Review: When You Wish by Kristin Harmel

Feb 16, 2010 by shanyn

Author: Kristin Harmel

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: June 9, 2009

Star Beck is super-duper megastar famous. She rocks–literally–every night in concert for thousands of cheering fans. But the pop star life–tour buses, fauxmances, size 0 minis–is getting a little old. Star can’t help wondering what it would be like to be a regular girl–without paparazzi trailing her every move, and without people being nice just because, well, she’s Star Beck. And when she discovers that her mom has been lying to her for years about something very important, Star decides to find out what the world beyond her stage is like after all.

In the blink of an emerald green eye, Star finds herself . . . buying a car. Eating cheeseburgers. Swapping her stilettos for flip-flops. Getting a job that doesn’t require dancing, winking, or mall appearances. And falling for the cutest, realest boy she’s ever met. But how will she know if he feels the same way? Because for once in her life, someone is going to have to like her for who she really is.

The basic plot is a young pop star who decides she wants away from the limelight. Star Beck’s popular lifestyle is described well in the first portion of the book – we learn about her mom’s strict eating rules, her tight schedule, and how she doesn’t go to school anymore because she graduated 2 years earlier than normal. We also learn about her fake boyfriend relationship that is only for the cameras and newspapers. After running away, we follow our character through many issues she did not have to deal with before because of her fame and fortune.

This book was enjoyable, but not one I necessarily loved. I did enjoy reading about her famous life and how she adapted to a more “normal” routine, but some of the relationships didn’t get deep enough for me. Overall it was a good story, though I did enjoy Italian For Beginners (the other Kristin Harmel book I have read) quite a bit more!

Book Cover: 8/10
Book Title: 6/10
Plot: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Ending: 8/10

Overall: 37/50