Tuesday 17 July 2012

Review: Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire

From goodreads

When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school.

In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilirating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen.
But on the inside, Ayla is still Annie.
So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life and head home to Pittsburgh, will she take it?
The choice isn't as simple as you think.

Review

You know what they say... be careful what you wish for ('cause you just might get it).

Annie Nutter is plain and invisible. She wishes, more than anything, she could be rich and glamorous until one day, when she is zapped by one of her dad's inventions and lands in a parallel universe where she is perfect and privileged Ayla Monroe. Annie learns that privilege and popularity come with a price and that maybe Annie Nutter had a thing or two Ayla Monroe never will.

Don't You Wish was an extremely cute book that I'm sure I would've loved reading in the ninth grade. Annie, as Ayla, discovers what it's like to be popular and realises that being the topic of conversation and dating the 'it' boy isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I loved how thoroughly the intricacies of the cliques in high school were explored.

I loved the romance between Annie/Ayla and Charlie Zelinsky, branded the "homeless boy". It was easily the sweetest and most heartfelt part of the book. I also loved Annie's father's wacky inventions and the way the existence of parallel universes were explained. It definitely helped add colour and quirkiness to the premise!

I loved how the book made me think of the various points of my life when I'd thought, What if... The grass always seems greener on the other side and this book made me wonder if while we were so busy chasing after things that had crept out of our reach, we lost sight of things that were always there. It's so easy to take things for granted!

All in all, Don't You Wish was a sweet, fluffy and empowering book. Unfortunately, it was also a bit on the forgettable side. As lovely as the message was and as adorable as the main characters were, there were way too many stereotypical characters and situations that made the plot formulaic and predictable. Still, for what it's worth, Don't You Wish was wonderfully charming and left me smiling!

Publication date: 10th July, 2012
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads
Source: NetGalley

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

9 comments:

  1. Even though it's not a book you'll likely remember, I think this would be the perfect beach read! It sounds like a sweet read for summer and I love when book incorporate the message 'be careful what you wish for'. I'm eager to see how all the cliques are explored and why the characters were too stereotypical for you.

    Fab review, Ajoop - it's a shame you didn't enjoy it more :(

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  2. Yikes, this does sound totally cute and all, but as soon as you mentioned ninth grade, I knew it wasn't for me. There are only a few middle grade-ish books I liked, and they all had great writing and a deeper, unforgettable message.
    I do love the cover, though, and I certainly loved your review.

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  3. I know what you mean about the book being forgetful. I read it some time back and I can't honestly remember what it was all about. Still, I'm glad you did enjoy the book to some extent. Great review, Pooja.
    How are you doing these days ? It's been a while since I last saw you around ! :)

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  4. Great review, Ajoop! This does sound like a quick, sweet read. I'm glad you enjoyed the romance! It's a shame it was a bit forgettable and formulaic though. I might pick this out as a library read one day. :)

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  5. The premise sound rather interesting, though not my kind of book.

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  6. Aww, well even if this isn't one that you'll still be thinking about in a few months, at least it made you smile at the time, right? :) It sounds like a lot of fun and even better because of the moments that really make you think! Thanks for putting it on my radar - I may have to check it out now!

    Fantastic review as always, A! <3

    Sonia

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  7. I have read numerous reviews on this, and I am with you, I think this would be a bit predictable and a bit young for my taste, but I am sure it is a wonderful, fun read!

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  8. I'm with Maja on this one. I have a hard time connecting to books with a very youngish feel to them so this may not be for me. Although, the premise sounds wonderful and if you enjoyed the romance I could overlook that (I'm all about the romance!). Brilliant review, Ajoop. Glad you enjoyed it overall. :)

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  9. Although the messages conveyed were a bit cliched, I really enjoyed this one. It was a cute read and left me with a smile too.

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HI. Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment. :)