Very fun and sweet, but also emotional. It's a bit cheesy (ok maybe a lot), but it's a tender tale about hopes and finding happiness.

I am a huge fan of Habershaw's "Saga of the Redeemed," so I was thrilled to see new work by him. This book is for sure WILDLY different from that series, but I was hoping the humor and heart would still be there - they are. Often humorous fantasy gives off very try-hard vibes, which I find very off-putting and make me DNF them before even getting halfway through. Maybe Habershaw's humor is just more to my liking, but this is a fun and funny read and the humor doesn't come off as forced or I-think-I'm-funny-but-I'm-just-annoying vibes.
Maybe I want all my beloved fantasy authors to write a cozy fantasy book or two now!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest review!

~Thank you NetGalley for providing me this eARC!

If Wishes Were Retail is a whimsical story about a young girl named Alex who starts working at a mall kiosk for a genie who has started a business selling wishes. Set in 2023, this book has a lot of contemporary references to pop culture and things like the pandemic, which had impact on Alex’s lonely circle at the point of this book.

I found the relationship between Alex and the genie to be very cute and silly, and the growth between the two characters was very wholesome to see. I thoroughly enjoyed all the scenes within the mall, where wishes were being granted left right and centre. The characterisation of both characters - the clueless genie from another time and the angsty teen who wants to skip town - created a fun atmosphere between the two.

The family drama aspect was also interesting, but unfortunately didn’t have as much depth as I would’ve liked. Both the Dad and brother only become likeable characters in the last chapter and epilogue, and the mother isn’t really given much to do as she’s absent for most of the story.

Despite this, I found this to be a very enjoyable read full of silly wishes and plenty of gnomes!

"If Wishes Were Retail" by Auston Habershaw was quite the enjoyable story. Alex is a typical suburban teen looking for a summer job. She is looking for a way out of her boring and troubled life. Her parents are on the verge of divorce, her brother is a slacker who just parrots pretty much whatever her father says, her friends are non-existent. In truth, Alex is marking time, hoping to make enough money to head to college and to get away from the dead-end life her family and town seem to offer her. She stumbles on a job working at the mall -- to help a genie who is opening a new kiosk to grant wishes.

The absurdity of the premise works surprisingly well to demonstrate the lesson Habershaw is wishing to impart. The supporting characters are a little too cookie cutter, but Alex's and the genie's characters were well developed. The story's origin as a short story that just continued to grow was fairly evident. I was surprised how long it kept going on; not because I wanted the story to end, but rather because I was afraid it was going to end too soon. While the story did have a satisfactory conclusion, there were elements I wish had been more fleshed out. Still, the story was enjoyable and the fantasy elements mixed with the modern setting were just fun. I look forward to reading additional works by Habershaw.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publishing for the opportunity to read the eARC of this title.

If Wishes Were Retail is the humorous urban fantasy we all need right now.If you’ve ever worked retail in a mall (I’ve done two stints as a bookseller in malls), there’s an extra dimension in this novel. As the genie attempts to create a vocation from wish granting, teen protagonist Alex tries to negotiate the promise of granted wishes with the real needs and desires of their customers. And we learn that any wish, once granted, has unforeseen consequences.

There’s also the story of Alex's attempt to deal with her dysfunctional family, and her desire to escape the mundanity of suburbia for the promise of college life in New York.

And then there are the gnomes: seemingly everywhere ,performing the maintenance tasks of mall, landscape, and mechanics.

Habershaw’s genie is a wonderful creation, who expresses incredulity every to time Alex tries to explain how life has changed from the world he knew in ages past.

Lovely ending.

If Wishes Were Retail.
By Auston Habershaw.
June 2025. 256p. Tachyon, paper, $16.95 (9781616964344); e-book (9781616964351).
REVIEW. First published April 2, 2025 (Booklist Online).

Habershaw’s contemporary fantasy adventure is sassy and snarky but with soul. It is 2023, and all 17-year-old Alex Delmore wants is to escape her family and go to college. Her parents are constantly fighting, mostly due to her father being obsessed with conspiracy theories—he thinks gnomes are stealing his landscaping clients—and get-rich-quick schemes. The most recent scheme had such a severe impact on their finances that Alex was told she could not remain unemployed. But finding a job in their small town is not easy, so when she sees an online posting for a sales job with a genie, she is skeptical but desperate enough to take a chance. Turns out the genie is real and recently escaped the ring he had been trapped in for millennia. Now he wants to sell wishes at the local mall, but he needs someone to help him understand the twenty-first century. How Alex learns to deal with an obnoxious being of unlimited cosmic power and gains a better understanding of her fractured family is riotously funny and surprisingly poignant.

Alex Delmore has a dilemma. She want out of her town and but her family situation makes that almost impossible to fulfill her dream of NYU. So she goes hunting for a job and lands a gig as the front-person for the genie who has opened a wishing kiosk at the local mall. What could possibly go right? But every time the duo seem to get a grasp on how to get ahead, something else pops up - lawsuits, mall regulations, stupidity of people, etc. So how does a girl get ahead in this game? Basically by thinking way, way outside the box, and choosing a different game to participate in. An interesting look at what happens when people forget how to interact with others except on a commercial basis. Nice cover art too!

Thanks Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for the chance to read this title!

This book has not been copyedited. Please fix the grammar before you sell this to people. The first 2 pages are fun, though.

I had a very mixed reaction to this book! On one hand, it's a cozy fantasy with some funny moments. On the other hand, the main character is burdened with an extremely toxic family and makes frustrating decisions. (Also, some of the humor is kind of slapstick and gross-out. I am not a fan of mean spirited humor.) The setting is kind of interesting, in that it's a modern one, with with urban fantasy situation of "magical beings just returned/turned up one day and now we're dealing with the fall out." (In this case the magical beings are a genie who wants to run a kiosk in a dying mall and a bunch of gnomes who are working multiple terrible, low paying jobs.)
Our Protagonist is a girl named Alex who is trying to get a job so that she can eventually pay for college and escape the town she grew up in. And she has very valid reasons for wanting to escape! Her dad's landscaping company is tanking due to very stupid financial decisions, an affair and competition from gnomes. The dad is also a conspiracy theory nut, and a "sovereign citizen." Her mom is under a lot of stress in regards to her own work, and her husband being a wingnut. Her brother is wingnut 2.0. Our Girl is not having a good time!

The genie hires Alex. Alex has the not-so-wonderful job of running the cash register and trying to explain the modern world to the genie. (She does not do very well at this. Her own base knowledge is very low, and her ability to get through to the genie limited. It is the blind leading the blind right over a cliff.) With the outcomes of many of wishes being...not great (mostly by accident rather than out of inherent malice) this wish granting business becomes a liability for the mall, which is dying anyway.
The book has some funny moments, but the type of humor is generally not a variety I vibe with. While I felt sympathy for the protagonist, I didn't actually like her. The genie was an interesting character with some depth, but his absolute stubborn refusal to figure out how to live in the modern age was kind of exasperating.

This book is probably going to be best for anyone who likes petty vengeance, watching wingnuts embarrass themselves and some of the silliest "there is no ethical consumption under late-stage capitalism" jokes you've ever read. This review is based on a galley copy received from NetGalley.

This was so cozy and warming and cute. I have a great feeling with the main protagonist, Alex and, obviously, the Jinn. The story was also very well connected, and the prose was stunning. I want to read more about this author

Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book as 50% of the way in, I realised that the story was nothing like my expectations from how it was described in the blurb. I was looking for cosy Aladdin meets modern world. Instead I got an angst young adult who is so audacious with attitude I couldn't connect with at all. A Jinn that while was okay definitely did not give off cosy fantasy at all. A world where there was suddenly gnomes that people accepted as normal but not a genie. I feel as if the story would have been better suited for a fully magical world where magical creatures live along side humans it would have been more interesting and give off the vibe of cosy fantasy. Also the family was frustrating at best and abusive at worst. I don't know why it needed to be written that way. If differently executed could have been a great story.

Alex needs a job so she can save up and move out of her dead-end suburban town. Jinn, a genie, is trying to sell wishes at a mall but knows nothing about the 21st century. Together, they pair up to make it work—despite constant setbacks: the mall’s management wants them gone, people are terrible at making wishes, and what?? There are gnomes here??

The premise of this book was definitely intriguing! It started out strong—it was funny, had some magical intrigue, and would be relatable to anyone who’s ever just wanted to save some money and GTFO.

It was fascinating to think about what people in the 21st century would wish for. Some wishes were selfish, some selfless, and some just for the lols. Soon, you start to realise the limitations of wishes. Even if everyone had a genie who would grant their wishes, it wouldn’t magically solve all their problems or make society better.

That said, the point of the story only became clearer after reading the author’s afterword—which means I couldn’t get it from the narrative itself. I think the story could’ve used a lot more development. I didn’t quite get the bit about the gnomes or why everyone so easily accepted the existence of gnomes and genies. And I HATED Alex’s family; I didn’t think they deserved any empathy or redemption (or at least the writing didn’t move me that way).

Cool concept, but the writing just wasn’t for me.

Rating: A-

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC.

If Wishes Were Retail is a light-hearted supernatural fantasy about Alex, a 17-year-old, living in a crappy small American town with her dysfunctional family. Her mother works in a grocery store, her father has a lawn-mowing business supported by her brother, and Alex was recently fired from a sandwich shop. When she starts her new job search, she comes across an ad for a strange new stand in the local mall staffed by...a genie.

I thoroughly enjoyed this little book. It was so funny, refreshing and enjoyable. Alex's struggles are so relatable, being stuck in a small town with almost no way out and struggling to make your own way. Everyone seems to want to keep her down and in the town, telling her to recognise where she's really from and how she's no different. Her relationship with the genie starts tense and frustrating but the development across the course of the book is so genuinely fun and lovely to see. I had a great time reading about Alex's father's mishaps and the hijinks of the genie with the people coming for wishes.

It reminded me of the cheerful comedy of Wallace and Gromit or of a Ghibli movie.

This is a great little book that everyone can enjoy

This was a super fun novel - it was funny and clever. It was a fast-paced comforting read that had a lot of heart. If the description appeals to you, I'd definitely recommend that you check it out.

Not a bad read. Not a great one either. Started off with great potential for humour but unfortunately the author left a lot on the table and by the end it was very sanctimonious. Perhaps I am not the target market for this book, but it did feel that the author got very carried away with beating the reader over the head with the lesson. In the end, Alex became one dimensional and a bit hard to take and the side plots of her family were unimaginative and predictable. So many missed opportunities to make this hilarious while still making the point. And if that wasnt bad enough, the self righteous authors letter at the end of the book was so sickly and self aggrandising it made my teeth hurt. I think the author needs to decide who he is writing for. If its adults, then please give us more credit at being able to get the gist without it being shoved down our throat.

A genie sets up a stall selling wishes, with teenaged Alex as assistant and lots of things happen. It was a wave of emotions from enjoying it; to getting bored then enjoying again. My favourite characters were undoubtedly the Gnomes. I lived for the gnomes in this tale. I don’t know whether it was the Alex, who just annoyed me with her teenager attitude or whether there were times when the genie just should have granted certain wishes just to add excitement to the plot. I don’t know how I feel. This book was read quickly so I must have enjoyed it more than I thought. Personally, I think the title is cheap and could be worked on.

At first, I thought this was a graphic novel, so it was a funny surprise to realize it’s actually a book. The premise is so intriguing that I couldn’t wait to dive in. I loved how the plot revolved around the concept of a "wishes stand." It was such a fascinating idea, and watching it unfold was a highlight for me.

However, the subplot involving the family drama didn’t click with me. The family was so problematic, and honestly, they never grew on me. They had their struggles, sure, but I couldn’t empathize with their issues. To be blunt, I despised the dad and the brother—they were insufferable.

On the other hand, the wishes people made felt surprisingly realistic, like the kinds of things you’d imagine people actually asking for if wishes were real. Honestly, I might have been tempted to make a wish or two myself!

As for the ending, it didn’t completely satisfy me, but I can see how it might have been the best fit for the story overall. It left me with mixed feelings, but in a way that kept me thinking about it afterward.

Pub Date: June 17, 2025

Actually ends up diving into the economic and political fallout of a world where genies and gnomes exist, and gets the gnomes to organize politically while the story is at it, while also focusing on a teenage girl whose family is rapidly falling apart and is trying desperately to get out of town. Political engagement in the cozy genre is rare, so this is already shooting up my recommended list.

*an advanced digital copy was received from NetGalley in return for an honest review*

This novel was witty, cozy and chaotic - making it super fun to read. The premise of this book is that a genie shows up in a small town and works together with a teenage girl to sell wishes at a mall. I absolutely love this idea! While it leans on humor, the story leaves readers with profound questions by the end.

Our story starts with a newly freed genie who wants to grant wishes, but curiously chooses to do so at a mall. He teams up with Alex - a small town girl, hailing from a complicated family and wanting to escape the monotony of her life. She is a hilarious, honest, and cheeky where the genie is short tempered, brooding, and mysterious. This combination of characters is electric and makes the banter between them hilarious to read.

The world is set in our world - making it very relatable! This world, however, has the genie, gnomes and probably nameless other mythical creatures. Like any other retail store, the genie and Alex run into countless problems that they have to find unique ways to navigate around. The creativity behind the wishes people made added charm and unpredictability to the story.

The ending was heartwarming and left me reflecting on the deeper implications of getting one’s wishes granted. The author’s afterword ties everything together beautifully, giving the story even more depth.

This fast-paced, refreshing read is perfect for anyone needing a pick-me-up book with a unique premise and plenty of laughs.

Thanks again NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a fun concept and enjoyed the fantasy element to this book, it was everything that I was hoping for based on the description. I was invested in what was happening and how the story worked in the genre. Auston Habershaw has great way of writing this type of book and was engaged with the characters. I enjoyed this and thought the use of genies worked in this.