DNF 8% - It just didn't grab me from the beginning. The narrator seemed judgmental and annoying. The premise is interesting, but the set-up was lacking.

Imagine, if you will, the ability to make a single wish and to have that wish come true. Now imagine having that incredible power (or curse, depending on which way you look at it) at the age of 18. In Madison, Nevada, that’s exactly what happens. Each resident celebrates something called Wish Day, where on their 18th birthday, they get to visit the wishing cave and have their one wish granted. The entire town it seems is built on wishes of the past, but there’s an undercurrent of unhappiness that permeates everything from the landscape to the buildings to the residents. Granted wishes are dreams come true, aren’t they?

As You Wish had such an interesting and unique premise that I immediately wanted to get my hands on it as soon as I heard of it. And for the most part I enjoyed the heck out of it. The entire storyline surrounding the wishes was something I’ve not read prior to this, and I loved that it got me thinking. At 18, I’m not entirely too sure that any wish I made would have had any sort of impact, other than a selfish one, and such is the case with many residents. And many of them regret it. It seems only a handful of people are truly happy with their one and only shot at having a wish granted, and I’m still thinking of what my 18 year old self would have done with that incredible responsibility.

The characters were also incredibly dimensional and fleshed out, and I loved how each and every one was just as quirky as the town itself. There’s also a fair bit of heartbreak, and I felt my own heart breaking right alongside Fletcher and right alongside Eldon and his family. My only gripe was Eldon and how much of a jerk he was, and continued to be a jerk through the entire book. Not just a jerk, but a selfish one, and I wanted (wished!) to see a little bit of growth on his part but the Eldon we start and end with are pretty much the same guy.

All in all, As You Wish was an incredibly unique story with a small town feel to it, and I love me a small town. Add in some magic, which this story has, and it’s almost a guarantee that I’ll love it. Or in this case, like strongly. Such an interesting book that got me thinking, and definitely one I’m going to recommend the heck out of.

The premise of this book was interesting and the plot was well driven, enough to keep me reading fast. The writing style is quick-paced and easy to read. However, Eldon, the main character, is such an awful brat. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. Overall, I enjoyed the read.

Some spoilers ahead, be warned!

A town where wishes can actually come true. On the surface it sounds fantastic, but I've seen enough Twilight Zone to know that it isn't going to be as great as all that. 

The main character Eldon is struggling with his wish decision because his family has suffered for it. The whole town has some story or other about wishes gone wrong, but for Eldon, it's to do with his mother wishing his father to fall in love with her, resulting in him never being able to love with someone else. His sister is in a coma in another city and his parents are pressuring him to use his wish to heal her. Tragedy and an insane amount of pressure are no picnic, but while reading I couldn't figure out whether Eldon was an asshole simply because of these circumstances or because that's just who he was.

Eldon plays God with his wish, thinking he knows what's best for everyone when he ends the cycle of wishes with his own. Were there consequences to the wishes, some careless ones made and some even bad? Of course and I can admit that, but Eldon's pompous attitude that he knew better made me hate him at the end. He had no right to make this decision for everyone. Yes he was under pressure and no his parents shouldn't have done that to him, but I don't see it as a reason, just an excuse for him to hide behind.

Given his anger throughout the book, at his parents and the whole wish system, I thought the ending was fairly obvious with regards to his choice and yet I still hoped for more. I thought he might grow, might learn something beyond his own narrow view, but I'm not sure he did.

In the book, there are some chapters that recount the wishes of other citizens. Eldon asks about them so he can make sure his own choice is the right one. One of the stories about a man named Gil disturbed me for the content itself and for the implications. Gil came of age in the 1970's, not a great time for someone like him. He's gay and he knows it, but he struggles with it because the people in town are not as open-minded as you'd think, considering the wishes and all.

So what does he wish for? He wishes for all of his homosexual feelings to go away. This backfires when he realizes that wishing away his liking boys doesn't mean he'll automatically like girls. This wish, to Gil, backfired and made him lonely and sad and empty. That's a horrible way to look at it because it makes it sound like people that are asexual are missing something in their lives when that's not true. It disgusted me, to be honest, and as this occurred around 37%, made me dread the rest of the book. If Eldon is insufferable and the author is making things like this happen to the characters, then what hell can I expect next?

Well, that turned out to be a girl named Penelope, after finding out that a classmate, Fletcher, has tried to commit suicide, wishes for his suicide to fail. In this town, though, that doesn't mean just the most recent attempt; it means all of them. That was not her decision to make. It reminds me of a quote, oddly enough, from The Incredibles: "You didn't save my life, you ruined my death." She took away his free will, which seems to be a real problem with the people in this town. They make wishes that end up affecting others lives and that, maybe, is one of the most horrible facets of the book of all. 

With an insufferable narrator, some problematic content, and pacing that was slower than molasses, I didn't like this book much at all, which was disappointing because the premise had so much possibility.

In As You Wish, Eldon starts to see his small town as it really is--a place that hinges on the hope of your eighteenth birthday and ends with unhappy people.
I appreciated the honesty of this novel, the many questions and ideas it explores are relevant to most readers. I think many teens can relate to a town where it seems like everyone is stuck--a place where it is hard to believe there is a future beyond their present circumstances. I especially liked Eldon wrestling with whether or not to keep the town's secrets. I like that he asks questions. I think most teens would like this read, however readers who prefer an idyllic novel as a form of escapism may be frustrated with this novel.

I thought this book was wonderful. The book takes place in a town that grants wishes. Despite this fantastical setting, the narrator's struggles felt very authentic. I think the book makes a point of demonstrating that it's not our circumstances that define us, but our choices. Highly recommended.

I read this book in one day. What I loved most about it was how unexpected it was. I believed that this book was setting me up for a dystopian plot, but really it's much quieter than that. It's an introspective look at our choices and how we make them and the dangers of regret. Also, how one choice can change the entire course of our lives. Absolutely pick this one up. It's one of the freshest young adult titles I've read in a while.

I read Chelsea Sedoti's debut novel The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett last year, and felt a lot of ways about it. I was excited to read her sophomore novel because I remembered admiring the way she wrote complex, complicated, and, well, unlikable characters. I was also intrigued by the surreal premise of a world (well, a single town) where everyone gets to wish for whatever they want on their 18th birthdays and wanted to see how it played out.

Eldon is a kid who was used to being the best, until everyone in his senior year started turning 18 and getting their wishes. Now he isn't the best anymore--not at sports, not at getting the girls, not at much. And, as his own 18th birthday approaches, he's getting a lot of pressure from all sides about what to wish for. In a world where many wish for beauty, or power, or money (or an unlimited supply of drugs), he has no idea what he wants to accomplish with his wish. He's torn between familial obligation and, well...trying to find out what he wants.

There's a lot I like about As You Wish. I like Eldon in all of his arrogance and missteps. He is foolish, and stubborn, and entitled, and often oblivious to what other people are going through. He is also emotional, and hurting, and sort of just coasting through. His family breaks my heart. I also like his group of friends, and the other characters that populate his weird little town. In every detail, his town takes on a life of its own. One of my favorite parts of the entire book are the stories of other characters' wishes. These stories are set apart from the rest of the novel--written in italics and in third person, almost omniscient. They were so cool to read, but did tend to skew in the direction of wishes-gone-wrong (or, at least, awry). I loved the magical realism aspects of the novel, as well--this otherwise ordinary, boring town shocked through with this bolt of fantasy. And I liked how we learn about the rules and the history of wishing--it doesn't feel plodding or over-explained.

It isn't a perfect novel, though. I still had a lot of questions about the town and the rules--and the ending! A lot of things get wrapped up neatly, and I don't know if the book earned the way everything turns out. It fell a little flat to me. I don't know if Eldon grows as much as a book like this warrants--but he is trying, and maybe that's enough?

As You Wish is a coming of age story that takes place in the sleepy town of Madison, Nevada. Madison is on the outskirts of Las Vegas and Area 51, but nothing really happens there, except everyone in the town of Madison gets to make a wish on their 18th birthday. The gift of wishing is a well kept secret amongst those living in the town of Madison because no one ever really leaves Madison, and if they do they tend to come back. Main character Eldon is about to turn 18 and make his wish, only he doesn't know what he wants. He is obnoxious, self-centered, and very immature. He blames all his problems on everyone else and the wishes they've made. His attitude made the books hard to read sometimes because you just wanted grow up. Then again there weren't very many likable characters in the book. Most of the wishes were shallow and self serving like making yourself better looking or the most talented at something. Then again when you are 18 and don't know any better what would you wish for? Probably something shallow and self-serving. Each person of the town has to live with the consequences of their wish, some good and some bad. Eldon starts to research wishes and their consequences as his wish day approaches only to find out that most people's wishes didn't exactly have the effect they'd intended. Some people learned to live with their wishes, while others are miserable. Eldon only sees the bad that has come from wishing. Part of Eldon's problem is that the whole town is obsessed with wishing, everyone wants to know what you are going to wish for, and everyone is telling you what to wish for, and his parents are telling him what to wish for because their wishes didn't work out for them. Eldon hasn't had an easy time of it as his 18th birthday approaches, some of it is his own fault, some of it is not his fault at all. Eldon never takes ownership of his own actions, he just blames everyone else for being angry and mean to everyone. There are plenty of lessons to be learned from reading this, but they took way to long to develop for my liking. Eldon is the epitome of flawed.

In the end this book was just OK for me. I didn't connect with the characters or the story. It just felt very immature to me, as an adult reader who likes YA I find that is a problem at times. While the dialog may be realistic as if it were coming from high schoolers, there were some very immature comments in the dialog between characters that did not appeal to me, and I'm sure people will find them hurtful if not harmful. That is not what I want my kids thinking is OK, so I don't want them reading it in the books they read. I did appreciate that there was atleast one character that was trying to stop it, even thought not very forcefully. The premise is interesting enough and kept me interested.

AS YOU WISH is a fun, magical realism, young adult novel. Set in Madison, a desert town an hour or two outside of Las Vegas, it introduces us to a cast of fun, if slightly strange characters.

Eldon is almost 18 years old, works at a gas station, and is tasked with making sure any outsiders who stop by for gas see the town as extremely boring and uninteresting. Because what the citizens of Madison don't want you to know is that they have access to a magical cave that grants each person one wish on their 18th birthday.

As his birthday draws ever closer, Eldon struggles with deciding on what he'll wish for. Interspersed throughout the book are snippets of "Wish History" - the wishes of some of the townspeople and the aftermath. As he learns more and more about how people view their past wishes, Eldon begins to wonder if wishing is as beneficial as everyone makes it out to be.

I did enjoy reading this book, but there was a lot of cursing and other foul language that turned me off.

I liked the little discussions here and there about religion, although I never really fully understood why the citizens of Madison didn't believe in religion just because they got to make wishes. Couldn't you do both?

Overall, I really enjoyed going on this journey with Eldon.

The premise of this book is intriguing and the main plot point-the one wish-kept me reading till the end. It did have slow points and I had minor issues with the plot, but overall I appreciate the effort.

I really liked The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett so I jumped at the chance to read this. I struggled the first day but tried to persist remembering that THLOLL started slow also. Unfortunately three days later and I still end up falling asleep every time I try to read through this.

I hate DNFing books I have only done it one or two times but I am slowly learning that I wont get anything finished if I get stuck on the same book for three weeks. I plan to come back to this at some point. To keep it fair I am not going to star this because I only just made it to about 20%. (NETGALLEY REQUIRED A STAR RATING)

If this on your TBR hopefully you like it better than I did. Though this book did not hit the mark for me I really do enjoy Sedoti's writing and liked her first book because of that I am eager to see what she does next.

I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Eldon lives in a little town in the desert, where nothing much happens apart from being close to area 51. At least, that's what he and the other residents want everyone to think, while in fact his town is extremely special. Everyone who lives there gets a wish on their birthday, a real, guaranteed, wish come true. While the rest of the town thinks this is the only thing that really matters in life, Eldon isn't so sure any more. His birthday is coming up and he still doesn't know what to wish for, despite his mother's request.

I realized that after I requested this that I probably was not going to read it. I regret requesting it cause it did sound interesting when I read the summary.

This was a very engaging and original story, full of magic and drama and teenage angst. The concept of the dangers of wishing is not particularly new, but the way that this concept is played out really resonated with me.

I have long been fascinated by the idea of crafting the perfect wish (I even have several of my own writing projects featuring this as an underlying theme) - the whole "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" thing resonates with me very strongly. Perhaps it is because I've always read so much magical fiction and seen so many things go horribly awry. Perhaps it is because I'm a lawyer and sometime-writer, both of which reinforce in me the power of words. Perhaps it's just my dark and pessimistic side, that sees danger lurking behind every corner as though it were waiting for us to invite it in. Or perhaps it's all of those combined... Regardless, I was highly intrigued to see where this book would take that concept from the get-go.

The book did not disappoint at all. I've read a number of other reviews that slam it, largely because the protagonist is, well, rather unlikeable. He is. He is also a teenage boy, living in a tiny town where pretty much everything sucks and everyone is disappointed and disaffected and dysfunctional. To me, that reinforced the underlying message of the book, rather than detracted from it. True, it made the reading a little wearying at times - but for some reason that never wore me down, rather it kept me feeling like I was fully engaged with the book. That doesn't always work - it's a fine line, like tap-dancing among land mines, trying to immerse your reader in the desperation and depressing circumstances of the characters, while not losing them or their precious reader-interest in entertainment in the process. I think the author did a very nice job balancing this, and will definitely be looking for more from her in future...

"As You Wish" is an enjoyable and emotional read. I related to Eldon, Merrill, Norie, and all the other young people who grow up in small towns like Madison. The suffocating feelings of family expectations, a dying small town, and personal tragedies were very well crafted. This book is great for readers who enjoy realistic fiction with a twist of fantasy.

I found the premise of this book very intriguing. getting to make one wish that will come true on your 18th birthday!. The book is sure to get teens, and young adults reading and talking. Love the back stories of characters and their wishes; be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. Book was a bit overly long and could have been cropped down a bit, but I enjoyed the story overall.

I loved the concept of the book. The characters were interesting and somewhat exciting. However, I felt that the Eldon was a little bit whiny. He’s been trying to deal with everything happening with Ebba and Fletcher and concurrently trying to decide what he wants to wish for on his 18th birthday. It’s a hard life.

It took me a while to finish As You Wish, but I’m not sure if that's because the plot dragged on too long or if I was just more intrigued by other novels I was reading at the same time. My favorite part of this book by far was the chapters about other people’s wishes! It was unique and lovely to see the insight of the members of the Madison community and why they chose their specific wishes.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book as I positively could not stand any of the characters, and the story was boring and predictable. Eldon is a horrifically pretentious and unlikable character, and while I kept hoping that was intentional and he would progress into a better person, I never quite saw that happening. He blames everyone else for anything making himself unhappy in life, and is frankly just kind of a jerk to his friends. There's an attempt at a sad backstory to kind of make up for his attitude, but it just didn't work for me. Between Eldon and the slow-moving plot, sadly, I couldn't finish this one.