How to Make a Wish is a character driven book with a really quiet story, it takes turns being heartbreaking, honest, complicated, adorable and heartwarming. Something that makes this book incredibly special is the fact that it's #ownvoices in terms of sexuality, both the author and the main character are bisexual. The way in which Grace's bisexuality is describe in the book feels real and honest and the way her bisexuality is treated and viewed by other characters as something normal is so meaningful. The representation in this book is accurate and thoughtful and it's not limited to bisexuality, there's also amazing representation with the love interest, Eva, which is a biracial lesbian girl and I think this is especially important because there's so little accurate representation of biracial people that having such a positive and relevant representation means a lot.

One of the best things about this book is the romance, Grace and Eva are really cute together and their interactions are really smart and entertaining. There are some steamy moments in this book; there are make out scenes and a sex scene and I think there is so much sex positivity and also it's amazing to see how Grace and Eva always make sure the other is comfortable with what they are doing, they always ask for verbal consent and I think the fact that that is portrait makes this a really valuable book. Also, there's female masturbation in this book and again the sex positivity is off the charts, it's shown like something natural and normal and that's incredible. Furthermore, it's delightful to see an amazing platonic relationship between a girl and a boy being present in this story. Grace and Luca are best friends, there are no secondary motivations, neither is in love with the other, they are just friends and that is refreshing.

Now, for the heartbreaking part of this book, one of the main parts of the story revolves around this raw, painful and honest depiction of the relationship between Grace and her mother. Maggie, Grace's mother, is an unreliable parent, she's reckless, unpredictable and clueless, she puts her child in impossible situations and this part is so well-written that it's easy to feel and connect with Grace's anger, sadness and her feelings of helplessness. There's so many moments between Grace and Maggie that are so profundly heartbreaking that they make reading this book really hard. On the other hand, there's Eva, who's mother just passed away and this book explores grief in a devastating way. There's this scene in the beach when Grace and Eva first meet that it's so heartbreaking and raw, that it's hard to imagine how someone is able to write a scene that can make the reader feel so much. Another thing that it's magnificent in this book is the fact that as much as Grace makes Eva feel better, Eva's grief doesn't go away, it's always there and that so incredibly honest and sad.

Overall, this was a fantastic book with a diverse cast of characters and a story that at times makes you feel devastated and at other times can be heartwarming.

This book hit so many things that I love as a reader. Fantastic bi rep. Wonderful portrayal of a male/female friendship because yes, they do exist. It definitely had its sadder parts that tugged on my heart strings, but the romance remained extremely swoony. All in all, it was an amazing book. One of my all time favorite f/f romances for sure!
Bullet points!
Characters: there was only one character I didn't like and that was the MC's mom. And i'm pretty sure that's the point.
Romance: SWOOOOON! healthy. slow build. realistic!
Diversity: queer romance, biracial love interest.

An interesting portrait of a troubled mother-daughter relationship where the roles are reversed. Grace continually excuses her mom's bad behavior in the hopes that one day her mom will respond in the way she should. Events pile up until she can't excuse them anymore. At the same time, Eva, a grieving young woman, comes into her life and brings a surprising romance with her.

Grace has come back from a holiday to find that her mum has uprooted their home and moved in with her latest guy.
But the craziest thing is that her ex boyfriend is now her kind of step brother for however long the relationship plays out for.
Plus his dad is totally over the top in physical affection of her mother, including in front of the teens.

Grace's friend Luca, lives with his mum and they both run and work in their diner. Through Luca, Grace is told of a girl called Eva, her mum has passed away and is coming to stay for a bit with him and his mum.

When Grace later finds herself on a secluded beach, she meets a girl sobbing, sat on the sand eating peanut butter alone. The girl is Eva. Thus ensues a fast turn of events consisting of Eva sneaking into Grace's room at night and hanging out together at the top of the lighthouse.

Throughout the book, we learnt of Grace's mum and the actions she takes being extremely wrong and dangerous to others around her. She seems very switched off in parts yet Grace and Eva are there to help her as they have to be. The two girls have their passions and hopes to achieve their goals of Grace being a Pianist professionally and Eva a ballet dancer professionally just like her mother was.

The book also had strong relationship lines around friendship, lesbian/bisexual characters and teenage behaviour in general.

In this book, I really didn't like the main character's mum, she came across as being trying and needy over attention and her male relations. Some of the things she came out with were a little on the edge of what you should discuss with your daughter in real life anyway. However, we do discover the issues surrounding her character like consuming too much alcohol and excessive intake of it and raising a young baby on your own after her husband died in war and she does face up to it.

Overall it was a great book about finding the true you in career hopes and in love. Thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

I received a copy from Netgalley.

A gut wrencher of an emotional ride. This novel tells the story of Grace who lives with her flighty mom who goes through strings of bad relationships. Grace only has one real friend, Luca, who looks out for her. When new girl Eva comes to town and moves in with Luca and his mom, she begins a friendship with Grace that slowly turns into something more. All the while things with Grace’s mom go from bad to worse, all the while Grace claiming she’s coping with it all and she’s “fine”. But is she?

The novel was deeply moving and very emotional and made me cry more than a few times as Grace struggles to keep her head above water. Her mom is a new contender for one of the worst YA parents. Her dad has never been in the picture, her mom has always followed her “creative” side, flitting from place to place and relationship to relationship, with seemingly little care to how all of this affects Grace. Mom also drinks.

At the start of the novel Grace’s mom has moved in with a new boyfriend, Pete, who happens to be the dad of one of Grace’s ex boyfriends, Jay, who was an asshole when they broke up. Pete actually turned out to be a pretty nice guy. Jay, who was big dick through most of the novel even stepped up to the plate and turned out to be surprising.

Grace and Eva start to bond and get to know each other, and it’s a delightful slow burn sizzle as things progress between them. Eva’s dealing with the death of her mom, (I can’t remember why her dad wasn’t in the picture). Grace sort of doesn’t know how to handle that. The more time they spent together the closer they become and it turns into a much deeper relationship. Eva’s completely comfortable and aware of her own sexuality - she makes it plain she likes girls. Grace is struggling - she likes both boys and girls and does eventually come to the conclusion she’s bisexual. Bisexual representation was handled really well. And there were some lovely romantic scenes between Grace and Eva.

But all the while Grace’s mom is flitting about, things start to go missing from Pete’s house. While Grace is mortified, mom’s like, oh it’s no big deal. Then Mom starts cooing over Eva, focusing most of her attention on helping Eva deal with her grief, which is pissing Grace off to no end.

Grace had a bit of a loner complex about her, though she had her BFF Luca, Luca had a new girlfriend Kimber, who was taking up a lot of his time, and while she and Grace got along, they weren’t exactly on the BFF train. More for Grace to deal with. She had a snarky attitude about her, and given her circumstances, it’s understandable, she’s had to deal with some tough situations where her mom is concerned. Grace has always been the responsible one, taking care of her mother, dragging her out of seedy bars, making sure rent and bills are paid. Basically having to grow up way too fast.

Though Grace has a dream of being a concert pianist. She’s got the talent, and even has an audition for a fancy music school in Manhattan. Though reality gets in the way and she’s struggling with the idea of leaving mom to cope on her own. Mom never seems to listen Grace. Mom’s been telling her they’ll make a day of it for Grace’s audition and go spend some time together in New York, and Grace seems to be clinging to the hope this of this idea. Yet, part of her isn’t entirely sure of whether or not it will happen due to circumstances in the novel. It’s gut-wrenching to read about Grace agonising over this.

Grace has comforting relief in Eva as their relationship takes a deeper turn, but with mom’s involvement in fawning over Eva, it’s not helping. Grace is pushing her anger and resentment back again and again and there’s only so much of this anyone can take before it inevitably explodes.

When it goes wrong, it goes wrong fast and hard and it’s painful to read. It was very emotional in parts, very raw and cut deep. I really wanted to slap the mother and hug Grace a lot. Grace handled a lot of things with immense maturity, even though she had (and was more than entitled to) a few stroppy moments.

While her mom was awful, the saving light adult in the novel came from Luca’s mom Emmy, who was there throughout when Grace needed someone, and really came through like a beacon when things got to the really tough stage. Emmy was the mom Grace really deserved. Though while her own was awful, at the same time, you can understand Grace’s attachment and reluctance to leave her to it, even when things got bad. Until they reached boiling point.

A beautifully, lyrically written novel, though can be very tough. I loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group for approving my request to view the title.

Sweet lord, this book utterly struck something within me.

How to Make a Wish follows Grace Glasser, a seventeen year old girl who's never really seemed to have anything permanent apart from her best friend and her love for music. After moving into yet another house with yet another of her mum's less than permanent boyfriends, Grace meets Eva, a biracial girl consumed by grief from the recent death of her mother.
Eva likes girls, always has and always will, and her frankness about it stirs up buried thoughts she's never really had the chance to fully explore. As Eva starts to become a bigger and bigger part of Grace's life, she also becomes a bigger part of her problems, which leads to heavy consequences for everyone involved.

A love story between a lesbian and a bisexual girl with an unexpected happy ending: sign me up.

How to Make a Wish is both heartbreaking and heart making (I know that's not a real thing but).
It's a sweet love story with massive undertones of mental illness from all three of the main females. It's realistic and raw and it made

This is my first book by this author and I don't think this will be my last. This was a sweet book about loss and love. It was interesting to read how one person's passing changed so many lives and in different ways. The writing was heartfelt and the book had great depth. Each character was multifaceted and deep.

I would really love to read this, but can't read on anything except my kindle. The file sent won't work on there for me. I'm very sorry. Thank you for giving me the chance. Hopefully I can read and review it later on.

It won't let me download this title onto my reading device (kindle) so I didn't get a chance to read it, but it comes out in a few short months but I've heard really amazing things about it, so I am super excited to read it when it releases!

This book was a quick, enjoyable read. Grace's relationship with her mother and other friends felt authentic, and the way they affected her burgeoning relationship with Grace also felt real. I look forward to recommending this to fans of Sarah Dessen; it's a similar but alternative to the heterosexual relationships usually featured in Dessen's stories.

I absolutely loved this book. I've heard a lot about this, and it has been one of my most anticipated books of 2017. It did not let me down. Grace and Eva's stories were so well written - I felt a lot of pain while they were suffering and was hoping that everything would get better. I did not like at all that Grace let her mother away with so much, the entire time I was hoping that she would finally make a stand. I loved the relationship between Grace and Luca, and Emmy is honestly the best. The romantic plot was absolutely adorable, and I liked how Grace and Eva were together. What I also really enjoyed was Grace's bisexuality, how it was treated, and viewed as normal by the rest of the characters. This was a fun, light read and I will definitely reread in the future.

I like How to Make a Wish enough to cry and get emotional over certain scenes, but not enough to warrant a four star.

What stood out for me is the barb portrayal of unreliable parent. I'm a sucker for that. It's imperfect but it's spot on. However, I'm also a prolific romance reader. That's one of the defining factors for me. I'm not a fan of pairings where they hit off immediately. I don't like the instant let's-have-a-heart-to-heart conversation. I believe that it takes time to build relationship. It takes time for people to let other people see their deepest scars. The pairing seems superficial to me, I couldn't get into it. This is just a personal preference. Since, I tend to favor slow burn romance with a long (preferably years) of build up.

Overall, this novel is pretty alright. It moved me but I'm not in love with it. The biggest census is everyone love it if you're curious you should give it a try. Though, if you want my recommendation for stellar YA f/f: go try Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan and Dirty London by Kelly Yorke.

Full review to be posted at Hollywood News Source closer to the release date.

I couldn't open the file. I kept getting an error stating that my divide did not know how tyo hasndfle the unknown type of file on my kindle

On the page bisexual characters is what I’m here for. Grace and her dealing with her tough family life and falling in love is what I’m here for. This book touched on the troubles of bad parenting and the parallels between Grace’s mom and Luca’s mom were astounding. Speaking of Luca, he was probably my favorite side character. This book was heartbreaking and magical.

Actual Rating: 4,5 stars

Grace, a passionate seventeen year-old pianist, just wants to have a normal life. But having a trainwreck of a mother who drinks too much and who drags her from a new home to another in a short amount of time, a so-called "normal life" may not be possible. In fact, the roles are reversed: Her unreliable mother, Maggie, is HER responsibility. Grace has to make sure that the bills are getting paid, often by having several jobs at the same time. How is she supposed to focus on her audition for a music school in New York? On top of that, she meets the new girl who just moved into her best friend's house due to a tragedy. Their chemistry is undeniable. Feelings start to develop, but also new conflicts and complications.

How to Make a Wish is definitely a character-driven book. What I appreciated was that none of the characters were two-dimensional. Each and every character, whether major or minor, had their own struggles and developed in their own pace throughout this book. You couldn't truly hate any of the characters, really. What I also found great was that none of the relationships between different characters were "perfect". Misunderstanding or miscommunication happen, but eventually, it got all sorted out. I cannot lie, I was so frustrated with Grace sometimes, but I truly understand her feelings and intentions behind her decisions. I just wanted to shake her and give her big ass hugs at the same time.

(Thank you so much Blake for writing such a GOOD masturbation and sex scene. You know, we rarely get these explicit scenes in YA. We appreciate that AND you, Blake.)

Of course, I cannot forget to mention the most important fact about this book (in my opinion). BIRACIAL and BISEXUAL representation. Yes folks, you heard me just fine.

If your interest isn't peaked at the last sentence, then sorry, but I can't help you.
This story was beautiful, raw, heartbreaking, complicated, messy, and so worth your time. You might need tissues for How to Make a Wish. Well, at least I did.

Wow, wow, wow!! I can not begin to describe how much I loved this book. “How to make a wish” turned from a fun, light-hearted read to a book I had been looking for for years.

All seventeen year-old Grace Glasser wants is her own life. A normal life in which she sleeps in the same bed for longer than three months and doesn’t have to scrounge for spare change to make sure the electric bill is paid. Emotionally trapped by her unreliable mother, Maggie, and the tiny cape on which she lives, she focuses on her best friend, her upcoming audition for a top music school in New York, and surviving Maggie’s latest boyfriend—who happens to be Grace’s own ex-boyfriend’s father.

Her attempts to lay low until she graduates are disrupted when she meets Eva, a girl with her own share of ghosts she’s trying to outrun. Grief-stricken and lonely, Eva pulls Grace into midnight adventures and feelings Grace never planned on. When Eva tells Grace she likes girls, both of their worlds open up. But, united by loss, Eva also shares a connection with Maggie. As Grace’s mother spirals downward, both girls must figure out how to love and how to move on.

How to make a wish features a f/f romance- and a biracial one, nonetheless- a romance that is so rare in YA literature that you need to be actively looking for it in order to find it in no more than 10 books. The relationship that develops between Grace and Eva is beautiful, is natural, is effortless. But the most important part is that both girls have their own individual personality traits and are not reduced to caricatures as gay characters so often are. Blake does not write about two queer girls. She writes about two girls, two unique, strong, endlessly fascinating girls who just happen to fall in love. They exist outside their sexual orientation and their relationships with other characters, their worries and arcs are not just about their sexuality. In fact, there is no big coming out moment, no chapter that revolves around them worrying about someone else’s reaction. This book is not a coming-out-story; it is a coming-of-age story, a story about family, and loss, and grief, and first love.

One of the key elements that made the book for me was the relationships and dynamics between the characters. Grace’s relationship with her mom is as important to the story as is her relationship with Eva. Eva and Maggie also share a deep connection, as do Grace and Luca, her childhood best friend and her number one supporter. Even the dynamic between Luca and his mom or his brother and Grace’s relationship with them, are well-developed and depicted throughout the course of the book and end up playing a vital role in Grace’s character growth and final arc. Their bonds are complicated, forged under the pressure of an irresponsible mother, a child forced to grow up too fast, and their undying,endless love for one another.

Blake’s simple writing complements her story. The absence of pretentious, overly sophisticated words and expressions lets her characters shine and develop in what can only be described as a beautiful story of love and family.

Now, I need to highlight some parts of the book that I adored, because I so rarely find them in any YA book.

-Grace and Luca are childhood best friends and there is no unnecessary romance or awkward, unrequited love developed between them. Because hey, boys and girls can actually be just friends.
-Grace and Jay (her ex boyfriend/ new roommate) actually get some kind of closure and come to realize their mistakes
-No tearful coming-out story!!! I can not stress this one enough, it’s so important to me
-A beautifully developed sapphic romance!!
-Eva actually addresses the racism and body-shaming occurring in the ballet industry and how that’s affected her.

So, if you weren’t already planning on it, read ‘How to make a wish’ when it’s released (May 2nd) and, I promise you, you are bound to love it.

Unable to review the book due to not being able to download on kindle. I will read and review once book is published.

I fell in love with the characters. I seriously loved all of them (of the more major ones but, like, not that dude Tom) or at least knew where they were coming from and could understand their motifs; even the ones that at first glance seem to be real jerks. But not Jay. Sorry, but he has to be my second exception because even though he gets some redeeming qualities, he is still an asshole for not realizing what was wrong with his actions.
Grace is such a strong girl despite having to grow up far too soon and having all of this anger balled up inside of her; anger at her mother but also quite a lot at herself.
Eva was very easy to like. I sympathised with her when her grief overcame her and I was joyful when she was.

This book also deals with the mother-daughter relationship between Grace and Maggie, so it's not just a romance book. The romance between Grace and Eva was very cute, though, and very realistic.
I also found the friendship between Grace and Luca just so adorable, they are the bestest best friends, so supportive of each other and so loving.

The writing and atmosphere of the book were beautiful, I got sucked into the story very easily (and willingly). I also appreciated that this was a sex-positive book, that always makes me happy. So why isn't this a 5-star-read for me? Despite all the aforementioned positive things I wasn't as emotionally invested as I wanted to be or as I needed to be to rate this book five stars. There need to be more tugs at my heart but it is still one hell of a good f/f contemporary book.