Saturday, January 4, 2014

ARC Review: Stolen Wishes by Lexi Ryan

Title: Stolen Wishes (New Hope #1.5)
Author: Lexi Ryan
Publication date: January 7th 2014
Source: Received from author for review (Thanks sooo much, Lexi!)
Pre-order the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble



Cally… 
A sexy smile. Intense blue eyes. A goodness that makes him want to save me from these rumors when no one else would care. I didn't ask for a hero. William Bailey was never supposed to be anything more than a wish, a dream, an unrequited crush. Not for a girl like me--a girl whose fractured family has stolen her chance at a decent life.

William… 
Since the death of my parents, I've always done what’s expected of me, what's "best" for me. Until Cally. The moment her haunted eyes meet mine, the fractured pieces of my heart feel whole again. I don’t just want to save her. I need her to save me.

Stolen chances. Unbroken wishes. Two lonely souls grasping for hope in the darkness. 

(Image and summary taken from Goodreads.)

Review:

I was fortunate enough to have been given an early copy of this and since I absolutely adore Lexi Ryan and *cough*William*cough* I pounced on this book like a starved woman and oh. My. God. My heart, my poor little heart. You know that moment when you're riding a rollercoaster and you're at that point when the ride is just ascending and you don't know when it'll make that drop? Well, that's exactly what it felt like while I was reading Stolen Wishes, it's true that I did read Wish I May before Stolen Wishes (my review of Wish I May HERE <-- I loved it!) but that didn't stop me from enjoying this book, it actually made the experience more... exhilarating. There was a sense of foreboding, which was the "drop", but I didn't necessarily know when it was going to happen and that made me really anxious. It's literally you knowing what's going to happen before the characters do and you want to warn them sooo bad but you can't and all you can do is watch and feel with them. (I suggest you read this one before Wish I May if you don't want to develop masochistic tendencies. I'm being serious.)

I don't know how but Lexi Ryan made me actually love William more in this book. (I don't even have an residual feelings left for Asher anymore... Sorry, babe.) William is such an inherently good person but not too good, if you catch my drift. *waggles eyebrows* But in all seriousness, if you loved William in Wish I May, you'll find that your feelings for him will have grown stronger in this book. It's not because he's a sweet and swoony guy, it's because you'll catch glimpses of the man he'll turn into the future and trust me, you won't be disappointed. I love that William is such a simple guy, all the money that's thrown his way makes him uncomfortable and you can just see how human that makes him, that his need to be loved and his vulnerability is what makes him so perfectly imperfect, you know? I just love him, okay, ughhhhhh, I LOVE HIM. *runs away*

Stolen Wishes sheds some light as to how people really treated Cally and her family, and that made this book hurt all the more. Like Cally, I was in denial as to what was really happening with her mom but like all fantasies, they end so Cally (and I) had to face the reality of what her mother did and was going to do and I ugly cried. Yup. It was obvious that the only light in Cally's life were her sisters, her best friends (they're awesome, btw) and William. Even though her life was, excuse me for being blunt, super crappy, she still managed to be slightly optimistic because of these people but then we know that all good things never come without a prize and they sure as hell don't last that long either. But hey, your only consolation is that there's a full length novel about William and Cally's life seven-years later so you should definitely read that ASAP after reading this one. (See, Lexi Ryan isn't completely evil. *winky face*)

I cannot express how much I completely love Lexi Ryan's New Hope series and I cannot wait to read more (I'm super excited for Hanna's story! Eeeeep!!) and I don't doubt that I'll be even more impressed with the next books because Lexi Ryan will never stop surprising me, in a good way! Stolen Wishes is exactly what a reader looks for in a novella, short but not to the point of being rushed or lacking, gives a brief but loaded introduction to the novel it is accompanying and it leaves you wanting more, so much more, and if I hadn't already read Wish I May, I would be stalking Lexi Ryan right now to give me a copy of that book but since I already read it, she's safe from my creepiness. Stolen Wishes is a beautiful but heartbreaking book that shows you that life isn't all that bad... it's worse. Kidding... Maybe.

Rating:
.5

No comments:

Post a Comment