainly won't be the last. I am on board with reading everything she has written. Her writing style is gorgeous and descriptive. Her characters and dialogue are realistic and easy to love. It radiated summer so much that I could almost smell the sunscreen. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book. If you're in the mood for a summer book with serious topics but a hopeful underlying theme I think this book will be the one for you. I cannot wait to get my hands on Blake's 2018 release, Girl Made of Stars, another book tackling serious topics and has amazing reviews. If you've read How To Make A Wish I'd love to know what you thought!

Thanks for reading!