Review: As You Wish

As You Wish
Jackson Pearce
2009; HarperTeen; 978-0-06-166152-5 (hardcover)

Summary: Viola's world shattered when her boyfriend Lawrence, her oldest friend, told her he was gay. Since then, Viola has been an invisible girl, wishing that she wasn't broken. And then, on day, a jinn appears with the power to make her wishes come true. it should be simple: Viola makes three wishes, the jinn grants them, and then Viola would forget about him and lives her new life while the jinn returns to his home in Caliban. But Viola just can't seem to make a wish. Maybe it's because she can't pick a wish to make. Or maybe it's because of the connection forming between her and Jinn . . .

In a deeply-felt romance, the idea of wishes is given a new complexity. From the first, Viola doesn't act like the humans that Jinn knows: she doesn't immediately wish for love or fame or riches. Instead, Viola changes and makes choices, not just wishes. For more than anything, Viola want the real thing--and falling in love with Jinn gives her that. Meanwhile, Jinn is also changing, contrary to his nature. He comes to see that his perfect existence in Caliban is empty and broken. Will these two find a way back to each other? They will have to see if they can discover the answer to an old riddle: if a bird and a fish fall in love, where will they live? As You Wish is a thoughtful debut, and Jackson Pearce brings intriguing character development and stylish writing to what could be a simple, shallow story.