As You Wish by Jackson Pearce

Quick Lighthearted Read

From Goodreads:

Ever since Viola's boyfriend broke up with her, she has spent her days silently wishing—to have someone love her again and, more importantly, to belong again—until one day she inadvertently summons a young genie out of his world and into her own. He will remain until she makes three wishes.

Jinn is anxious to return home, but Viola is terrified of wishing, afraid she will not wish for the right thing, the thing that will make her truly happy. As the two spend time together, the lines between master and servant begin to blur, and soon Jinn can't deny that he's falling for Viola. But it's only after Viola makes her first wish that she realizes she's in love with Jinn as well . . . and that if she wishes twice more, he will disappear from her life—and her world—forever.

Jackson Pearce spins a magical tale about star-crossed lovers, what it means to belong . . . and how important it is to be careful what you wish for.

Rating: 4 Stars

Jackson Pearce’s debut novel, As You Wish, is a quick, fun, heartwarming read that will leave readers wanting to grab her other novels. With this being her debut novel, she has managed to set the bar quite high for herself.

As You Wish has just the right amount of romance and humor, perfect for a rainy day read. I particularly loved that the story is told in alternating view points between Viola and Jinn, both narrating in first person, making it very easy for the reader to get to know both of their deepest feelings.

From the very beginning of As You Wish, the main thing that Viola wants is to belong. The book is centered on the struggles we all face at some point in life, wanting to belong, to be loved, and to not be “invisible”. Ever since she broke up with her best friend turned boyfriend, Lawrence, Viola feels like she has become an “Invisible Girl”. She constantly feels overlooked and out of place in school, her art projects, and even her home. She and Lawrence are still good friends, but at times that is more of a hardship; she still sometimes longs for him, but knows things can never be the same.

Jinn(not really his name), is a jinn (genie), that lives in Caliban, where he believes everything is perfect compared to earth, a magical place where jinns live in harmony with no worries and where no one ages. But being a jinn, he must take frequent trips to grant wishes to humans who unknowingly summon them. While on earth the jinns age just like a regular human, so his main goal is to always grant the 3 wishes the human makes in as little time as possible, so that he can return to Caliban. But when Viola becomes his master and refuses to hastily wish on things he is forced to spend more time than intended on earth.

As time passes, Viola and Jinn become closer until the lines of genie and master are blurred. There is only one problem, when Viola makes her final wish, Jinn must leave and she will lose all memories of him. Viola and Jinn come from two extremely different worlds, but as the story develops we see just how much they need each other.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the friendship between Viola and Lawrence. Despite their breakup, the friendship that was there before the romance and the friendship that came after the breakup was just amazing.

Even though the book was quite short (less than 300 pages), the characters were very well developed. Pearce took her time to develop each character just enough to get me emotionally committed to their happiness. She developed beautiful friendships that left me awed. I found myself quickly attached to most of the characters and I wanted to know what happened to them in the end, which Pearce managed to deliver flawlessly.

As You Wish was an insanely fun read that tackled very realistic struggles in a non-preachy way. I am looking forward to reading more from Jackson Pearce; I have a feeling I won’t be disappointed.