Ashleigh Paige

See more of my reviews on Birth of a New Witch! My copy was an ARC I got from my coblogger.A few months ago, I read a sampler with some of Penguin Teen's winter/spring 2013 releases featured in it. The Art of Wishing was one of them and what I read didn't impress me. Then the glowing reviews from my friends poured in and I decided I needed this book after all. Thank goodness for their reviews because without them, I would have missed out on one of the sweetest, most original books I've read in some time.Putting the laughs and sugar-sweetness of this book into words is nearly impossible for me, making this a difficult review to write indeed. Margo and her straightforward, snappy voice are never anything short of fun. When Vicky's wish cheats her out of the role she desperately wanted, she's not afraid to be angry about it and I like that. It's just one of her many complex, human details. Her love interest Oliver has about a million things going on and he also happens to be one of the sweetest boys in YA. Why have more people not read this book, especially when he's in it?The first 150 pages or so are all sweetness and laughs and only occasional touches of the seriousness to come; there were multiple moments I laughed out loud, such as when Margo's best friend Naomi detailed what happened when a jock cast in the spring musical forgot his lines. Hint: hip-grinding happens. Then those first 150 pages end and it's all serious business, relationship drama as Margo comes to terms with what being close to Oliver means her (and what Oliver really is in the first place), and some pretty horrifying imagery. Watching a person die multiple times, everyone? It almost feels like two different books merged into one.The second part has so much going on that a lot of plot lines get lost in the madness. The fight between Naomi and Margo? Margo's complicated relationship with her parents? The play that Margo is so concerned with as the book opens? All those get dropped because the main antagonist has arrived and he's looking for blood. The ending makes it seem unlikely any of them will be resolved, but never say never.The ending just about killed me because there needs to be so much more and it's such a cliffhanger and-- Is it time for The Rules of Remembering to come out yet? Wait, it's not summer 2014 yet! Is it now? No? Ugh, this is going to be a long wait, but picking up The Art of Wishing is worth it. Just keep in mind you might want to do it a little closer to the second book's release date if you hate cliffhangers.