I saw a few people DNF this book immediately because it had miscommunication trope, so I was so scared to pick it up. I'm happy to say that it's not even close to miscommunication - more like poor timing. You immediately know why Liya and Kai are somewhat estranged, and it's honestly an entertaining hiccup that led them to where they are. The only thing that blip resulted in, really, was mutual pining, which was adorable.

This story is a story of love - a dash of Romeo and Juliet (or Zhinü and Niulang) mixed with friends-to-lovers - but, as a whole, it's a story about history, immigration, Chinese/Taiwanese culture, community, and tradition. Liya and Kai bop through the story as wish granters in an attempt to save Liya's family's store. Through their wish granting, they learn more about their community, people's histories, and their immigration stories. I teared up a lot throughout this book both because of heartfelt, warm moments, as well as moments of grief, not just for the dead, but for the lonely and the lost.

I also related a lot to Liya's unnamed anxiety and germaphobia. The way that old memories haunted her and impacted her actions was so similar to my experience with life. Like, this story didn't have to come at me like that. The whole storyline with Stephanie was so perfectly executed and I loved the outcome of it all.

This book was so beautiful, and honestly felt like a warm hug for the most part. Gloria Chao hits it out of the park once more!

TW: Grief, bullying, vomit, toxic family, mentions death

Rep: unnamed anxiety and germaphobia

Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

eARC gifted via NetGalley by Viking Books for Young Readers via Penguin Group in exchange for an honest review.

I love Gloria Chao and everything she writes. This was amazing. This was a great retelling of Romeo and Juliet, I loved the relationship between Kai and Liya, the way they know each other so well but are learning about each other more every day. I loved how close the community that Kai and Liya are part of is. This was a sweet and fun book!

This was so cute and packed full of Chinese culture: I loved and craved Mooncakes while reading this and now I really want to attend a lantern festival!

Kai and Liya always had each other’s best interests at heart despite their initial miscommunication, and I really enjoyed seeing how they built their relationship back up from awkward to back to friends to romantic interests.

The feeling of their small town was so magical!

When You Wish Upon a Lantern is such a sweet story about two teenagers who are best friends, but also harbor romantic feelings for the other. Each of them conceals this fact, thinking the other is not interested and for fear of ruining their friendship. To make matters more complicated, their families own neighboring shops, but unfortunately for Liya and Kai are in a never ending feud that weighs heavy on the two protagonists.

Liya and Kai were both lovable characters that brought so much humor and heart to the story. I loved seeing their relationship involve and often found myself laughing at the banter and more embarrassing moments between the two of them.

While this book is about friendship and young love, it’s also about community and grief. At the start of the book you find out that Liya’s grandmother had recently passed, who shared a special connection with Liya and had a deep fondness for Kai. As the book continues you also gain a deeper sense of the impact her grandmother had on those in the community; a similar impact that Liya wants to continue through wish granting.

It was really special reading about the festivals and how everyone in the community came together to celebrate. Even when there was drama, Chao was able to portray the love and support that flowed through the small community. I really appreciated the culture that was shared in When You Wish Upon a Lantern and thought this was a really special read!

Feuding family love stories have been around for a long time — Romeo and Juliet, anyone? So, to make a story stand out in this genre, authors have to find something unique. In the case of When You Wish Upon a Lantern, it’s secretly granting wishes.

It’s a premise that not only works, but feels believable and achievable.

Author Gloria Chao’s writing has an almost cinematic feel to it. You can practically see the lanterns floating across the screen. And the book’s beautiful cover truly helps set the tone.

At the center of the story are Liya and Kai. The pair are well-developed and play well against each other. And while supporting characters are a bit rough, Liya and Kai come across as genuinely kind people. You’d think that would leave the story flat, but instead, it’s refreshing.

There’s a kind of innocence to When You Wish Upon a Lantern that will appeal to readers who are looking for a “chaste” romance. It’s gentle and sweet, and Liya and Kai are charming.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern is an assuming read that’s light and well-paced. It’s a joy to read.

Ok I loved this book! First of all there was a part that reminded me of the scene in Tangled which is one of my faves! I love the romance in this book, the theme of wishes and hope. There was romance, growing up, learning to deal with grief, thoughts of first love, learning to move on from things. With a bit of Romeo and Juliet vibes. Literally read this in one sitting it was so good!

I loved this book so much. It was so sweet and loved the friends to mroe element. I also loved the "magic element" it gzve me the charmed list vibes but less magaical and more small town vibes. I also thought this book was softer verious og the complex realtiomships the main character that had with their parents. This book was a bit of softer read but also had harder topics like grief. This book also ahd massive self didvocery plot line for both characters!! Def a new favorite by this author!!

I was really excited to read this one, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to expectations. This cover is everything (and very much gives Tangled) so that might have factored into my decision to request this book. But anyway, let's get into it.

I love an ex-bffs, it's always been you situation, and this one book definitely had it. That was probably the best part of the book. There was some miscommunication which led to the whole ex-bffs thing, but the pining was magnificent.

The main reason I didn't love this one was the writing. Chao has written many YA books so I'm not quite sure why the writing in this one fell short, but it did.

Overall, I think the idea and plot was okay behind this book, but the writing wasn't there for me. I'm interested in reading some of Chao's previous books to see if this book was s fluke or if her writing really isn't for me. I'll report back.

Thank you Penguin Young Readers, Viking Books, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this great book. This is a feel-good, easy read with elements of Romeo & Juliette-like forbidden romance set in Chinese culture. I enjoyed learning more about Chinese culture, traditions, and significance of the wishing lanterns. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes Gloria Chao’s other works or just wants a magical, feel good read.

This was sent to me as an arc, all opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this book. A childhood friends to awkward friend break up to lovers!! The characters each have their own issues within their families, but they relate and compliment each other so well!!

I was interested early on and didn’t want to stop reading. Liya and Kai were so stuck in my brain, I love them!!

I will try my best to not commit any faux pas as an adult reviewing YA.

Let me just start off prefacing that I don’t like that the whole book rests on a trope that I feel is a bit overdone: two teens trying to save a beloved business/town/mall/organization and taking on an overwhelming amount of energy and time, and then falling in love along the way. (I’m thinking of THE CHRISTMAS CLASH by Suzanne Park btw.) It just seems to belittle how big the problems really are and that an Instagram account or a functional website won’t automatically fix — maybe this is me the ex-marketer speaking.

Moving on though: I loved how the book sets up the reader to learn about the Qixi and Zhongyuan holidays — I actually don’t know about these two but I do know bits and pieces of the Niulang Zhinu folktale. I loved how integrated Lili’s story was with the folktale’s love story. I love the friendship between Kai and Lili — so genuine, heartfelt, and 100%. I also really appreciated Stephanie’s role in the book/Lili’s life — it compounded the fact that this book was deep, well-rounded (family, community, friends, money, love…) and the love story that develops was an extra cherry on top.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern is a contemporary YA romance, likely geared towards the younger end of the YA spectrum.

It feels like a character driven novel, but the characters weren't quite developed. (Hence the younger end of the YA spectrum)

As much as this story is about childhood friends to lovers with feuding parents, it's a story about grieving, and how best to honor those that have died. I'm some ways this book also touches upon gentrification.

I really expected more pining from a best friends to dating book, but it just wasn't really there. It seemed that the outside worries (losing the family business, parental feuding, discontent within the family) interfered with me being emotionally invested in the two characters forming a romantic relationship.

Liya and Kai are adorable in repairing their friendship after an incident had made their friendship awkward. Especially since they each have their own version of why the other is avoiding them. But when push comes to shove, they are each other's staunchest fans and would do anything for each other. This leads to Kai helping Liya you start granting lantern wishes, something she did with her nainai before she passed.

Y'all, I didn't expect this book to make me cry, but I definitely shed a few tears towards the end when Liya mentions traditions she shared with her nainai.

PS: the chapter headings in the book are really cute.

Content Notes: toxic family, financial troubles, death of grandparent (off page), grief

3.5 rounded up to 4

This story was so sweet and I loved the messages of family and community throughout the story. The friends to lovers portion fit in nicely as well. If you are looking for a Romeo and Juiet style love with a tad miscommunication thrown in, this may be for you.

The only reason this book did not fully work for me was the pacing and length. I feel like there were parts in the story that were drawn out and couldn't keep my attention well. I think this story could have done well if it had been shortened just a tad.

This was my first book by Gloria Chao & I really wanted to like it but though I love the cover, unfortunately, the book fell below my expectations.

The story had a lot of potential and I loved the plot, the characters, and even the unpleasant characters had their role in it. I loved the kindness depicted in the story with the wish-granting.

I really did enjoy some of the touching scenes but the writing felt lengthy and dragged the inner dialogue a bit too long until I wanted to grab Liya & Kai and give them a good, hard shake.

That said, I think the values interwoven in this story, the kindness, the sense of community, and friendship made the book worth it.

From the very beginning, I immediately fell in love with the narration voice of Liya. Not only was she sometimes called Lili - and I'm biased when I say that's a great name - but she was also endearing, charming, and caring. She is deeply motivated by her family, by the memory of her grandmother, and also struggling to re-connect with those closest to her. How does her family broach the subject of her grandmother's death? Of their loss and pain? Or of the fact that their business is deeply struggling?

When You Wish Upon a Lantern is driven by characters. It's a feel good story with second chance romance, miscommunications, and childhood crushes. What more could you want? I could not stop rooting for them as characters, friends, and potential love interests.

When You Wish Upon A Lantern is a heartwarming story by Gloria Chao that tells the tale of granting other's wishes and finding the courage to grant your own.

What could be more magical than a sky aglow with wishes and dreams?

Lira and Kai are two halves of a whole, friends since childhood. After a horrible misunderstanding they drift apart. Unfortunately for Lira, Kai is the only person in the world who cares enough to help her when she discovers her family's wishing laturn and oddities store is closed to going under.

Their solution? Follow in Lira's late grandmother's footsteps and grant the wishes customers write on the lanterns. Maybe the magic could turn in some profit after all.

With time, their emotions and their families to contend with they have their work cut out for them. But with all this time spent granting other's wishes, do they ever even consider their own?

What a wonderful, heartwarming story! This is just a novel that makes you laugh and smile the entire time you're reading it! The humor was witty and the friendship between Lira and Kai was familiar and warm. I also loved learning about different Chinese customs that I haven't been exposed to before! This book made me crave some of the baked delicacies - I need to hunt down a bakery!

I'd definitely recommend this YA novel to contemporary lovers and those who want to read about a vibrant, heartfelt story.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for an ARC of this novel! Any quotes are taken from a uncorrected, proof copy and may not be reflective of finished product.

This was a cute story which is about two teens who help grant people's wishes but are afraid to grant their own which is having each other. This was such a wonderful story and was so glad to have picked it up. I have heard great things about Chao's stories and let me say that I wasn't disappointed. It was not just romance based but their was rekindling friendships, cultural learning and development. The storyline was very well development, nothing too special though as I have read something similar to this book before. The setting and pacing were great and I also enjoyed the whole lantern aspect of this book. I enjoyed learning about the MCs' cultures and how diverse this book was.

The main characters in this book are Liya and Kai. I really enjoyed both of their stories and how they developed throughout the book. Both character's perspectives had different purposes which I enjoyed as it all came together at the end. There was cute, light hearted chemistry between them which I know readers will enjoy. There are many side characters in this book but none truly stuck out to me. I do have to say that the family feud wasn't necessary as it distracted me from the book. The romance trope in this book is ex-friends to lovers (which is there is not a lot of) but has heavy miscommunication trope. I'm not a sucker for miscommunication and didn't like how long it lasted in the book. The romance is very platonic which is perfect for young readers.

The ending was cute and I was glad to have read this book. I enjoyed the story and would most likely be reading Chao's future books (and also their past works). I did have some minor issues with the book but overall it was very well written. I do recommend this book to readers who want a light, cute read that is diverse and has meaning behind it. It's especially perfect for young readers as it features developing friendship.

I really liked the ideas and premise behind When You Wish Upon a Lantern but the writing itself fell flat for me, and that simply could be because it seems to be written for a younger audience than I originally thought and to what the characters ages are. It's a fun and diverse story otherwise, it was just hard to suspend my beliefs.

💜 Book Review 🩷
When You Wish Upon a Lantern
Gloria Chao
Publishing: February 14, 2023

Special thank you to PenguinTeen and Gloria Chao for my digital copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

"Liya and Kai had been best friends since they were little kids, but all that changed when a humiliating incident sparked The Biggest Misunderstanding of All Time—and they haven’t spoken since.
Then Liya discovers her family's wishing lantern store is struggling, and she decides to resume a tradition she had with her beloved late grandmother: secretly fulfilling the wishes people write on the lanterns they send into the sky. It may boost sales and save the store, but she can't do it alone . . . and Kai is the only one who cares enough to help.
While working on their covert missions, Liya and Kai rekindle their friendship—and maybe more. But when their feuding families and changing futures threaten to tear them apart again, can they find a way to make their own wishes come true?"

This was such a sweet friend's to lovers YA romance. I loved the funny back-and-forth with the characters as they helped grant wishes and pretend not to like each other. I liked the added baking element and the many generations represented. I also really enjoyed getting to learn more about Chinese culture and the different festivals.
A very cute little story out just in time for Valentine's Day!


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Thank you for the digital copy, I ended up receiving a physical copy and will be reading and reviewing on my socials that way. Thank you again for the digital ARC.