tlg12345's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
- Amazing book
- Make sure to read first and third to
- RECOMEND.RECOMEND.RECOMEND
steindi's review against another edition
2.0
DNF | i really couldn’t get into it and i didn’t finish it! i didn’t liked the first book and so i gave up on the deco book. just not for me
kitkatmichelle's review against another edition
4.0
WARNING: A bit spoilery, so proceed with caution!!!!
I'm surprised there are so many negative reviews for this book. I remember reading and enjoying the first book, "Wishing Day," but this one was just so... pretty. And I'm not talking about the cover (though the cover is GORGEOUS). I'm talking about the story.
So. We have Darya. In the first book, Darya is rather annoying, but in this book I liked her. She had many flaws, but she tried so hard to be selfless, and for those of us in real life who try to put others in front of ourselves, we can relate. It's hard to be a "good" person. Darya was trying extremely hard at times, and I love her because she felt VERY real to me.
"Wishing Day" ended with a cliffhanger. Mama is alive, and she's NEAR, because she left those notes where Natasha could find them.
In "The Forgetting Spell," Natasha tells Darya that Mama is back in Willow Hill, and she met her. Natasha MET with Mama for coffee! It's like a dream come true for Darya and all the Blok sisters... until she meets Mama herself. Mama has changed. She won't come home, she won't tell Papa, and she wants Darya to use one of her Wishing Day wishes for HER, to bring back someone she "disappeared" with her own wish years ago, which led to her abandonment of her family.
But Darya wants answers first. And the only one she can confide in, it seems, is the new girl Tally, who is in an even tougher family situation.
Speaking of Tally, she was wonderful! She wasn't likeable, but I liked her anyway :) I guess it was her sense of humor, really. Darya's sisters are amazing. Ava seemed younger than eleven-turning-twelve, but she was so sweet. Natasha was so caring, and after "Wishing Day," we already know how she thinks - have been inside her head - so it was easy to see her logic for certain things. Darya's mom... I didn't like her very much. It upset me that she would leave just because she was oh so sad about making that certain person disappear. Sure, she was miserable, so much so that it was affecting her mental health, but to leave her husband and daughters behind??? Bad move. Very bad move.
The style was beautiful and unique, and by the end of the book, I wanted to hug everyone. Darya, Ava, Mama. Heck, I've even warmed up to the Bird Lady! However, there are mysteries yet unsolved, so I eagerly await the next book in this set of lovely stories by Lauren Myracle :)
I'm surprised there are so many negative reviews for this book. I remember reading and enjoying the first book, "Wishing Day," but this one was just so... pretty. And I'm not talking about the cover (though the cover is GORGEOUS). I'm talking about the story.
So. We have Darya. In the first book, Darya is rather annoying, but in this book I liked her. She had many flaws, but she tried so hard to be selfless, and for those of us in real life who try to put others in front of ourselves, we can relate. It's hard to be a "good" person. Darya was trying extremely hard at times, and I love her because she felt VERY real to me.
"Wishing Day" ended with a cliffhanger. Mama is alive, and she's NEAR, because she left those notes where Natasha could find them.
In "The Forgetting Spell," Natasha tells Darya that Mama is back in Willow Hill, and she met her. Natasha MET with Mama for coffee! It's like a dream come true for Darya and all the Blok sisters... until she meets Mama herself. Mama has changed. She won't come home, she won't tell Papa, and she wants Darya to use one of her Wishing Day wishes for HER, to bring back someone she "disappeared" with her own wish years ago, which led to her abandonment of her family.
But Darya wants answers first. And the only one she can confide in, it seems, is the new girl Tally, who is in an even tougher family situation.
Speaking of Tally, she was wonderful! She wasn't likeable, but I liked her anyway :) I guess it was her sense of humor, really. Darya's sisters are amazing. Ava seemed younger than eleven-turning-twelve, but she was so sweet. Natasha was so caring, and after "Wishing Day," we already know how she thinks - have been inside her head - so it was easy to see her logic for certain things. Darya's mom... I didn't like her very much. It upset me that she would leave just because she was oh so sad about making that certain person disappear. Sure, she was miserable, so much so that it was affecting her mental health, but to leave her husband and daughters behind??? Bad move. Very bad move.
The style was beautiful and unique, and by the end of the book, I wanted to hug everyone. Darya, Ava, Mama. Heck, I've even warmed up to the Bird Lady! However, there are mysteries yet unsolved, so I eagerly await the next book in this set of lovely stories by Lauren Myracle :)
whimsicallymeghan's review against another edition
3.0
Darya’s wishing day is approaching, but she doesn’t exactly believe in all the magic as much as her family does. Looking to escape it all, instead she finds herself getting deeper and deeper into it as her long lost mother returns and things she thought she’d forgotten start to resurface. This novel was all over the place. First off, this only sort of started where we left off. Time has elapsed since the first novel and this left the reader feeling extremely confused because how that one ended, we were looking forward to how it would all play out; instead, everything the reader anticipated was skipped and left out and now we’re moving on to more from this magical family. This was also really confusing because the author kept alluding to these grander plans and plots, but then either didn’t expand on them or completely excluded them from the story and we’re left to pick up the pieces. It was fast-paced, but it was especially frustrating to read with what felt like half-baked plots. The characters didn’t help either because they didn’t really hit their stride, either. The reader thought we’d get more from already established characters, but we didn't, if anything, they became background noise and new characters were brought in but they were also only one dimensional. There are so many mysteries surrounding the people and places in this trilogy, but we’re not given enough to put together, we’re given little bits that don’t seem to be fitting together. The sisterly bond was so well set up in the first book, but this one lacked so much of that connection and instead had all the characters fighting the entire time. This one wasn’t as heavy as the first one either; the author tried to bring in mental health rep, but it wasn’t as well done, it felt more like it was slapped on. The reader enjoyed the idea of this story, but this novel felt like it lost the plot.
cherylanntownsend's review against another edition
5.0
Darya has just turned 13 and can now follow a long-shared tradition of making 3 wishes at the Wishing Tree. A wish for an impossible, one they can make come true and the 3rd is their deepest, heart-felt desire. Her older sister, Natasha did hers last year, a younger, Ava, will next year. But Darya already has some magic working in her life. She had long ago asked the mysterious and quirky "Bird Lady" to help her perform a forgetting spell. It worked so well, that she doesn't remember doing it, but snippets return, as needed, to bring what now needs to be done to present. But will Darya allow the magic she denies to happen?
The girls are living with their heart-broken father and the 2 sisters of their mother who disappeared 8 years ago. It's a loving core, albeit damaged by the unknown. Fluttering on the outskirts is the "bird lady" who seems to know all that needs to be done and why anything happens. It's a quirky read with a hidden intent. There is again a long kept secret letters from their mother before she left, but this time, Darya reads it after meeting with her mother. A troubled past intrudes on Darya's present and resentment abounds. I am anxious to read the next book when the youngest, Ava, will make her wishes. That will solve the mystery of Emily, the reason the mother left to begin with.
The girls are living with their heart-broken father and the 2 sisters of their mother who disappeared 8 years ago. It's a loving core, albeit damaged by the unknown. Fluttering on the outskirts is the "bird lady" who seems to know all that needs to be done and why anything happens. It's a quirky read with a hidden intent. There is again a long kept secret letters from their mother before she left, but this time, Darya reads it after meeting with her mother. A troubled past intrudes on Darya's present and resentment abounds. I am anxious to read the next book when the youngest, Ava, will make her wishes. That will solve the mystery of Emily, the reason the mother left to begin with.
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