Broken Wish is the first in a four-book fantasy series written by four different authors with four different settings and tied together by a magic mirror. Author Julie C. Dao kicks things off with the story of sixteen-year-old Elva, who is hiding the fact that she has magical abilities that allow her to see the future. After a particularly devastating vision, Elva is determined to do whatever she can to prevent it from happening… even if it means going off to find the powerful, rumored to be terrible Witch of the North Woods.
If this sounds like the making of a fairytale to you, you're in luck - that's basically exactly what this book is. Dao successfully invokes the feel of such a story, from the elements of the story (like the atmospheric setting, and the whimsical magic with a dark side) down to the narrative style (including how it ends). Her writing is very engaging, and it was all too easy to fly through this book once I started it.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that prevented me from loving this story even more: our main character Elva. I just didn't personally click with her as a character, and her voice came across as younger than I'd expected. And, as you might know if you've been a longtime reader of the blog, connecting with the main character is usually a big factor in my overall feelings about a story.
While I did like Broken Wish (especially viewing it through the lens of a fairytale fan), it ultimately ended up being less of a standout among my young adult fantasy reads for the year. I do find the fact that there are going to be three more novels in this series of interconnected tales very intriguing, and will likely pick up the next installment.
Pub Info: October 6, 2020 by Disney-Hyperion | Add it on Goodreads | Buy the book!
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