I guess what I’m saying here is that Sedoti’s writing is good. And Norie seems to lose a lot of her religious gumption whenever she’s with Eldon. Merrill is a strong tongued fun loving guy, but his character continuously caves to Eldon in a way that doesn’t agree with how he’s written in the beginning of the book. It isn’t a developed enough change to make it worth the end result.Įldon is a character who muks up everyone else writing wise. What small growth does appear at the end of the book is too little too late.

Now, that’s fine for a protagonist normally when you see an element of growth to follow. He clearly thinks the entire world is about him. He’s selfish and doesn’t think of others. He takes his frustration out physically on the people who wrong him. But when they’re up against Eldon, it falls apart for me. Norie is my favorite Merrill is also a hit. The background is natural and never seems forced. I heartily appreciate her style of world building and the way that she spreads the details out through historical journal notations of previous wishes. I read a few other reviewers, and that seems to be the most common complaint. My biggest problem with this book is that I absolutely hate Eldon. Should he wish for himself, or should he wish to help his family? Or should he be only the second person in the history of Madison to not wish at all? The most notable restriction is that they can’t make a wish that will lead others to discover wishing. The plot concept struck me as refreshing: In the town of Madison, everyone gets one wish when they turn 18 years old that wish can be for anything they’d like–with some restrictions, of course. (Jan.I had high hopes for Chelsea Sedoti’s As You Wish. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary & Media.

She successfully captures the feelings of uncertainty that come with nascent adulthood, the desire to leave home, and waiting for one’s life to begin. The countdown structure creates a natural hook, and Sedoti ( The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett) makes good use of her what-if premise to give readers much to consider. He discovers that most wishes have made the wishers’ lives worse, and that a perfect wish may not exist. Eldon decides to research past wishes and their outcomes third-person interludes appear between Eldon’s first-person chapters, detailing various citizens’ wishes.

Eldon has 25 days to figure out what matters most to him, and everyone has an opinion (his mother pressures him to wish for the money they desperately need to save his sister, who is on life support). For 17-year-old Eldon, his windblown hometown in the Mojave Desert is “the kind of place you wanna leave as quick as you can.” What it isn’t, however, is ordinary: the town’s residents are able to make a wish on their 18th birthday, which comes true.

As you wish book chelsea sedoti