Wish Hunter by Hero Bowen & Jordan Riley Swan

This is the last book from my first lot of book review requests from Goodreads. I was quite flattered with this one because I was approached by the publisher who really liked my review of Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. So I was more than happy to have a look at this one and check it out because it sounded interesting. The cover looked amazing and when I put on my Goodreads that I was currently reading it, I had quite a few notifications to say that other readers liked the fact I was reading this. The book is set to be published and available for sale in June 2021 according to Goodreads.

This is the first book in the Savannah River trilogy and it's meant to be ideal for fans of Laini Taylor and V. E. Schwab. I don't know these two authors so I can't say for sure, but I thought this book was cool. It took me a while to get through the first half of the book because it felt like a slow-burn. It felt like a biography of Nadia Kaminski's life as opposed to a novel, but the slow pace is needed for all the world-building and lore involved in the story. However, I persevered because I wanted to fulfil my review requests.

However, the second half is a vast improvement. It made up for the disappointing first half. I know for many readers if they don’t get invested by first couple of chapters or even the first page, they give up all together. Not me though, as a reader, I like to finish books till the end as I feel if I cannot finish a book, I feel unqualified to leave a review.

One of the main reasons I decided to carry on reading is because of the unique concept. The idea of using wishes as a kind of currency. I think it’s a nice twist that Nadia is a marriage counsellor, which in many stories makes her a commendable character, but in this one it’s not good as she uses her job to take wishes from unsuspecting clients because she owes the wish master wishes.

It’s so crazy when everything comes back to bite Nadia when she almost gets killed and everybody from former clients to her family are all out to get her. It reminded me of the beginning of Harley Quinn’s Birds of Prey where Harley gets a taste of her own bad actions.

When Miles was first introduced to the story, I had this hunch that he will become a love interest for Nadia. Miles is one of the client’s Nadia stole a wish from and his determination to get it back on top of Nadia’s drive to keep it so she can get her husband back is what drives their chemistry. They work well together, and they come across as compatible to me. Readers worried about instalove will be pleased to know that there is no instalove here.

The book really focuses on the plot and the world-building. It’s a really nice balance between tension, world-building and character development. Over the course of the novel, Nadia became much more of a likable character. I did feel sorry for her because she lost her husband and she was desperate to get him back, but I thought it was low that she stole wishes from other people. At the same time, I think it’s this grey area in Nadia that makes her so interesting and human. She does fall into stereotypes, but there’s a nice human touch to it.

The ending ends unexpectantly. I understand that it’s part of the series, but I wasn’t quite satisfied with the ending. Not that there wasn't anything wrong with it. The book was well-written throughout the novel. The only reason I don't like the ending is because of my personal taste: I don't like cliff-hangers because they frustrate me. It felt like you’re getting into it and it just stops suddenly without tying up the loose ends. I guess more will be revealed in the next two books.