From School Library Journal Gr 9 Up—For Grace, moving in with yet another of her mom's boyfriends wouldn't be so bad, but living with the one who previously made her life miserable? That's the last straw. Grace is looking for escape from the confines of her small-town life in her mother's chaotic shadow, and she finds it late at night talking to Eva. So when Grace's mom starts to horn in on Eva's own grief, Grace has to untangle her long-held feelings for her mom from her new feelings for Eva. Blake offers a painful glimpse of life with a narcissistic, alcoholic parent and a sensitive look at the complexities of grief and a growing relationship between two young women. Grace and Eva's immediate attraction and slow-building romance are well drawn, as is the way that Grace's mom's chaos intrudes on everything. Also deftly handled are the characters' multiple views of Grace's situation, all conveyed while still emphasizing Grace's perspective, which is so narrowly focused that she isn't able to pick up on the genuine concern of others. Grace is also confident in her bisexuality, and the text is clear that her more intense feelings for Eva are not due to a discovery that she is really a lesbian—a common trope that dismisses bisexuality. Eva is black, and her racial identity and how it affects her integration into both the worlds of ballet and a small New England town are less developed themes. VERDICT A solid romance within a moving portrait of a dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship. Recommended for YA contemporary fiction collections.—L. Lee Butler, Hart Middle School, Washington, DC Read more Review "Blake (Suffer Love) skillfully assembles a complex story about the wonders of first love while exploring challenges all teenagers face, such as growing up and gaining independence... a story written with realism and sensitivity."—Publishers Weekly"This organic, moving romance juxtaposed with a messy, complex mother-daughter relationship is passionately told, with glimpses of optimism appearing through Grace’s unshakeable bonds of loyalty. Blake clearly illustrates the impact of adult decisions that disregard the lives of teens, guaranteeing an emotional and relevant read."    — Booklist "Despite the heavy topics addressed, the story never feels hopeless or depressing, as the author writes with nuance and care about her cast of admirably strong, loyal, and resilient teens who face head on the challenges life throws at them."—Kirkus "A solid romance within a moving portrait of a dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship. Recommended for YA contemporary fiction collections."—School Library Journal "This is a gorgeous and moving novel of love, connection, romance, mother-daughter relationships, and the way pain inextricably links them all."—Dahlia Adler, BN Teens"A beautiful book about two girls trying to hold on: to themselves, to each other and to the pieces of their shattered lives. Heartbreaking, hopeful and honest. Blake has written one of most wrenching portrayals of a messy, complicated mother/daughter bond I've seen in Young Adult fiction. Bravo!" —Tess Sharpe, author of Far From You"A beautiful story about love's paradoxical ability to be the most difficult yet most effortless thing in the world. Ashley Herring Blake breaks your heart for these girls and then stitches it back together with starlit magic." —Dahlia Adler, author of Under the Lights and Just VisitingPraise for Suffer Love: “Sam and Hadley's palpable and steamy romance had my heart racing. This heartfelt, realistic story kept me up reading all night long. I loved this book." —Miranda Kenneally, bestselling author of Catching Jordan “Shakespeare references, betrayal, and a teacup piglet: what more could you want in a modern love story?” —Courtney C. Stevens, author of Faking Normal and The Lies About Truth “An emotionally vivid, fearlessly honest portrait of two very human families, with a love story that will make you ache. Utterly beautiful.” —Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda "[Blake] writes a believable, emotionally satisfying romance that relies on realistic characterizations rather than supermodel good looks, fashion, and standard plot devices. It's a refreshing change from the far more common standard romances that so often become formulaic, and the well-integrated literary references are a bonus. A smart, satisfying romance."—Kirkus "Debut author Blake puts the teens in a near-impossible situation, adeptly showing how Sam and Hadley can be more adult in handling the complications of romance than all four of their parents . . . Readers will be left thinking about the ways love can both hurt and heal."—Publishers Weekly"A strong choice for YA collections, especially where romance is popular."—School Library Journal "Sam and Hadley are appealing and engaging characters, especially when Hadley devastatingly, sympathetically learns the truth. Blake doesn’t opt for the easy, happily-ever-after ending, instead emphasizing that relationships are work and need to be handled with care."—Booklist Read more See all Editorial Reviews
D**S
Beautiful and Poignant
To me, this book is perfect. I don’t have a single complaint about this book because it was everything I needed. I spent the entire second half of the book near tears because of how deeply I felt the story. How to Make a Wish is part romance, about Grace and Eva, two young women who fall in love and help support one another, but it’s also an examination of family and mother-daughter relationships. Grace’s mother, Maggie, is extremely neglectful and abusive (be aware of that going in), and while my own home life was never so awful, I deeply empathized with Grace’s constant hopeless anger and the struggles with becoming an adult far too soon for your age. The examination of Grace’s relationship with her mother is ugly and will fill you with emotions, but it’s such a powerful story, and the mother-daughter bonds examined in this book really adds nuance and shape to Grace and Eva’s relationship. The two girls have difficult problems and the relationship doesn’t fix the emotional trauma they’re struggling with. Instead, the two comfort and support each other in one of the healthiest relationships I’ve had the pleasure of reading in Young Adult.Every single character felt like a real, living and breathing person. From side characters, like Grace’s best friend, Luca and his family, to Grace’s mom’s new boyfriend, to Grace’s crummy ex-boyfriend, each character is well-written and in-depth, no one is reduced to empty placeholders for plot reasons. I was deeply in love with how real and vibrant the whole town of Cape Katie felt, and how everyone Grace interacted with had such vibrancy. The relationships are just as complex and alive: the focal mother-daughter relationship, Grace and Eva’s budding romance, Grace and Luca’s strong friendship, the book thrives with its characters and interactionsAshley Herring Blake wrote the book I needed to read years ago. Grace’s bisexuality is the most relatable I’ve ever read in any book, and Grace’s hesitance to pursue women was explained in a way spot-on with my own insecurities and fears, even at this age. Eva, our love interest, is biracial and talks a bit about her difficulties in the book. Eva is incredibly well written and I know it’s an identity many needed to see on the page. The books emotional issues are handled excellently, the romance made me want to cry, it was so well done, and the emotional family component to the story definitely did make me cry. This book is perfect. If you have any interest, I definitely encourage you to pick it up and fall in love!
J**O
Beautiful story of grief and mother/daughter relationships
This is about Eva healing and Grace opening herself up to the possibility of doing so, letting herself acknowledge that she isn't fine and hasn't been for a long time. It's about Eva and Grace both grieving the loss of their mothers, with both the loss and the grief taking different forms.I love that Grace, Eva, and Luca are all artists of various kinds and how important that art is to all of them. I really appreciated seeing them support that art in each other.Also appreciated the scenes where Eva talks about being a black ballet dancer and how Grace talks about her bisexuality; those all felt really well done.I loved all the scenes Macon and Janelle are in, and the bookstore owner's support of Grace is adorable.At least three instances of "just/only friends."
A**E
Grace and her dealing with her tough family life and falling in love is what I’m here for
On the page bisexual characters is what I’m here for. Grace and her dealing with her tough family life and falling in love is what I’m here for. This book touched on the troubles of bad parenting and the parallels between Grace’s mom and Luca’s mom were astounding. Speaking of Luca, he was probably my favorite side character. This book was heartbreaking and magical.
T**A
Beautiful, complex story.
I could never do this book justice but it's a complex story between Grace and her mother, how their unhealthy relationship impacts Grace and all her other relationships, and it's also about Grace falling in love with Eva. The two girls find each other at just the right moment in their lives it seems and find solace in each other. I cannot think of one single complaint or issue I had with this novel.
B**2
Beautiful broken characters
Loved this book. All of the characters leap off the page. The supporting characters are three dimensional. Very much enjoyed this author’s writing.
S**E
Everything about this book was perfection. The emotion, ...
Everything about this book was perfection. The emotion, the story, the characters, the fact that I'm Gracie, struggling between myself and my family and my heart is just so warmed by this read. Definitely worth it. Couldn't put it down.
J**E
Great book
I loved this book! I loved the characters, all of them. I do wish though that there was another chapter letting us know how everything went with her mothers recovery and their relationship.
A**Y
Amazing book
It was wonderful reading a contemporary it's a bisexual main character where they actually say they are bisexual. This was my favorite book of 2018 so far no question. Highly recommend this contemporary - it's just the right balance o romance and real life problems
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