Wishing for You by Elizabeth Langston
She’s a girl who can’t remember. He’s the guy she can’t forget…
It’s her final semester of high school, and Kimberley Rey is curious to discover what will come next. She needs to pick a college, but her memory disability complicates the choice. Will her struggles to remember make it impossible to leave home?
Help arrives through an unexpected and supernatural gift. Grant is a “genie” with rules. He can give her thirty wishes (one per day for a month) as long as the tasks are humanly possible. Kimberley knows just what to ask for--lessons in how to live on her own.
But her wishes change when a friend receives a devastating diagnosis. As she joins forces with Grant to help her friend, Kimberley learns that the ability to live in the moment--to forget--may be more valuable than she ever knew.
Excerpt:
“Are you going to sleep on me, Sean?”
“If you’re talking, probably not.”
His words came out in a drowsy mumble. Had the photo shoot drained him that much—or had he already been tired before we started? “What do you do all day?”
“Read. Watch Netflix.”
I waited, but he contributed nothing else. “That’s all?”
“Pretty much.”
“You can’t just drift.”
“Yes, I can.”
I had to hope he was teasing, because otherwise, his responses would alarm me. “You’ve never drifted in your life. You said you want to act like nothing’s different.”
“So I lied.”
“Have you gotten sick of it yet?”
“Yes. Or I will be after I’ve finished my West Wing marathon.” He yawned noisily.
I let my head drop against his and listened for his breathing to even out and his body to relax.
This portrait session had been good for all of us, but his fatigue worried me. Even though I had homework, I would stay here until they made me leave. Spending time with Sean had become more important than anything else I had to do.
Strange how knowing our story had no happy ending had freed us to live in the moment. We weren’t guy and girl. We weren’t damaged and terminal. We were just now.
My Thoughts:
Wishing for You was a touching book that had me tearful a time or two. After a brain injury leaves her with a short term memory loss, Kimberley learns to rely on her iPad to help her remember a lot of things. She has always relied on her parents instead of learning the important life skills necessary for independent living.
Gifted to Kimberley by Lacey, Grant (a Benevolent Supernatural Being, otherwise known as a genie) arrives to provide 30 wishes, she learns both the skills to live independently and how blessed she is that she is to be able to forget.
Wishing for You must have been a difficult book to write due to the tough subject matter. I thought the author dealt with it in a thoughtful, sensitive manner. I loved the friendship that developed between Kimberley and Sean and how Kimberley’s short term memory disability worked in her favour with Sean because he needed to spend time with someone who could just forget what he was going through and treat him normally. Sean was a gift to Kimberley because he believed in her and what she could accomplish in spite of her short term memory loss.
I also liked the interaction between Grant and Camarin, both Benevolent Supernatural Beings, who didn’t seem to quite get along too well. Grant’s growth in understanding of Camarin’s role in Sean’s life and its effect on her teaches him a lot.
The twists and turns in the story are a bit of a roller coaster ride as they bring victory, sorrow, friendship and love. But that’s just like life isn’t it? The characters feel realistic, 3-dimensional. Kimberley and Sean, the main characters will stick with you long after you turn the final page of the book.
I thoroughly enjoyed Wishing for You, the second book in this series. The book may be written for young adults but I think it will be enjoyed by readers of any age. I gave it a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to the publishers for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.
I Wish by Elizabeth Langston
Praise for I Wish From School Library Journal (I Wish #1) Langston wisely limits the power of wishes, so there can be no easy fixes to complex problems. [The story] is all the better for it, putting the focus on the compelling and sympathetic characters. … the denouement offers enough twists and unresolved questions to have readers wishing the next book was already available.
What Lacey needs is a miracle. What she gets is a genie with rules.
Lacey Linden is hiding the truth of her life—a depressed mom, a crumbling house, and bills too big to pay. While her high school classmates see a girl with a ready smile and good grades, Lacey spends her evenings seeking ways to save her family. On a get-cash-quick trip to the flea market, Lacey stumbles over a music box that seemingly begs her to take it home. She does, only to find it is inhabited by a gorgeous "genie." He offers her a month of wishes, one per day, but there's a catch. Each wish must be humanly possible.
Grant belongs to a league of supernatural beings, dedicated to serving humans in need. After two years of fulfilling the boring wishes of conventional teens, he is one assignment away from promotion to a challenging new role with more daring cases. Yet his month with Lacey is everything that he expects and nothing like he imagines. Lacey and Grant soon discover that the most difficult task of all might be saying goodbye.
From K-books blog: I Wish is a fantastic storyline, with a dash of romance that is perfect for any YA fan. I can't recommend it enough.
From Reese’s Reviews blog: This is definitely one of the most beautiful and amazingly written books I’ve ever read. Elizabeth Langston has written a fantastic story that drew me in from the first page.
Author Elizabeth LangstonElizabeth Langston lives in North Carolina, halfway between the beaches and the mountains. She has two college-age daughters and one old husband. When she's not writing software or stories, Elizabeth loves to travel with her family, watch shows on dance or Sherlock Holmes, and dream about which restaurant ought to get her business that night.
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