Mariposa - Butterfly

Wish

Written by: Alexandra Bullen

Released: January 1, 2010 by Alloy Entertainment


Summary: For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her
twin sister, Violet, is gone... until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on
her doorstep. The dress doesn't just look magical; it is magical. It has the
power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.
With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And
as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes
left. But magic can't solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her
ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.
In a breathtaking debut
from Alexandra Bullen, Wish asks the question: If you could have anything, what
would you wish for?



My first thought was that this book would be about a girl whose sister came back from the dead. As in she was a physical being and could be seen by all. That not being the case, I was slightly saddened that this was more of a ghost story than anything. However, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it. In fact, once I got into the story I rather enjoyed it.

It’s a basic story that caught me as part Pinocchio and part Aladdin, with a twist of Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. It was a weird combination that worked well together and made the plot interesting. I have to admit that I was never completely sure what was going to happen next though I always had my suspicions. I also liked the ending – it tied everything up nicely – though I’m unsure on my opinion on the epilogue and the open-ended possibility for the beginning of a series or an off-shot book. I think that it could have been left out completely and nothing would have changed.

I enjoyed the characters (though I was hoping that Olivia would end up with Miles) and I thought that they were well written. However, maybe I’m just in a cynical mood as I write this, but I thought that they were a little bit too perfect. I mean, their problems were stereotypical “perfect” people problems that appeared as though they were thrown into the story in order to make the characters a bit more dynamical and interesting.

All in all, this was, at the very least, an entertaining read that filled my down-time. I would recommend it to anyone who wanted a good fairy tale-esque book that was more modern and subtle or anyone who wanted a complicated romance-tragedy type book. It was rather sad after all at certain parts. I’m giving this book a 7/10.