Wishtress, by Nadine Brandes (BOOK REVIEW)

 "We may be on opposite sides, but that doesn't mean we're enemies."

Myrthe was born with the gift of being able to turn her tears into wishes. But her grandmother takes advantage of her and Mrythe wishes that she could just be normal. When a granted wish goes wrong, she is cursed; the next tear she sheds will cause her to die. She decides to travel to the Well to break the curse before she cries and before the king's military find her. 

Charming, handsome, powerful and rare Bastiaan has the job of finding the Wishtress and delivering her to the schloss. Before he turns her in Bastiaan wants a wish of his own. But gaining Myrthe's trust is harder than he thought it would be. But once he gets his wish he'll turn her in; right? Feelings and emotions don't always follow the plan and Bastiaan soon finds himself in love with the mysterious Wishtress. 

"Even after I told him, he didn't see me as broken. He saw me as Myrthe. Just Myrthe."

*deep breath* ok, there is a whole lot to unpack here so get ready for my very mixed feelings and ranting. When I think of this book my mind immediately goes to the romance and lemme' tell you the romance was really cute but it also felt rushed. I don't know, maybe it's just me but I feel like they barely knew each other. Yes, most books are like that and most times it's really just not possible to fit a lifetime of falling in love into a single book. But other than that I really loved the romance. It wasn't fluffy or based completely on looks or as my friend likes to say, "chills" it was sweet, fairly mild and fulfilling. And then my thoughts go to the rest of the book. I'm going to be completely honest and say that most of it was pretty boring, to me. The beginning really held my attention because I was still figuring out the world that the author was creating and I loved getting into the mix of things. But the middle of the books was really slow. I just wish that there was less back and forth and that there was maybe something more interesting. It was one of those books where the plot seemed a little dull because I knew everything was going to turn out just fine. After a slow mid-section the ending was just too rushed. I know! I know....I'm being really really picky. But pacing is everything! And the ending was a little confusing to me along with it feeling rushed. I really love Nadine Brandes and her writing is amazing but there was something about this book that needed more. It was missing something that I want in a book that makes me invested or interested in the outcome. 

The characters were decent. Bastiaan was really nice and kind *sigh* I liked him a lot. Mrythe wasn't "bad" nothing about her really stood out to me but at least she wasn't girl-bossy. 

With all that being said, I did like this book but it isn't my favorite. Don't get me wrong! There were a lot of things that I really loved about this book. The world building was on point and of course, like I said before, the romance was really sweet. The idea of a Wishtress and a Well of talents was a really interesting concept. I caught onto a lot of really good morals that were in-between the lines. A lot of elements of the straight and narrow paths were really cool to catch onto. Also, the quotes that I got from this book were so amazing and I wrote tons of them down! 

I give this book a 7 out of 10 and recommend it for ages 13+

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Happy Reading!

-Ariana :)