Review: I Wish For You by Camilla Isley

I Wish for You
Author: Camilla Isley
Release Date: 23 July 2015

If all your wishes could suddenly come true, what would you do? 

A year ago when the love of her life dumped her for no apparent reason, Ally thought she had hit rock bottom. But now that she has seen him with another woman, and one she knows only too well, her life seems to have reached a whole new level of low. 

Yet, when she stumbles across an ancient object infused with magical powers and a stranger with a dark past appears out of nowhere promising to grant all her wishes, she finds herself hoping again.
Suddenly Ally’s life is turned upside down; she has a mystery to solve, a rival to beat, a millenarian curse to break, and well, she wants to have some fun playing with her new “gifts”… 

But can she wish her way to happily ever after?

Review

I've been deliberating for a wee while what I wanted to say in this review, though I think I finally have my thoughts in order. There are things that I did very much enjoy in the story but there are also a few too many things that I didn't particularly like and held me back from really loving it. Let me explain why.

I really liked the general plot line- who wouldn't want to find themselves with their own genie and 5 wishes at their disposal? Ally is at a rather low point in her life after the love of her life dumps her and she finds out that he's dating her bitchy work nemesis. When Ally mysteriously winds up with a little jewellery box from an antiques market it seems her luck is looking up because this jewellery box is housing a genie. Ally decides to use her wishes to win back her love before it's too late.

I enjoyed some of the antics Ally and Arthur (the 'genie') get up to as Ally works to win back James. Whilst Ally could be quite fun, there were some aspects of her personality that I found really frustrating and stopped me from really connecting to the character. I found her on numerous occasions to be quite selfish, whiny and oblivious about other people's feelings. I wouldn't have minded the self-centered attitude since she's focused on winning James back, but it continues for so much of the story that I just got annoyed.
She also treats Arthur like crap more often than not, which makes the closeness of their relationship as the story progresses a bit unbelievable for me. I couldn't see the emotions develop between them until they're suddenly there at the end.
Saying that, I enjoyed Arthur's character and liked how he was out of place in this modern age. He could also be very sweet and gentlemanly, if a wee bit prudish- a product of his age! I also really liked the end and how everything came to be resolved. All the threads of the story were neatly tied up and didn't leave me with unanswered questions.

Overall, I liked elements of the story and it could be lots of fun but I just didn't click with Ally's character and that's always going to be an issue for me when I'm reading a book. Who knows, maybe it's just me and everyone else will love Ally, so it's not like I wouldn't recommend it. It's a fun and easy read, and might be more your cup of tea than mine.

*I received a review copy from the author for my honest opinion. Thank you!