Hey, Everyone!
This is my first review of the new year and the second book that I finished this year. I received this book in advance thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. Thanks to them for letting me read As You Wish and provide you all with an honest review. I got As You Wish a while ago. I think I requested it back in June and I was super excited about it. The general premise centers around a town called Madison in the Mojave Desert, where everyone who lives in the town is given one wish. Although there are some general rules, it is generally a “wish for whatever you want” sort of system. The novel opens on our protagonist, Eldon, who is about to turn eighteen and make his wish. He has a tumultuous relationship with the town and the wishing system in general, which means he isn’t stoked about his wish day. On top of this, everyone in the world is pressuring him to answer the question, “what are you going to wish for?” Eldon starts on a journey to interview people about their wishes and to figure out what he wants to wish for, before his time runs out. That sounds amazing, right? Unfortunately, I had was so disappointed by this book. My first problem with AYW was Eldon himself. I can’t really find a way to say this in a polite way, but Eldon was an insufferable, self-centered prude. He was the most unlikeable narrator that I have read in a very long time. He seems mad at everything, even his own existence. He also really hates the fact that he has to make a wish. Which, alright, he recognizes that people’s wishes usually make them unhappy but dude! You get to make a wish! You could get away from this town, which you obviously can’t stand, and live an entirely different life. But, no. Eldon is just going to complain about it. However, it isn’t only Eldon. Pretty much every character in this book is insufferable. I don’t think I enjoyed a single character. It is very difficult to like a book that has a whole cast of characters that you dislike. Still, I was hoping that Eldon’s journey would give him a glorious epiphany and new insight into the world and those around him. The potential for his character arc was as bright as a rainbow. Even the official blurb makes it seem like Eldon is going to go on an adventure of self-discovery. “Doubts build, leading Eldon to a more outlandish and scary thought: maybe you can’t wish for happiness…maybe, just maybe, you have to make it for yourself. (Goodreads.com)” Somehow, he is still a tool by the end of the book. Not even his friendships can save him because his friends are also awful. I don’t understand how these friendships have been sustained for as long as they have. (Also, as a side note, EVERYONE in this town has the weirdest names. It seems like it is a requirement when you have kids to name them something off the wall. Eldon? Ebba? Merrill?) My second biggest problem with this book was the writing. Sedoti’s writing style is almost entirely composed of showing rather than telling mixed with incredibly unsubtle exposition. I believe the best example of Sedoti’s style was the introduction of Ebba.
Eldon and his dad are casually discussing his mother in the garage when suddenly… “‘I pause, trying to phrase my response in a way that doesn’t sting. ‘If I wish for money, that still doesn’t guarantee-’ ‘I know, buddy,’ my dad says. ‘I know.’ … ‘The mood in the garage has shifted. My little sister’s presence-her lack of presence-fills the small space.’” Then Eldon and his dad go back to casually talking. What?! 0.o
I wish I could say that this was the only instance of Ebba’s storyline being dropped into the story, but it isn’t. Eldon sees the boy who was mixed up with Ebba’s life and then just tells the reader what happened to her. It isn’t even revealed through a dialogue between Eldon and this other dude. It may just be my preference, but I found Sedoti’s writing style frustrating and immature. In addition, the character of Archie says a lot of distasteful slurs and offensive language throughout the novel. Even though Penelope calls him out on it, the excessive display of language that Archie employs over the course of the novel is very off-putting. Finally, I think that As You Wish is simply too long. It is 265 pages on my Nook, which translates into 432 pages in the hardcover. It took 136 pages for Eldon to even start his “wish project”, which wasn’t enough to pick up the pace. By the time the twists of AYW happened, my eyes had glazed over and I just wanted to finish. I knew going into this book that there were going to be some plot holes I was going to have to look over. It is a book about wishing, and Sedoti wasn’t going to be able to explain everything. I also knew I wasn’t going to agree with the way that everyone’s wishes played out. AYW is a magical realism novel after all. In the end, It wasn't so much the wishing system or the conventional (or not so conventional) nature of everyone's wishes. It was everything else that I couldn't ignore that disappointed me, which is why I ended up giving As You Wish a 1 out of 5 stars. -Jaime