Series: standalone
Author: Janette Rallison
Publisher: Speak (Penguin)
Release Date: March 5, 2009
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Told: First Person (Annika), Past Tense
Content Rating: Teen (kissing, foolhardy decisions)
Format Read: Paperback (purchased used)
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase: Azon | B&N | BookDepo | Indiebound
Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman will do anything to fulfill her little brother's only wish before his frightening cancer surgery. The trouble is, he wants a certain superstar actor to pay him a visit. Annika has only a few days to drive to California and convince the celebrity to come home with her. On a seemingly impossible adventure that includes paparazzi, bows and arrows, and one enormous snake, Annika learns a few lessons about family, love, and having her own wishes granted.
* * *
Janette is a local author I've been wanting to try but just never got around to - until now. I've been making an effort to read more backlog, and thanks to a lot of recent book purging and shifting this ended up in a front pile and piqued my interest for a quick, fun read.And it was just that. Until it wasn't.
Just One Wish tells the story of how far a girl will go to lighten her brother's fear (and her own) about his cancer surgery. The adventure includes a lot of zany things that only someone seriously desperate would attempt, and only a seriously desperate teenage girl could possibly get away with thanks to a handsome and famous older boy who instantly falls for her. Despite a lot of things going wrong, Annika perseveres, and be sure to have a box of tissues ready for Chapter 16.
But then there was Chapter 17.
Confession: I prefer light, playful stories to have uplifting endings. And some might consider this book's ending on the uplifting side. But for me, it was bittersweet at best, and left me somewhat depressed. After all the fun and zaniness, the last chapter was a heavy wet blanket that retrospectively ruined the rest of the book for me.
And then there was the romance. After only having known Annika a few hours, during most of which he thought her a creepy stalker fan, the fact that despite this Steve immediately fell in love with her was one of the most unrealistic occurrences I've ever read. Given their extremely brief acquaintance I had hoped there would be no romance at all - one seemed so very far fetched - but after admitting that he didn't trust her the 19 year-old boy proceeded to kiss her repeatedly and asked if she'd consider going to college in California. Just...no.
On the plus side, the simple, playful voice made for a quick read that I was surprisingly reluctant to put down and breezed through in two days. Annika's motivation was a strong one of fierce love and a desire for hope that was definitely worth rooting for, and most of the cast were quite the characters with distinctive and interesting personalities. But with the insta-instalove romance and wet blanket ending I'm extremely wary to try another Rallison book any time soon. Despite my problems with it though, I could easily recommend Just One Wish for someone who likes zany stories with bittersweet endings, if they don't mind extreme cases of instalove.
Scribble Rating:
2.5 of 5 Scribbles
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