Review : Don’t you Wish

Posted by Kay on July 3, 2012 6:00 am in 3.5 stars reads | 4 comments

Don’t you Wish by Roxanne St. Claire
Pages : 368
Genre : YA, Contemporary fiction
Stand Alone
My Rating :

What it’s about :

Unpopular Annie Nutter can’t help but wonder; what if her mom had married her previous boyfriend? Lived in his gigantic house with an unlimited credit card?

When her father’s invention zaps her to an alternate reality where she lives the life of the rich an popular, Annie is sure she’s dreaming. This is the perfect life she has always dreamed of… or is it?

My Thoughts :

Don’t you Wish was exactly what I wanted it to be; a cute, fun and light novel that would make for a perfect summer read!

“What if” often makes for a great story, and Annie’s sotry is no exception. A lovable girl stuck into a less than perfect body (from her point of view, of course) and a miserable family (her mom is depressed, her dad is an inventor-hoarder who has yet to achieve success), Annie has many reasons to wish her life was different. And when it happens, it is easy to relate to her excitement.

That’s why I was actually surprised by Annie’s desire to stay so true to herself. I’ll admit, I expected her to fall completely into the “being popular rocks” trap; she would become a mean girl for most of the book, until she has a sudden realization and change her way around in the end. Fortunately it’s not exactly what happened, and it was pleasantly refreshing. Sure, Annie wants to keep her new popular status, but she also wants to be nice to people, and not treat others the way she used to be treated in her old invisible life. I’m not saying she does it perfectly, of course; but her desire to combine both rather than simply becoming a “mean girl” was a nice surprise. She stands her ground on many occasions, even if doing so she is risking everything this new life has given her.

For me though, a favorite part is her reaction to her new family. A different father, a different brother, the same yet different mother; of course, Annie can’t avoid comparisons between the old and the new. As the story goes, she gets a clearer view of both of her lives, to discover that nothing can be perfectly good or perfectly bad, and that her first life wasn’t as bad as she had thought. This is predictable, of course, but I thought the author did a great job of having Annie come to this conclusion slowly as the story progressed.

The cast of characters was also good. Different friends and students colored the story with amusing and heartfelt moments. I really liked Annie’s love interest, and even though it felt like too much of a coincidence that he was the one guy who could actually believe and help her, they worked well together. And having Annie meeting people from her old life, seeing how different they could be, was a very interesting twist.

Don’t you Wish was a charming novel that did not disappoint. Available on July 10th (only one week from now!), it should entertain readers who enjoy an adorable contemporary novel with just a touch of science-fiction/magic!