Book Review: Nicholas Sparks “The Wish”
Last night I finally finished the book “The Wish” by Nicholas Sparks. I wanted to write this review while all the feels from reading it are still fresh.
If you haven’t read the book and plan on doing so please exit this review because there will be spoilers.
I’m not by any means a book critic, but I believe this is a good way to express my thoughts on the story. This was my first time actually reading a book by Nicholas Sparks, and I can see why his books are so popular.
What’s interesting is I wasn’t sure I was even going to finish the book once I got about half way through. In my opinion, it seemed to drag on quite a bit. However, the storytelling was very straightforward as it’s from the point of view of a 16-year-old. Even though I’m not a teenager anymore, it’s easy for me to relate with a 16-year-old because I remember that time in my life quite vividly.
I loved how the main character, Maggie, transforms in the book. She’s an ordinary teenager from Seattle who happens to get pregnant by a guy. She wasn’t even in a real relationship with this person- it kind of just happened. She goes away to North Carolina to live with her aunt so that she can carry out her pregnancy in privacy. Her parents decided it would be best to give the baby up for adoption, and then Maggie was to return to her old life back in Seattle. And kind of move on as if nothing happened.
She ends up falling in love with a very nice guy in North Carolina, while she in fact is still pregnant with someone else’s child. Towards the end of the book, the guy she fell in love with in North Carolina (Bryce) proposes to her and promises to treat her well, and to take care of the baby as if it's his own child.
Now I don’t want to give away too much of the story so I’ll stop there with the synopsis.
But I want to say that I ABSOLUTELY despised how Maggie’s parents treated her. Specifically the mom. I wish (no pun intended) that the book further explored the relationship between Maggie and her parents. I found Maggie’s mom to be extremely negative and whiny and annoying. Like, we get it. Your daughter made a huge mistake that is going to forever alter her life. But you’re making it a zillion times worse with your attitude! If I was Maggie, I would have probably gone “no contact” with my mom once I was an adult. She was very harsh with Maggie, especially after Maggie had the baby.
I always find it interesting when people treat others poorly but just expect that people will stick around because it’s family.
One aspect that I loved about the book is how it highlighted how such a small portion of your life can be so significant, and really shape the person you become. Maggie was only in North Carolina for approximately 9 months but she grew so much as a person, and met the love of her life. That time in North Carolina also influenced her career path and sparked her joy for travel.
I also really liked how the book highlighted love. Love is such a strong force that it connected 2 teenagers despite one of them being pregnant. In society, we have so many “standards” for who we’ll date. They need to have X,Y,Z before the thought of a date is even considered. But in reality, anyone can fall in love with anyone despite their status, job title, how much money they have, etc.
All in all I give “The Wish” a 7.5/10.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve read it!
