Review: If You Wish
We received this book for an honest review by Cassandra Sage Briskman (the author of this lovely book) back in December and we bring to you our final thoughts on this Cinderella retelling!
Our main character Ella is your typical 16 year old girl ... except that her mother died when Ella was young and her father is a big time Hollywood director. Her step-mother is horrible. Her sisters are stuck up and self-centered. Her father is never home. And Ella just wants to live life. Her step-mother forces her to run errands for her, help cook, clean, and distracts Ella from her daily school work. But Ella doesn't complain. She doesn't tell her father so she can appreciate the scarce amount of time she gets with him. She doesn't complain one bit, just goes on with her life! One day though, she makes a new friend, Julian, whom changes her life. And to make it worse, she falls in love with her step-sisters boyfriend. YIKES!
When we first received the book, we had a lot of ideas of how this book was going to go, but the twist definitely surprised us! If you take the book in one stride, it's a quick, light read that leaves you feeling all the warm fuzzy feelings inside. We could go into details and be nit-picky about certain things, but this book isn't meant to be torn apart. We personally feel this book is meant for a younger audience (under 18) and that goes to say the writing is done simply, the plot is cute and light, and the characters are entertaining and different. It wouldn't be our cup of tea NOW, but I know my younger self would eat this book up and it would definitely be a favorite!
Overall, I would give this book a 3/5 stars. So here is how we got our rating:
We give reviews based on five separate categories: plot, characters, description, pace, and extras. Each point earns a total of 1 star - which is what gives our five star rating.
This review is spoiler free!
Plot: 1/1 stars. Since this story is a retelling there are going to be hints towards the original tale of Cinderella. That's to be expected. What blew us away was the originality Briskman brings to this retelling. Ella never complains. She takes her tasks and her punishments in stride. Until she meets Julian I should say. We can see where Briskman leads us, but she does it so perfectly, who cares?! We didn't mind that the plot twist was predictable because Briskman doesn't do it as over the top; it's more subtle. We can appreciate a plot like that!
Characters: 0.5/1 stars. Besides Ella and one of her step-sisters, most of the characters follow the original tale in terms of personalities. The step-mother was mean, cruel, self-centered, and only cared about her girls. One of her step-sisters was cruel, bratty, and also self-centered. Ella's father was absent and oblivious to his step-wife's abuse. We wished there was a bit more variations in terms of the other characters; instead of directly following the original tale, changing it up a bit. We did love Ella and her step-sister Izzy though! And Julian is always a fun character to read!
Description: 0.5/1. For an author her age and for a first time author at that, the writing and description wasn't bad, but it does need work. Just a few nit-picky things; the way Briskman describes Ella's world could make us feeling warm and fuzzy to anxious and cold. Briskman is good at taking an emotion she wants you to feel and putting it on paper, for the most part. But there are a few times that the idea or feeling she wants to convey falls a bit flat. It's not often, but it did leave us a little disappointed in that moment.
Pace: 0.75/1 stars. We thought the pacing was good all the way up until the end. It felt rushed and after the book went at such a perfect, steady pace, that rushed feeling left us unsatisfied. We wanted to relish in the fairytale ending. We wanted to really be a part of those moments, but it just went by too quickly.
Extras: 0.25/1 stars. We loved the fact that Briskman included an LGBTQ+ character in the novel! The character was realistic and relatable. We just wished they had embraced themselves earlier in the book - but that's just our opinion. Overall, it added a little extra oomph to the book and we had no issue with where Briskman took the plot after adding this character into the mix.
We want to reiterate again that while we felt this book is meant for a younger audience that it is not thereby unenjoyable to anyone older than 18. This book talks about abuse, friends, sexuality, and love in a light hearted, relatable, and fun way! If you read the book to read the book it is immensely enjoyable! We absolutely loved the book!
If you liked this review, or didn't, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below or feel free to message us through Instagram and Twitter @ladyandstar!
HAPPY READING!!!
