Review : Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire

Summary (from Goodreads)

When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school. 

In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilirating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen.

But on the inside, Ayla is still Annie.

So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life and head home to Pittsburgh, will she take it?

The choice isn't as simple as you think.

Personal Thoughts

"How original!" was my very first thought when I came across Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire on Goodreads. When I saw that the book was available on NetGalley, I didn't hesitate once to request an ARC of it and I was super excited to have been approved! Unlike many of the books that I've had high expectations for, Don't You Wish was an utter delight !

Annie Nutter, our main character, is an "Invisible".  She is a nobody at her school and is often mistreated and made fun of by the popular kids at her school. Because of this constant embarrassment, Annie craves popularity, gorgeous clothes, a prettier face and a love life. When she finds her mother crying over a magazine featuring her ex-boyfriend, Jim Monroe, now a billionaire plastic surgeon, she wonders what life would have been like to have been born to her mom and Jim instead of her mom and dad. That same day, her father, who is an inventor and a collector of useless things, creates this wacky mirror that shows you in a different, more perfect way. Annie wakes up the next morning in a different bed, a different body and different universe. She's no longer Annie Nutter, but she's Ayla Monroe. 

Ayla is popular, rich, beautiful, has an immense closet with pretty clothes and a super hot boyfriend. To Annie, this is a dream come true. However, soon, it dawns on Annie that being all these things doesn't necessarily mean happiness.
 

Annie had a very likable personality. She had the kind of voice that was warm and funny. I couldn't help but love her character. Sure, at first it bothered me a little bit that she wanted to be popular this much, but gradually I began to understand her feelings by the events that occur in the book.
When she wakes up as Ayla, I thought for sure she would let the popularity get into her head until she would do something so drastic that would unrepairable until too late. However, she proved me wrong, which is why I really enjoyed her character. She was an emotionally strong character who stood up for herself and for the right things. I loved how supportive she was of people who were being mistreated by Ayla's friends, although they threatened to break off their friendship and put an end to her popularity. Wise and smart, Annie always did the right thing and I looked up to her for that.

In Ayla's life, Annie meets with Charlie. Charlie was a "homeless" scholarship student who was looked down upon and ostracized in his posh school. People insulted him, bullied him, made fun of him and basically, didn't let him live in peace. He has no friends and if people even dare to say a word to him, they were frowned upon. Some of the things that the popular kids did to him outraged and revolted me so much that I was glad I wasn't part of that life. Nevertheless, Charlie had a really positive attitude to his life in general. He was also a terribly sweet guy and I loved how nice he was to Annie. Overall, I found Charlie to be an adorable cute nerd who saw Annie's soul in Ayla.

The romance in this book was my favorite kind. Cute. It develops from friendship and blossoms into a romantic relationship. I liked how Annie and Charlie actually get to know and understand each other before jumping into a relationship. They were truly a heart-melting couple who had me rooting for them to be together. I simply loved how they protected and stood by each other no matter what. According to me, the romance was simply perfect!

I won't deny that the secondary characters were pretty cliched. Popular cheerleaders, mean girls, nerds, jocks etc ...
Nevertheless, they were quite enjoyable and fun to read about.

The plot of the book wasn't exactly completely original. Numerous books about nerdy, invisible girls turning into popular girls have been written. The imaginative part of this book arises from the the whole switching into a different universe aspect.
Even with the over-used and predictable story line, Roxanne St Claire manages to create a refreshing story that is highly enjoyable. Her writing was smooth, charming and easy to follow. There is no doubt that I'll be picking up more from this author!

To sum up, this was a truly wonderful  book. Entwining friendship, love, family, need, wants and reality, the author has created a cute, light and sweet book that many readers will without doubt enjoy!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5

Big Thanks To Random House Children's Books for providing me with an ARC of this book.