Make My Wish Reviewed

Make My Wish Come True by Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

#Contemporary #YA #RomCom #WLW #Holiday

CW: Dark Side of Hollywood (Discussion of Drug Use, Crafted Image, Anxiety, Manipulation), Toxic Parents (Abandonment, Abuse of Money, Neglect), Minor Injury, Underage Drinking, Capitalism

5/5

What's this? A review for a Christmas novel? In October? Why, it's not even Halloween yet! Look, I get it, imaginary audience! When Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick announced a holiday romance to be released in October, I assumed it would be a Halloween romance. They corrected my assumption, but I did suggest that they do a Halloween one in the future. How cool would that be? A Pittsburgh Halloween queer ya romcom? I'll be so excited if (when?) that happens. In the meantime, if you think I'm going to wait 3ish months to read a book by this couple, you just don't know me. I already had to miss the book launch because I caught Covid. My (impatience) eagerness was rewarded with Jewish rep! Yep, that's right! Make My Wish Come True is queer and Jewish!

Make My Wish Come True is a hallmark-esque interfaith holiday rom-com starring a small-town girl and a big-city actress. Arden James can't stay out of the news due to her bad-girl antics. Of course, her persona is fabricated by her agent. So when an amazing role could be hers if she'd just clean up her act and embrace her small-town roots, it's easy as flipping a switch. Or, it would be if she had been back home at all in the last 4 years. Her agent thinks the perfect solution is going back to Arden's small town outside of Pittsburgh and fake-dating the girl she left behind. That girl is Caroline Beckett, a journalist in the making, Christian and Jewish, a family girl, and an active member of her community. She never got over her crush on Arden, but she also never got over the hurt of being ghosted. When Arden appears 12 days before Christmas/Hanukkah, it's not easy to convince Caroline. Once she does, it shakes up both of their lives. Will it settle nicely like a snow globe or end up like a natural disaster? 

Hallmark is so resistant to doing their sappy sweet love stories with more diverse representation. Even when they do, they make it really hard to find if you don't catch it when it airs. I'm a sucker for a simple sweet romance in the Hallmark style, so I appreciate when I can get the diversity version in a book. Even better if it can have Natalie Naudus as a narrator. The queerness in this just is, no one was queerphobic, something that just wouldn't have a place in such a wholesome story. There are a few things that aren't so wholesome, but bigotry is not one of them. Arden and Caroline aren't the only gay ones around, the audience will find queer characters all over Make My Wish Come True! So if you're picking this book up for cute queer rep, you'll be quite happy.

You'll also be happy if you're picking it up for Jewish representation. Although, it's not well advertised as being a Hannukka book yet, so perhaps you won't be. Caroline and her family are of mixed faith, both Jewish and Christian. The small Pennsylvanian town is VERY Christmas-centric. They rely on it for their tourism. It quietly bothers Caroline and others that anything aside from Christianity is made to feel "other", especially during December. Hanukkah starts on Christmas this year, making it such a convenient plot device in Make My Wish Come True. Caroline hopes to help the town get its tourism back, but she also wants to go a new direction with it. She wants her Judaism and her fellow Jews to feel welcome. I don't know if Lippincott or Derrick grew up in a Jewish household, but they absolutely nailed what it feels like to be Jewish in America in December. I also loved the choice of applesauce for the latkes and that the cousin was named Hannah*!

I've talked about the representation in Make My Wish Come True and what it means to me, so now I'll discuss more on the writing side of things. Obviously, if you're looking for a sweet holiday romance, what you see is what you get. Throughout, Arden and Caroline were meant to go on 12 dates, but I wouldn't say that I remember all of them. However, there are some that stand out to me as the beautiful moments they were crafted to be. I don't want to spoil, but I will say I have a favorite. For those that have read it; the one with the passport. I love how much the town means to the characters and the plot. It's sweet and well-developed as a setting. I also appreciated the lack of the Big Fight trope. There're ways to create climatic problems for a couple without incorporating a toxic fight that kills the chemistry between them. Lippincott and Derrick show that they know how to do this. They also are great at character creation. Arden's grandmother, Eadie (not sure on the spelling) was such a strong person emotionally. She's what Arden needs after her 4 years away. Then there's Taylor, a girl with a crush on Caroline. She's cool, understanding, and has a great arc. This book also has a wonderfully written villain, but I'm definitely not going to clue potential readers into that one. 

Alyson Derrick and Rachel Lippincott are amazing writers, together and on their own. I'll recommend any books they've written, which absolutely includes Make My Wish Come True. If a small-town queer girl trying to make it work with her childhood-bff-turned-celebrity appeals to you, you've come to the right book! You don't even need to wait for the holidays to read it!

*Is she named after me? That'd be too cool!