Monday, July 8, 2013

REVIEW: SAVING WISHES BY G.J. WALKER-SMITH

For Charli Blake, being seventeen is a tough gig.
She's been branded a troublemaker, her reputation is in tatters and she's stuck in Pipers Cove, a speck of a town on the coast of Tasmania.


Thankfully, it's temporary. Her lifelong dream of travelling the world is just months away from becoming reality. All she has to do is ride out the last few months of high school, which is easier said than done thanks to a trio of mean girls known as The Beautifuls.


When Adam Décarie arrives in town, all the way from New York, life takes an unexpected turn. His arrival sets off a chain of events that alters her life forever, convincing her of one thing. Fate brought him to her.


Saving Wishes is the story of a girl who doesn't quite fit the life she's living, and the boy who helps her realise why.





Paperback368 pages
Published February 12th 2013 
eCopy received via NetGalley

Where to Find Saving Wishes:

Where to find G.J. Walker-Smith

Our Review:

The big lure for this book is definitely the setting. We are suckers for books set down under, and when we saw that this one is set in Tasmania I gave Shelley Agnes eyes from Despicable Me p-p-p-please! Okay, that isn't true, but I did have her check it out immediately because that is what we do! 

Yes, Courtney, we are both suckers for books written about locales outside of the United States...it makes me feel so well traveled ...in my imagination, that is. 

I am still a little bit at odds with how I feel about this book, to be honest. Let's get the things that made it iffy for me so we can gush about what was great about it later. The pacing was a little off...in that it went from situation to situation in the beginning at warp speed without really divulging any sort of information. We are told that Charli has an insane reputation but we don't really know why...and she is constantly warning Adam away from her...and he doesn't really know why...and Gabrielle, her french teacher, hates her...and we don't know why. 

I, too, found the first half-ish to be a little jarring; it felt like it jumped from scene to scene and while I was curious about why Charli was the way she was and acted the way she did, I became a little frustrated at some point. It didn't always feel that her reactions and feelings were justified by the events that caused them. 

Putting that aside though, I liked the idea of a summer romance with the boy being from New York City. Charli meets Adam on the way to a wedding reception when he almost runs her over, and they fast form a bond. He wants to get to know her better, but her speak-without-thought habits put a damper on that scenario every time they run into each other. 

The Beautifuls. Don't get me started on those tarts...(Sorry, I've been reading too many books with a British dialect today!) They are some rich mean girls of the town of Pipers Cove, and are horrible to Charli. She gets hers though, in some hilarious situations that definitely call attention to her age of 17, but bring humor to the story. Yes those girls were horrid...just so mean spirited and unnecessarily bitchy to her. I loved when Charli found ways to pay them back--those were some great moments!

The best parts of Saving Wishes that I could not get enough of are scenes with Alex giving brotherly advice, and Adam being such a great guy. Adam helps Charli see the good in herself and that is really all anybody can ask for from anyone! I'm so used to the male MC not being all that great in the attitude and selflessness department so that was wonderfully refreshing! Alex has seemingly given up everything for himself in taking care of Charli her entire life. While he is fairly lenient with her, I laughed out loud a few times to his reactions to some things she did. 

Speaking of favorite scenes--I loved the scene towards the end when Adam sets up a little surprise evening for her! I also thought that the interactions with Alex and Gabrielle were fairly true to what they could be in real life and I appreciated the realness of those scenes. 

So, even though there was a few things missing for us...this is a series! And of course the first three chapters of this one are included, so as soon as I have time I have to see what happens next. This was a realistic end to this story, but not closed in any way shape or form.....!!! 

Right, Courtney! It's definitely not finished and the first three chapters of the next one had me curious to see how the story continues. It's a 3 book series so I'm sure we'll have to get through at least one more cliffhanger before we see the end of it.

Courtney: 3 1/2 Stars
Shelley: 3 1/2 Stars



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