Oh man this was sooo good in the beginning! VERY creepy and atmospheric as hell. But then it started to drag and I began to lose interest. Considering how the beginning grabbed me, I was surprised how meh I felt about it. I would still read more books by this author, I've enjoyed some of her previous stuff more than this, and I really truly love her writing style. But this specific story wasn't it for me.

Broken Wish is the first in a series called The Mirror, written by different authors, spanning generations and the curse that afflicts them. Julie C. Dao kicks off the series with Broken Wish, a story of friendship and broken promises. Fractured fairytales one of my favorite things—if it's done right—and I will even read YA if the premise sounds promising. I know, I'm a YA snob. Most of the time it's the angsty romance that I can't do in YA. In fairytale retellings, I'm expecting it to be angsty so it's okay, I guess? (Don't judge me.)

Beginning in Hanau, Germany (the birthplace of the Brothers Grimm, btw), a young woman named Agnes Heinrich befriends Mathilda, and their friendship is sweet and true. Unfortunately, they live in a time where different is to be feared and Mathilda is "different". Agnes and her husband can't have children and Mathilda agrees to help them in exchange for Agnes' friendship. Agnes agrees but breaks her promise to Mathilda, breaking her heart in the process. Years later, Agnes' daughter Elva discovers that she might be able to stop a vision of danger surrounding the village and her parents. She sets off on a journey to discover more about herself and the curse that befell her family all those years ago. That means hunting down the witch who set the curse in the first place. 

I loved this story.  The characters are fleshed out and the writing is beautifully stylized. All the components for a perfect fairytale are here: the witch, the woods, and a mirror. True to Disney style, there is so much to download from this. It's darker, somewhere between Disney and the original Brothers Grimm. There are a lot of Easter Eggs if you are a fairytale fan like me. While there's a bit of romance, there's definitely skew towards friendships and other forms of love like that of family. While it's technically YA, the focus on friendship is almost MG. 

Overall, it's a story that feels true to Disney, about finding out who you are, staying true to your word, and forging ahead even if you don't know how the story will end.

I was really excited to pick up Broken Wish after I saw the author on Instagram and several others (that will later write books for the rest of the series) open some promotional mirrors and talk about their upcoming series. The original concept of a YA series with multiple books and each book written by a different author, sounded awesome. And for the booms to be centered around magic and fantasy with queens and resident brujas Dhonielle Clayton and Zoraida Cordova and others writing books? I was really excited and had extremely high expectations.

Broken Wish follows a girl, Elva, who has had to suppress her magic her whole life as her town is whack and thinks anyone with magic is an evil witch. But after seeing a horrible vision, she goes to seek help from the local ostracized witch to try and save the day.

The book starts off slow, relying mostly on character relations to move it forward for the first half. I personally, felt that the main characters were either dull, or maybe that we didn’t get a good look at who they really were. Elva is sixteen and seems to have just about everything she’s ever wanted except for having to hide her magic, which gave her just the one conflict and nothing that the reader could really relate better to her.

The second half builds and reads much better and I really ended up enjoying Elva’s relationship with her brother, as well as the witch. I wish her relationship with her “boyfriend” had been better explored and written as it could have meant so much more to the story and the message.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and am still looking forward to the other books in the series. I think this was a really good starting place for the series to be developed into something really unique and cool.

honestly, i had no clue what to expect going into this book. i mean, for one i'm not the biggest historal fiction fan, but this was a surprise. it was actually pretty good and i really liked all of the family members and what they all added to the story. i do wish we got to see more of the parents when they are younger, like before they had the kids. but, i still really liked it.  and the whole talk about the witch was honestly pretty good and i really liked it all in the end. the writing was also kind of decent, i mean they did a good job with telling the story. in the future i am really excited to see what the author has in store for this series.

I am a big fan of alternative fairy tales, and this one did not disappoint!  I enjoy a plot that is not predictable, but which is believable and fits in with the already-published body of work.  This story checked all the boxes.  I was surprised at the ending at first, but when I took some time to think about it, the ending also fits with the established story, so it was unconventionally satisfying.

I just could not get into this one, though I eventually pushed myself to finish it.

I had read Julie C. Dao's Forest of a Thousand Lanterns and absolutely loved it. But the writing style in this one is completely different, and something about it just turned me off and kept me from truly getting attached to the characters.

The plot itself is pretty interesting: a bit of a blend of Rapunzel, Snow White, and its own unique fairy-tale. But Elva is not particularly compelling as a main character.

Disclaimer: I was sent a free copy of this book by Disney Hyperion through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

The Broken Wish is an alluring, fast-paced, magical, mysterious, and twisted book that is very reminiscent of the Grimm fairytales. This story is set in Germany in the mid to late 1800s and centers around two main characters, Mathilda and Elva who wield magic. This story hooked me right in with the story of Mathilda and Agnes and kept me hooked all throughout the book as the subsequent scenes unfolded. This story, though classified as a YA book felt more like a middle-grade book. This, however, is not a bad thing and as an educator, the themes in this book would resonate highly with a wide ranger of readers such as middle grade, young adult, and adult readers. This book discussed many important topics such as wanting to feel accepted/feeling misunderstood, grief, sexism, infertility, and the consequences of our choices. The Broken Wish is an entrancing novel where the characters endure incredible arcs and learn important lessons. The world-building was phenomenal for this story and alongside a strong plot, incredible female leads, important decisions, and a magical forest? what more could you want!

I would highly recommend this book to readers who love magic, fairytales, strong-female leads, and a story that has friendship and acceptance at its core.

An absolutely enchanting story of friendship, the tale of Broken Wish is one of both magic and humanity, and the loneliness that can come from great power and the pressure to conform and therefore belong. Elva and Mathilda's friendship is a beautiful thing that grows slowly and quietly, as Elva drifts further away from the prejudices of Hanau and Mathilda learns how to trust again. Broken Wish is an excellent start to a series spanning generations, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed reading this lush, magical fairytale by Julie C. Dao. It was enchanting from start to finish and I can't wait to read the next three books in the series!

Broken Wish is one of the best books I’ve read this year! Young Elva is forced by her parents to hide her ability to see events that will happen in the future. They teach her to see her gift as something embarrassing and, worse, to be ashamed of. When Elva meets the witch who inadvertently caused her to have this ability, they forge a deep friendship. Through it, Elva learns to appreciate and be proud of who she is but at what cost? A heart-wrenching fairytale of the power of love. An absolute winner!

Julie Dao does no wrong in my book, and this is the first in a super stellar new Disney series! I love the way Dao's novel sets up this family curse that other authors will continue to explore. She's the perfect first author to jump start this series, and does fabulous world-building and exploration that really makes this story come alive.

I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars for this, but settled on 4. The ending was not at all what I expected, and I look forward to reading more in the series.

I was quite drawn in during the first third, then slowed down for the middle third, then couldn't put it down for the final third. I think I agree with another review I saw that something about Mathilda's behavior throughout the book seemed off, maybe even immature, but as we saw more of her later in the book she became more believable. Elva was, for the most part, believable and I liked her more as the story wore on.

I tried really really hard to finish this book but after about half way it just felt like I was putting off reading cause I just didn't like it.

The concept is an interesting one. But I could NOT get behind the choices that were made. Agnes and her husband annoyed the ever loving crap out of me for one. To break a promise is such a horrible thing to do and the reason behind it? Was just worse. I get Elvie wanted to know more about herself I just hate that her parents forced her to go behind their backs for such a selfish reason.

Maybe I'll give this book another try someday, but for now I just wasn't vibing with it.

A fairytale reimagining worth your time, Broken Wish is the first of a series of Wishverse novels that is compelling and a marvelous homage to the genre itself. I only wish there was BIPOC representation in this story, as I'd had some expectation of it.

I had a great time reading this book. It took a well known story and expanded on it in many ways. We learn what happened after a miracle occurred, and the fallout of a friendship afterwards. When a girl sees that something bad will happen to her family, she asks someone for help in stopping it. From here a new friendship begins to bloom, and it looks like this tragedy might be stopped. As this tale comes to a close though this family learns a tough lesson. Fans of this story will want to check this book out.

This book surprised me in the best way! I flew through it. It was so easy to get lost in this story. 
The characters were wonderful. I loved getting to know Agnes and Oskar who later become the parents of the real main character Elva. Agnes and Mathilda had the cutest friendship and I was so heartbroken when she allowed Oskar to persuade her to end that friendship. It was a very good way to have a backstory before the "real" story started. The rest of the story is the aftermath of that broken promise between Agnes and Mathilda.
Elva is a great female character. She cares so much about her family, but realizes that the gift she has is just that, a gift, not a curse and she wants to go against her family to really perfect it. She was a great friend to Mathilda and I loved the growth of their relationship. Cay was an absolutely adorable brother. 
The plot was very interesting as well. I was immediately sad that Elva was supposed to hide her power of seeing the future just because other people might not like it. Once she finally used it and saw the big storm coming to ruin the family's farm I was on the edge of my seat wondering if the vision would come to be. 
The only thing that kind of bothered me was how over the top Mathilda was. In my opinion she completely overreacted at once certain thing that I don't want to give away having to do with Elva. After all Elva did and all the promises she kept, one thing happened and she threw a tantrum and literally moved away. 
Knowing that this is the first book in a series that spans over several generations, it really sets up well for the rest of the series!

I read this book, in part, because I was fascinated by the concept: a story told over generations by four different writers. The Mirror: Broken Wish begins the story, and tells a story that, while it seems similar to many of the fairy tales many Western people have grown up with, it’s not based on any one specific story. The story starts with Agnes, as she accepts the help of a woman who is outcast in their village, to have a child. She makes a promise to the woman, who has become her friend, to stay in touch and keep the woman company. She makes a promise to her husband to break connection to the woman immediately so that they won’t be looked down on in the village. In the end, Agnes keeps the promise to her husband and betrays her friend. The woman is so hurt that she flees the town. 

The point of view of the story then flips to Elva, Agnes’ daughter born with Mathilda’s help, as Elva turns sixteen. Elva can see the future in bodies of water, from the washing basin to a flowing river. Her gift terrifies her parents, and she has forced herself to shun it, closing her eyes every time she so much as drinks a glass of water since she was a child. But one night, forgetful, she lets her eyes rest too long and has a horrible vision of her family’s farm destroyed by a terrible storm. She seeks help from the Witch of the North Woods in order to better understand her gift and, hopefully, stop the storm from occurring. What follows is a story of friendship, love found and lost, and ultimately betrayal, with tragic consequences. 

There is much made of a family curse that has been caused by Agnes’ broken promise, and there’s no telling how long the curse could last: years, decades, or generations. When Elva sees farther into the future, she see glimpses of other people who all have the same basic facial structure as her, making her think they may somehow be her family’s descendents. 

I was skeptical about this book when I started reading it. I knew I was interested in the concept, but Agnes as a narrator was off putting to me. As an adopted kid, I struggle with stories about women who are so desperate to get pregnant and equate pregnancy with the only way to have a child, even in fantasy versions of old European towns. When it was also clear that Agnes was going to betray her friend, I was furious and almost put the book down. But I thought I’d stick with it for a few more chapters, especially once I realized the narrator changed, and I’m glad I did. 

Elva’s story is compelling, funny, and engaging. Like so many characters in fairy tales, by trying to avoid her fate, she causes it. She learns what love is and what it isn’t, and she learns that there are some mistakes you can’t fix, some bells you can’t unring, some lines that can’t be uncrossed. The end of her story sets up a series that could cover generations of a family curse, and the idea of having different writers craft each segment of the story is fascinating to me, a brilliant way to make sure that a fresh perspective is there for each narrative. 

Future volumes will come from Dhonielle Clayton, Jennifer Cervantes, and L. L. McKinney. I’m most familiar with the last of these authors, but if any of the volumes are as compelling as this one, I’m going to be absolutely in love. 

I would recommend this book to most teens; preteens who are comfortable with a little bit of romantic content should enjoy it as much as their older counterparts.

This was a fun read! It kept my attention throughout the whole thing and I enjoyed the world Dao created. I wasn't the biggest fan of the characters, which was a problem for me. Still, I think this one could be a lot of people's favorite!

I read an e-ARC of Julie C. Dao's beautiful book and I just loved this incredibly lush fairytale. The world is so well developed and sparkles with magic, and I couldn't help but root for the MC. The story felt very fresh while also having this lovely fairytale structure. I can't wait to buy this book when it comes out so I can put in on my shelf!

I received a copy of this novel on Netgalley for my honest review.

This novel does a great job of retelling some of the Grimm's fairy tales in a cohesive storyline that makes sense. Many tales are referenced including Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and more. The author did a terrific job combining these fantasy elements into a story that flowed easily and was believable. 

One major issue, though, was that the voices of the characters seem immature in relation to the issues that they face. The naïveté of the protagonist (which changes as time passes in the story), is a bit unbelievable especially when considering the choices and actions they take. It is almost as though this novel is intended as a middle grades novel but includes more YA issues and themes. 

Overall, this story is a bit too sunny for the dark issues that are explored. It improves as the novel continues, but I would say that it is a lightweight treatment of a hefty tale. Kudos to the author for the fantastic blending of the plot elements! I feel that some revision to the dialogue would help this novel immensely.

Is it worth your time to read? Yes, but if you aren't enjoying it after the first several chapters, your opinion probably won't change.

Enjoy, my friends.