What’s worse than losing a sister? Losing a twin sister. In Wish by Alexandra Bullen, Olivia Larsen wears a magical dress that grants her a death-defying wish.
Title: Wish
Author: Alexandra Bullen
Ages: 12+
Rating:
Since her spunky twin sister passed away, Olivia Larsen’s family has slowly fallen apart. Her workaholic mother has moved them from their small town to the big city of San Francisco. And without her sister Violet, Olivia doesn’t know how to fit in.
The Dress Mix-up
Olivia has an event to attend, with nothing to wear. She takes her sister’s dress to a local seamstress for alterations. But when she receives the finished dress, it’s nothing at all like the one she brought in. With no time to complain to the seamstress, Olivia wears the dress. It fits her like a glove. But even the gorgeous dress isn’t enough to make the night end well. She winds up crying in a cab, wishing to see her sister again.
Hallucinating
That’s when it happens. A butterfly flies off her dress. Is Olivia hallucinating? She must be, because when she returns home she finds someone she never thought she’d see again—her sister, Violet. But Violet’s dead. How can she be back? Soon Olivia learns that the dress granted her the wish.
Advice From The Other Side
With Violet back (but still invisible to everyone but Olivia) she coaches her sister on how to fit in with the popular crowd, and most importantly, how to win her crush’s heart.
The Bottom Line
Teen books about wishes tend to be very generic and typical. And Wish by Alexandra Bullen is no exception. The story is predictable. It’s one of those “Ive-seen-it-before-in-a-TV-movie” type of books. On the other hand, the whole ghost-returning-from-beyond-the-grave thing is similar to Sophie Kinsella’s latest book, Twenties Girl. I’ll give the author some credit—she’s a good writer. If she writes something with a little more originality, it’ll probably be a bestseller. If you think Wish by Alexandra Bullen deserves more credit, let us know in our comments section below!
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