This was a beautiful story that’s so well written, as you would expect from this author. A heartbreaking story of love and loss, sad but uplifting at the same time.
Many thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Wish is a Christmas set story which sees Maggie, dealing with a terminal diagnosis, re-telling the story of the great love of her life.

It is a softly romantic read and I did really enjoy the Christmas element, reading about cosy settings, iceskating under a big tree etc, but for some reason, this book never picked up for me like I wanted it to.

I think the key reason is that throughout I felt like there was a mismatch between the two main characters and the timelines they were set in. When Maggie spoke about her life in the 90s, some of the choices she made and the traumas she went through just didn't fit that era for me. And ditto re Mark, who didn't remind me of any early-twenties modern man. I felt like Sparks made some very old fashioned choices. Sentences like 'On the radio, the cabdriver was listening to music that sounded Indian or Pakistani. Christmas in Manhattan' just didn't sit right with me.

Thanks to #NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

A beautiful story full of emotion. I cant praise it highly enough , but only to be read with a box of tissues nearby. I loved it.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read such a heartwarming and heartbreaking story

An absolutely terrific book. It was extremely eloquently written and had some very poignant moments. Nicholas Sparks wrote this with such compassion. It made me cry in quite a few places but there was also some humour.
Maggie was sixteen when she became pregnant. Her parents sent her to her aunt who lived in Oracoke to have the baby and put it up for adoption. With trepidation she sets out on the lonely journey to an aunt she doesn’t really know to a place she has never been to. Once there she realises just how lonely she was going to be when she finds out there are not many people of her age. Falling behind in her education her aunt gets her a tutor. They hit it off. He changes her life. His one love is photography and he teaches her to become n accomplished photographer. This is her story and she is telling this many years later for the first time. Maggie’s story is really quite beautiful. Join her on her journey and find out what happens to her many years on. Get your hankies ready. I loved all the characters, especially Bryce, the tutor. He took Maggie for who she was. He was kind and considerate. Maggie was a true hero. She went through so much yet never complained always seemed to put others first. It was set around Christmas and had a good feel factor. Whilst listening to her story, I felt as if I was the one, she was talking to. Congratulations Nicholas Sparks on another hit novel. Will make a fantastic film. Thank you.

Maggie hasn't told this story in years. More than two decades ago, she fell in love. She was sixteen and far from home, waiting to give her baby up for adoption. Bryce showed Maggie how to take photographs and he didn't judge her for the way her belly swelled under her jumper. They had the perfect first kiss. Theirs was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. Now, as Maggie sits by the Christmas tree in her gallery telling her story, surrounded by the photographs that made her famous - the photographs Bryce never saw - her new gallery assistant asks her a question. If she had one wish, what would she wish for this Christmas? Maggie always thought she knew the answer to that question. But before she can say 'I'd go back to that winter with Bryce', she stops herself. It is all she has ever wanted but suddenly here, on this dark night under the twinkling stars, there is something else she wants. She wants to find her baby.

Well this is a book and a half! By far, this is my favourite book by Sparks in a long time. Everything about this is pure emotion and so incredibly beautiful. The concept is so simple, Maggie relates her story of true love, there are other plot threads as well but that will ruin it for you so no details here! But rest assured this is a stunning read, Sparks pulls everything together to make for a memorable read that is just beautiful, there is no other word for it, I just loved reading this. Quick mention to the stunning cover as well!

The plot makes for absorbing reading and I was completely immersed in it, I have already said this is emotional but oh wow is this an emotional rollercoaster. The way Sparks details Maggie's emotions is very special, it felt like his story at times, it was so personal and realistic. There are moments of blissful happiness during this as well as despair and heartbreak, all of it is executed perfectly, I felt everything Sparks wanted me to and it was truly unforgettable.

As well as being a fantastic read I loved that this was set over Christmas in the present day. It really added to the magic of the read, and once again, Sparks captures the atmosphere of Christmas perfectly. Plus, it left me feeling super Christmassy!

'The Wish' is just the most gorgeous read from one of my favourite authors. I am obsessed with this and cannot recommend it enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy.

A beautiful book from Nicholas Sparks.. my first I think but definitely won’t be my last. Beautifully heat warming yet sad at the same time.

Wow what a book of emotions.
I love Maggie a strong amazing woman. With regret in her heart a journey to put things right.
Can Christmas really work it’s magic and find those she loves the most.

It may sound strange but this was the first Nicholas Sparks' novel I read and love every moment.
It's heartwarming and heart wrenching, gripping and poignant. It made me cry bucket and smile.
I loved the characters and the excellent storytelling.
It's a perfect winter novel, an excellent read for a cold afternoon.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Another beautiful love story written by Nicholas Sparks. The story is of Maggie, a renowned photographer who is dying of cancer. The book tells the story of Maggie’s life and getting pregnant and having a baby at sixteen years old. We are told of her being sent away to live with her aunt for the duration of her pregnancy and birth and falling in love for the first time. The book is so beautifully written i almost felt that I was there with Maggie throughout the story.

I am emotionally wrecked...
Having seen that new book by Nicholas Sparks is coming, I requested it without even reading the synopsis (and probably I should have read it first). I was already on the verge of tears during first 20 pages of the book!
So touching and heartbreaking story. Nicholas Sparks did it again, 5 out of 5 from me!
Huuuge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the e-arc in exchange for honest review!!

Heartwrenching and at the same time heartwarming read from Nicholas Sparks.

As Maggie approaches the end of her life we learn her story, the sacrifices she made and how the choices others made for her had impacts which lasted a lifetime

A beautiful, multi-layered story filled with the heartbreak and love and warm fuzzy feelings expected from a Nicholas Sparks’ novel. A gorgeous read that you can really indulge in. The perfect autumn/winter read that I’m sure will be a huge success.

Over the years, like many readers, I’ve enjoyed and lost myself in his books and stories with a deep emotional outcome. ⁠
The wish is no exception from that norm. I even think it’s even more emotional that I thought it would be and I enjoyed it a lot. I hope that one day we will see this story on the screen because it’s that good as others he had before, over time. ⁠
I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, this one will end in a different way though, more of a second chance to love from both fronts. ⁠
Nevertheless is a great story that many readers will enjoy.

A classic Nicholas Sparks novel! I found myself laughing and crying along with the storyline - I loved every single aspect of it! I'm already hoping that it'll be made into a film; I need to see these characters brought to life!

Another wonderfully heartbreaking tearjerker from Nicholas sparks. Can not recommend it enough. Just make sure you have plenty of tissues, you're going to need them .

The Wish is one of those books that you know is a heartbreaker from the start. It’s Christmas 2019 when we meet Maggie Dawes, who, from the outset tells us she has terminal cancer. So the writing is on the wall. Maggie has her own gallery which she opened with a fellow artist Trinity who is too busy to actually run the business so he leaves it to her to oversee. She hires a young man called Max Price to work through the Christmas season as she is too ill to keep up with the busy seasonal shoppers. This is where our story begins, and in this story is another story, beautifully told and guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye. It has all the hallmarks of a tearjerker. So if that’s your thing you’ll love this. For me it was a 3⭐️ . Thanks to #NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I've never read a novel by NICHOLAS SPARKS, but I'm incredibly familiar with his heartbreaking stories. I've seen every single movie that has come out. THE NOTEBOOK, SAFE HAVEN and THE CHOICE are ones I rewatch regularly.

When the opportunity presented itself to pick up an early copy of his latest books, I decided to go for it. I'm happy I did, because I loved my time with THE WISH.

The story is about Maggie, a 16-year-old who finds herself pregnant after a night with a stranger. She is shipped off to Ocracoke on the East Coast of the US, as far away from her parents and friends in Seattle. There she stays with her aunt Linda, and she meets Bryce. A young man with wild ambitions who offers to tutor her.

We cut back and forth between Maggie now, where she receives devastating medical news and Maggie then.

A lot of the fun of this novel was in getting to know the characters. Everyone, including the Bryce's pupper, became alive on the page. I couldn't wait to find out how the story would conclude. I had many guesses, and many of them were correct. That didn't mean I was fully invested & inthralled in the expert storytelling on the pages of this book.

I laughed when Maggie laughed, I cried when she cried.

I secretly can't wait to see who will be cast for the movie, but for now I'm really happy I checked the book out first.

I’m not even sure I am going to be able to do this book justice with this review. There are no appropriate words for how beautiful and heart-wrenching this story is. I am going to give it a try, though.
I have never cried so much throughout and at the end of a book as I did with this. I was literally sobbing my heart out; my husband came rushing into the room to see what was wrong with me; I just couldn’t stop crying! Towards the end, the hits just kept on coming, and I’d felt so invested in the story that the ending broke my heart.
Throughout the book, we are alternating between Maggie as a 16-year old in 1995 and herself in the present day (set in 2019). It is quite hard to marry up the two different Maggies, and they were such different people. It is true what she says to Bryce about them needing to know one another as adults, as people certainly change from how they are as teenagers.
I loved where the past was set; it made it seem longer ago than 1995. I felt like I was reading characters living in the 50s. The remoteness of Ocracoke made this possible and gave gravity to Maggie’s situation, and also made the closeness between her and the other characters more intense.
The ‘past’ sections were definitely my favourite as it is everything that happens here that shaped Maggie into what she becomes. I found myself rushing through the present to get back to that story. How the past and present collide in the story and comes together was magically done. I did guess the slight twist at the end but finding out the truth was so poignant I didn’t care that I’d already suspected.
I’ve only ever read one other book by this author (The Notebook, after having watched the film a million times, I decided to read the book last year), and all I can say is Nicholas Sparks really knows how to hit you with the perfect balance of characters that you will fall in love with and a storyline that will stay in your thoughts for a long time after finishing the book!
This is probably the best book I have read this year, and I urge everyone to give it a read; you will not be disappointed! However, be prepared for some waterworks as it really hits you in the feels and will knock you off your feet with emotions!

It was fair but I wouldn't say it was Sparks' best. I have been a fan of some of his other storylines but this seemed a bit more forced in terms of the pulling on the heartstrings. The characters were believable enough but the plot overly melodramatic.

Like any Nicholas Sparks fan, I was over the moon, to be able to review The Wish. I hadn't read anything by this author for a while and had huge expectations. I was not disappointed!

As with most of his previous books, The Wish had me ugly crying from very early on. I knew from then I would inhale this as the plot unfolds, and the characters reveal more of their back story. and themselves. I could not put this down. Maggie was such a divine character, that I felt I had met a friend by the end of this.

There are some very sensitive subjects approached in this book, but it is written in such a gentle way, there wasn't at any point I found it hard going. However, some readers may find some topics upsetting and for this reason, I would recommend doing some research on this before picking it up.

This is a superb, heartwarming, 5 stars read that I recommend to all. The author takes his readers on an highly emotionally charged journey and this will be a story that I will struggle to forget.