Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar

Goodreads Blurb

He can grant her wishes, but only she can save his life.
Margo McKenna has a plan for just about everything, from landing the lead in her high school play to getting into a good college. So when she finds herself in possession of a genie's ring and the chance to make three wishes, she doesn't know what to do. Why should she put her life into someone else's hands?
But Oliver is more than just a genie -- he's also a sophomore at Margo's high school, and he's on the run from a murderer. As he and Margo grow closer, she discovers that it will take more than three wishes to save him.
A whole lot more.

Going into this, I had a lot of iffy feelings. I mean, genies? It sounded very...fluff like. And the cover didn't exactly make me scream want. Yeah, I'm a horrible person, judging a book by its cover. I'M SORRY. But I did end up loving it! Maybe not as much as I'd hoped, but it was still pretty good.

While adorable, the romance felt a bit...quick. Okay, not a bit. Margo kisses Oliver maybe after their fifth conversation, and was really only spurred on by the fact that he granted her wish. Not to mention Margo knew almost nothing about this guy except that he was a genie, and fell so quickly. Also, Oliver literally fell in love at first sight. After getting that initial bump, though, I loved the romance, which was so sweet (though it did have some quirks, and a few uncommon love quarrels!)

The plot was less exciting than I was hoping for. Oliver keeps hinting that  the assassin will show up soon, but he stays just one day, just two days, just five days more, before he hides from this killer. I have no words for the stupidity of that. When we do meet the killer, the plot wasn't really as exciting as I'd hoped. Sure, there were a few thrilling scenes, but they were few. There were no plot twists that really shocked me and the ending was fairly predictable, and it was...easy. There was almost no hesitation and that was...like I said, too easy.

I adored the originality of this book though. Ribar creates her own unique lore that I loved reading about and it was definitely one of the most fascinating kind of world building (fiction building?) I've seen! It was definitely different from djinn books I've read. Totally different from genies by the way. At least, the lore was.
But it was well built so that (good) genies could grant the wish that people MEANT instead of loopholing like the fey we know so well. If you read those.

I loved Oliver. He may have molded himself to Margo's image, but still. He was sweet and endearing, a little cocky at times, and an all around perfect love interest! Though there is this one part where we find out he's bi and Margo seems totally at ease. Go Margo! Though its sort of unlikely.
Margo was a bit petty at first, but slowly became a relatable character that was fun to read about! Her snark gave a humorous touch to the book, which I loved. She seemed a little flat to me, but it wasn't really that big a deal as it usually is, which was weird...

Pages: 314
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Series: Art of Wishing #1
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 21, 2013
Rating: 3.5--->4 stars