Review: Down With the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn

So excited to finally have gotten to read this book. Big thanks to HarperCollins International for the review copy. Means the most to me. I shall treasure this book, always. Just, look how gorgeous that cover is. Ahh. It is so pretty. I cannot wait to get my hardcover of it in April. So excited. I liked this book a lot.

I thought this book was amazing. I had a few small issues, which I might mention, but I didn't mind those much at all. And so I'm giving this lovely book four stars. It was such an easy read. And the writing was pretty amazing too. I ended up loving all the characters, and the story was exciting and complicated.

I really liked the plot of this book. How something and someone can make your wishes come true. How the main girl, Lennie, ends up granting a lot of wishes in one night. Which she didn't know she was doing, as she hadn't learned what her uncles were doing with all that moonshine. Lennie just want people to like her; especially after her only friend died a few months back. And so she goes to a party she's not invited to. And oh, I felt so sorry for this girl. She thought things were going well there. Everyone was drinking her moonshine and making a stupid wish. But then she gets drunk and thrown out in a bad way. Sigh. And things only get worse. It hurt my heart a bit to read about, as teenagers can be cruel. But I also did end up loving it.

The next day she wakes up and all the wishes she helped make the night before have come true. And ahh, it was so much. And pretty awful too. And I simply loved reading about it all. Lennie made a wish too; to have her dead best friend back. Which was also so complicated; because she is different. It was a bit painful to read about. But I enjoyed it so much too. Reading about all the silly wishes these kids made was a bit silly and oh so awesome too. Especially since there is no way to unmake a wish. Ack.

There is so much happening in this book. And I'm not sure how to talk about it at all. I might not end up saying much about the plot, but I will mention a few things, I think. It takes place over such a short time period, so it is pretty fast paced. Which I loved. But it also means less romance than I wanted, lol. But still so awesome. The plot was so exciting and interesting. Most of it is about finding a way to undo the wishes that were made at the party. But it isn't easy. People die. And get hurt. Shudders. It was creepy.

Overall I just really liked this book. I thought Lennie was such an awesome person. I adored her. And getting to know her was amazing too. I liked her uncles as well. Her dad was not good. And her mom was a bit crazy, but I liked how it happened, though it broke my heart. There are so many characters in this book. Some I liked. Some I didn't like at all. Mostly I just loved reading about Lennie and Smith, and how a wish ends up with them having their hands stuck together. It was awesome. And weird. I liked it.

There is some romance in this one. Not much, yet just enough. I'm not sure I shipped them that much, but I loved their romance the most. Lennie and Smith were pretty cute together. But I disliked how he was mean to her a lot. Yet the next moment he was flirting with her. A bit confusing. But even so, I found him to be such a cute boy and I liked him a lot. And I did want them together the very most. Ack. So yes. A little bit of romance. And I think it was done well. I really liked reading about them together.

Down With the Shine is an unique book. The writing is gorgeous. The characters are amazing to read about. And the plot is all kinds of crazy and weird. I loved every moment of it. I liked reading about how the wishes worked, and what wishes people made. I liked reading about the romance, friendships and family bonds. I liked reading about the villains and how things worked out and how bad things got at times. It was pretty awesome to read about. I liked this book a whole lot. So glad that I got to read it.

I found this to be such an exciting book. It was an easy read and I read it pretty fast too. I didn't want to stop reading it. Which is always a plus. The ending was a bit different, and a big change, but I liked it a lot. It was a good ending, I think. And it made sense too. And yeah. I liked it a lot. Despite giving this one four stars, I did love it. I just didn't love it with all my heart. But even so, it was such a good book. And I would read it again. And yeah. You should read it. Thank you so much HarperCollins International :)

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