Title: The Wish List
Author: Jane Costello
Published: 11 April 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Twitter: @janecostello
Blog/website: www.janecostello.com
Synopsis
There are six months left of Emma Reiss’s twenties… and she has some unfinished business. Emma nad her friends are about to turn thirty, and for Emma it’s a defining moment. Defined, that is, by her having achieved none of the things she’d imagined she would. Her career is all wrong, her love life is a desert and that penthouse apartment she pictured herself in simply never materialised. Moreover, she’s never humped out of a plane, hasn’t met the man she’s going to marry, has never slept under the stars, or snogged anyone famous – just some of the aspirations on a list she and her friends compiled fifteen years ago. As an endless round of birthday parties sees Emma hurtle towards her own thirtieth, she sets about addressing these issues. But, as she discovers with hilarious consequences, some of them are trickier to tick off than she’d thought…
Review
Any book by Jane Costello is bound to be an enjoyable read and, as such, I sat down to read The Wish List with great anticipation.
The main protagonist, Emma Reiss, is fast approaching her thirtieth birthday when she comes across a list that she wrote when she was only 15 years old, listing everything she wanted to do or achieve by the time she hit thirty. Upon reading the list, Emma realises how little she has achieved and becomes determined to tick off as many things from the list as possible before her thirtieth birthday. Along the way, Emma runs into relationship woes, makes new friends and throws herself head first into a few activities that she would not otherwise contemplate doing!
Emma is a great character and a perfect chick-lit heroine. She is likeable, fun and completely relatable to the average reader. Similarly, the supporting characters are also well-written and completely believeable. Each of those characters not only support’s the main storyline but also come with a sub-plot of their own – Cally, a single mum who has sworn off men, and Asha, a lovely girl who has become involved with a married man. Not to mention the male supporting characters: perfect Rob, grumpy & geekly Miles and sexy father Matt.
The writing is brilliant and the author manages to pack a number of great sub-plots into a relatively modest sized book. The Wish List is a humerous and engaging read, packed full of love, friendship, drama and a few hilarious disasters! The book had me in fits of laughter in some places (particularly when she takes Rob camping!) and left me with tears in my eyes in other places.
On a personal note, The Wish List did make me stop and think what I have achieved leading up to my thirties and what other things I may want to do before I hit my next decade!
I thoroughly enjoyed The Wish List and Jane Costello remains one of my go-to authors. If you’re looking for a fun, easy and addictive read, you won’t be disappointed!
I’m very much looking forward to reading Jane’s new novel, The Love Shack, which is due to be published this week on 23 April 2015.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Buy Links
Amazon UK: Paperback – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857205560
Amazon US: Paperback – http://amzn.com/0857205560
Kindle – http://amzn.com/B007JLVTP8
About the Author
Jane Costello was a newspaper journalist before she became an author, working on the Liverpool Echo, the Daily Mail and the Liverpool Daily Post, where she was Editor.
Jane’s first novel, Bridesmaids, was an instant best-seller and her subsequent novels have been shortlisted for a number of prizes including The Melissa Nathan Award for Romantic Comedy and the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic Comedy award, which she won in 2010 with The Nearly Weds.
Jane lives in Liverpool with her fiancé Mark and three young sons
The Curious Ginger Cat 