The Wish

sobbing my eyes out. this was so beautiful

What a fantastic heart warming story. I was able to relate to Maggie, the main character, and I think that totally made this a wonderful book for me to read.

At just 16 Maggie Dawes finds herself shipped away to her Aunt Linda's in Ocracoke NC to stay for the next nine months! Maggie is miserable until she meets kind hearted and intelligent Bryce. The two form a strong bond and a beautiful love story ensues.

Of course though it wouldn't be a Nicholas Sparks book without some tears. Maggie, some 20+ years later is a famous photographer dealing with a major health issue. She worries she'll never get to tell her story until she hires Mark her new assistant/gallery worker. They form a strong bond over the Christmas holiday and we find out just how much Maggie needed to tell her story.

I absolutely loved this story and am glad it's my first finished book of 2022!!

Nicholas Sparks is my all time favorite author and has been for as a long as I can remember. Even before I really got into reading. I own all of his books at this point and I preorder every new release. I haven't read all of his books yet but I don't have that many left to read.

I was talking to a friend recently about how I get into my head when a book is really hyped or in this case it's by my favorite author and I will put off reading them for so long even though I know I'm going to end up loving them. That was exactly what happened with this book. I preordered it because I just had to have it as soon as it released and I proceeded to put it on multiple monthly TBRs and here I am almost 2 years later finally reading it.

What can I say about this book? Nicholas Sparks really knows how to write a story. It was told in 2 different timelines. In 1996 Maggie is a 16 year old who is having to live with the consequences of a mistake she made and she's forced to kind of grow up fast. She felt very authentic for a 16 year old but she also grows and becomes more mature for her young age which again felt very realistic for her character. In 2019 Maggie is a well-known photographer who co-owns a gallery in New York. She also has a successful YouTube channel which at this point in her life has become a way for her to document her battle with Cancer. In this present timeline Maggie has to hire Mark to work in the gallery because she isn't able to do it herself. It's here where Maggie starts reminiscing on her past and her and Mark become friends.

I was hooked from the very first chapter. I admit sometimes I have trouble with multiple timelines but this flowed seamlessly from one to the other. Also if you've read any of my previous reviews you know that I despise long chapters but apparently when Nicholas Sparks gives me long chapters I can care less. He has me so enraptured in the story I don't pay much attention to how long they are. Yes I notice they are long but I just don't care.

I don't want to say much else about the overall story because I think you should experience it yourself. I will say that so many people told me to have tissues at the ready while I was reading this and while I was reading it I kept wondering when I was going to start crying because while it definitely will pull at your heartstrings for the longest time I wasn't even getting teary eyed. In the last 3 chapters is where it hit me and had me full on crying.

This book will have you going through an array of emotions. You will fall in love with most of the characters and you will cry your eyes out. If this sounds good to you I highly recommend you read this book and any other books by this author to be honest.