Flashbulb Review | I Wish. . . by Wren Emerson

All she ever wanted was a chance to settle down in one place.

Thistle Nettlebottom knows her life isn’t exactly normal. She travels the country with her secretive mother and bestselling author grandmother in a pink RV going from book signings to crazy research trips. She’s never been to public school or had a boyfriend, but she can pick a lock and hotwire a car. One day the phone rings and they set a course to a tiny town that’s not on any maps. Suddenly, Thistle finds her whole life changing.

She’s finally found the home she’s been searching for.

Thistle soon realizes that Desire isn’t like other towns and she’s not like other girls. The family she trusted has lied to her about everything her entire life and the things she doesn’t know about herself could cost her everything. Her legacy as one of the most powerful witches the town has ever seen has made her enemies that have been waiting patiently for a chance to destroy her. Thistle needs to learn to use her powers to protect herself before they succeed.

Be careful what you wish for.

Thistle has a power unique even among the magic wielding witches of Desire. She can wish things into existence. At first she enjoys the freedom of having everything her heart desires, but she soon realizes that her power comes at a terrible price. She’s losing her grip on her sanity at a time when she can’t afford any weakness. Her enemies are closing in quickly, but she might not have the strength to save herself. (Goodreads summary)

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In I Wish… Emerson has created a complex, original world that is as intriguing as it is terrifying. Politics, amorality and ruthlessness abound in the town of Desire, where Thistle quickly learns that almost everyone she knows, her friends, her family and her enemies, are involved in an ongoing and calculated power struggle, and she has just become the most influential player on the board.

Thistle is an interesting character. A girl who grew up on the road with her dictatorial grandmother and emotionally estranged mother, she dreams of someday escaping her grandmother’s stranglehold and having a normal life with picket fences and a family of her own. When news reaches them that Thistle’s great grandmother is on her deathbed, she is all the sudden returned to her hometown. Thistle knows very little about her family history, knows even less about her true identity, and she begins to discover that the idyllic little town of Desire is harboring dark secrets and a strange way of life below the surface. Thistle’s transformation as a character from wallflower to more or less embracing what she is, is gradual and natural and I can’t wait to see what she will do in the next book in regards to her relationships with friends and family (And boys! One boy in particular…), her place in Desire, and how she might change things in her world for the better.