The Wish Collector by Mia Sheridan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“So I guess you’re the wish collector, then?”
He paused. “The wish collector. I guess I am.”
The first 100 pages are a slow, long build-up, establishing both their backstories. Why did he become, who he is. Why is she in town and how did she get there. Meeting on opposite sides of that wall, starting to talk and slowly becoming friends. Plus we get a few chapters, alternating with the main, present day story, of the past and „the story of Windisle Plantation and the tragic tale that is said to have transpired beyond its gate.“
I was pretty much lightly skimming from the second chapter or so. I did not like the writing style much. Not sure, it felt bland and simplistic?
Think more Phantom of the Opera than Beauty and the Beast.
Sentences like “Had he hoped she was unattractive so she might want to give someone like him a chance?“ or “…the woman had obviously gotten mixed up with the wrong person and was going to learn a harsh lesson, but maybe she needed it.“ made me uncomfortable and also dislike Jonah a lot. This is a novel and Jonah is a fictional character, but comments like that are beyond the pale. It makes me wonder what type of person the author is, that she can even come up with stuff like that.
The author tried to pack 3 books into one: romance with a historical drama tacked on, a crime novel and a sort of vigilante-redeems-himself-by-doing-good storyline. It‘s too much. None of it is done satisfyingly, everything just scratches the surface.
This was only two stars for me for the majority of the book. It slowly inched it‘s way to 2.5 stars, because despite all of the above the story was not bad. The solution to the romance made me up that to 2.75, but overall it was not a satisfying read for me.
Cathy's Reading Bonanza 