The Wish by Nicholas Sparks

Book Review:

The Wish by Nicholas Sparks

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Description: 

1996 was the year that changed everything for Maggie Dawes. Sent away at sixteen to live with an aunt she barely knew in Ocracoke, a remote village on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, she could think only of the friends and family she left behind . . . until she met Bryce Trickett, one of the few teenagers on the island. Handsome, genuine, and newly admitted to West Point, Bryce showed her how much there was to love about the wind-swept beach town—and introduced her to photography, a passion that would define the rest of her life.

By 2019, Maggie is a renowned travel photographer. She splits her time between running a successful gallery in New York and photographing remote locations around the world. But this year she is unexpectedly grounded over Christmas, struggling to come to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis. Increasingly dependent on a young assistant, she finds herself becoming close to him.

As they count down the last days of the season together, she begins to tell him the story of another Christmas, decades earlier—and the love that set her on a course she never could have imagined.

My Review:

This was a fantastic novel. It felt like I was reading two different stories since it the story was told in the present and past. I love that the author told the story in that way. Mark's narrative at the end was the cherry on top. Upon reading other reviews, some readers felt it was predictable but I didn't, although I will say that I was hoping that Mark or Abigail was who Mark ended up being. I loved how Aunt Linda and Maggie's relationship developed, it was authentic and wonderful. I enjoyed the pieces of Aunt Linda's personal life as a nun and afterwards. It was difficult to listen to the way Maggie's parents treated her as a teen once she made the big "mistake", but I suppose they were doing what they thought was best. Maggie didn't deserve the life outcome she got, but no one deserves terminal illness. The ending of the story was bittersweet and sad, but I'm glad Maggie and Mark were able to meet, and Mark and Abigail were able to explore Okracoke. Nicholas Sparks did a fantastic job with this novel and I would recommend it.