What a great novel about how our experiences can change us bit how we have to make sure they don’t harden us or close us off from finding joy. For me that was the biggest statement I took away from the book, find one thing of joy in every day.

I absolutely adored What You Wish For by Katherine Center. It was my third book by her and she has cemented herself as an auto-buy/read author for me! Her books are always that feel-good experience that I didn't even realize I needed at the time.

What You Wish For, as well as her others that I have read by Center, had so much depth to it. I loved digging in to the characters because there is just so much more to them than meets the eye. They are so authentic. The story started strong for me with with the devastating loss of Max. I loved the sense of community, it set the story up so well. The transformation of Sam was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. The same goes for Duncan too! There was just so much to love here!

The school shooting aspect was more painful to read, but I felt that it was done tenderly and the author built up to that point very steadily, There were definitely tears in my eyes there though. And I did find myself getting frustrated with Sam a few times and her tendency to want to run away and just escape hard situations. But that being said, characters do have to have their flaws to make a good story sometimes!

Overall, I just loved the overall message of choosing joy. It is the perfect book for anyone in need of a pick me or just a feel good story that will stay with you long after you have finished the book.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my copy of What You Wish For in exchange for an honest review.

I really love Katherine Center's writing. Her characters are easy to like. There is usually some quirkiness which I find relateable. This is definitely a feel good story and I found myself laughing and smiling a lot.

I love all of Katherine Center's books, and couldn't wait for this one to come out. This one was a good, fun and quick read. Definitely recommend when you need a feel good book.

What You Wish For left my heart feeling warm. I love a good book that tackles emotions and other realities about life. Sam is a librarian at a school, she is very close with her coworkers and leadership at the school. Tragedy occurs and a new principal arrives. His name is Duncan Carpenter and Sam is stunned because she knows him. Or at least she KNEW him. What unfolds is a wonderful story that touches on what makes us who we are, what makes us adapt and those that bring out the best in us.

What a quirky fun read. Loved the characters, loved the plot, loved the tie and research that went into it. And you could tell the author was really invested in this one.

Loved the touch of romance and humour, made the book hard to put down. Looking forward to more from this author.

Thank you so much for my ARC copy 🙏🏼

I enjoyed the heartwarming characters and small private school setting. This novel has a high cheese factor but also a comforting message of finding joy, which is much needed right now. Overall, it served as a lovely escape during these difficult times.

This book wasn't my cup of tea. It's about a quirky school librarian and a stuffy school principal and full of typical not realistic romcom nonsense. It's cute, like romcom movies, but kind of like fluffy cotton candy, nothing nutritious about it and too sweet.

Aside from the somewhat emotionally manipulative past of the main male character (which IMO requires a trigger/content warning), I really enjoyed This more recent Center novel.

Katherine Center is a favorite for feel-good stories. Admittedly, I was not sold on Samantha's story in the beginning of What You Wish For. It was unbelievable to me that an educator and otherwise strong young woman would uproot her life over an unrequited crush. Still, something kept me reading and glad that I did! The chemistry between Samantha and Duncan was fantastic and the cast of side characters added depth to the story. I do feel that the measures taken by Duncan in reaction to his past trauma were over the top, but appreciated the significance of the issue at hand. Overall, a joyful story I'm glad to have read.

Loved it! So glad I found this author. You can always depend on a story you will enjoy. I’ve bought all of her books and will continue to buy as she writes them.

This is my 3rd novel by this author. Her writing style is great and I enjoy how she writes her characters.

Katherine Center has written another story that just makes me feel so warm inside! As a fellow Texan, a lot of her scenic descriptions just remind me so much of home, and her ability to really zoom in on her characters emotions is why I love her style of writing so much!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
Just what I needed!! This is a light hearted sweet story!! @katherinecenter NEVER disappoints me!!!! 🤟🏼❤️🤟🏼

This was a heartwarming but make you cry story. I loved every page and didn't want the story to end.

Without worrying about other reviews or stars, I faced the challenge of reading this novel with an open mind.
It is different from what is in fashion today.
The characters have hearts, flaws and qualities. Nobody is just kind or bad, but the combination of the two according to their life experiences.

Here, a school in mourning, faces a new Principal, bringing new ideas that are soon rejected by the teachers who work there. Among them, Samantha, who recognizes Duncan, the new Principal, as someone from her past.
Years earlier, Sam had a crush on Duncan, but he never saw her. Would he see her now?

And discovering the reasons that led Duncan to become that person, could Sam continue with the plan to get rid of him?
4 stars

KATHERINE DID IT AGAIN>
all of the feelings.
all of the thoughts.
I LOVED IT>


Thank you for the ARC!

It felt a bit implausible and melodramatic at moments, but a sweet story from an author I will definitely read again!

Probably more like 4.5 stars because I feel that five star books need to be very well written and have a profound impact on me. Yet I didn’t want to deny this author her due “reward” for such a lovely book. The story was sweet and the character relatable. The only part that didn’t resonate with me was the allowance and ignorance that Sam had for Duncan’s total transformation. I feel that she surely would have questioned him earlier or at least come to the conclusion that his complete 180 was the result of something traumatic and not just because of a mean wife. But that aside, the choice that Sam made to be joyful and yet still be vulnerable was well developed. I also appreciated reading a novel that was very much PG; it was refreshing.

What You Wish For is, for me, a frustrating book. I actually almost DNFed, because I liked nothing about the first 30%. I decided to keep going because of other reviewers who persisted and were glad they did, and also because I wanted to see the cameo of the Happiness for Beginners couple. I am glad I made that decision, but I wish the start of this book had been different.

To go on to some positives, I pretty much loved the last 50-70% of the book. I got ALL the feels. I sad cried and happy cried, and the ship is excellent, if you can just ignore the stuff from the beginning. The banter is adorable, and I got so invested in the whole cast, even a child! Also, I really love the mental health aspects that Center incorporates into her novels. Sam's arc, which centers on her self-worth which relates heavily to her epilepsy, is really well done and impactful, as is Duncan's, which deals with his own struggles with mental health after an incident.

Fun fact: I was rewatching one of the Brené Brown TED Talks, and she mentioned her friend, Katherine Center, and I was like OH MY GOD, because I'd just read Happiness for Beginners, and it really hit me in my emotion spaces the way Brown's work does. So if you love Brown's work, Center's novels really use her research at the heart of character building and arcs.

Unfortunately, as wonderful as all of that was, the opening of the book was rather awful. Sam Casey, the heroine, is quirky beyond belief, as are initial descriptions of Duncan. They exceed MPDG, and it's a lot. Also, Sam reveals that she was obsessed with Duncan at their old school where they were colleagues to the degree that, when he asked her to catsit, she snooped through his journal, which is wow not okay and into stalking territory. When she heard a rumor that he was going to propose to his girlfriend, she quit her job and relocated because she could not handle the emotional pain. Then, when she learns he's going to be the new principal of her current school, her immediate thought that she truly plans to act on is to quit. Without confirming anything. She just assumes she'll still "love" him and that he's married and that she has no other option. This is so massively unreasonable that I really had no fucking clue what to do with her character.

Meanwhile, Duncan's introduction honestly feels entirely OOC for the way he's later presented. The explanations for his decisions make perfect sense once the reader has the obvious, [he was teaching during a fatal school shooting (hide spoiler)] confirmed, it's completely horrendous until you get that confirmed. And also doesn't make sense.

Here's what happens. Duncan's hired as the new principal of a hippy dippy elementary school, and he comes in on his first day and makes a speech about safety, during which he draws a (water)gun that has been painted black to look real. Even setting aside the racist components of this (if he were a black man, he absolutely could not have gotten away with this), I do not believe this is something that Duncan would do. There are lots of ways that people react to PTSD, but he could have made that point with a neon water gun. I do not believe he would have intentionally tried to traumatize other teachers.

And then, the reactions of the teachers don't make sense. Obviously they're upset about what happened, and they all go to plot about how to react. BUT NOBODY GOOGLES THE NEW PRINCIPAL. When they finally learn what happened to him a month-ish later, they're more sympathetic, but lbr someone would have googled that after the announcement, and most of them would already have known before he even made his speech. It's completely unrealistic the way all of this plays out, so it feels like it was done for drama. The book does go on to really unpack trying to find a balance between safety in joy in the modern school system, but wow this was not the way to start things off.

While I was able to mostly set aside the way this novel began and really enjoy the rest of it by basically calling the opening OOC, I really can't rate this more highly than three stars, because I don't think the novel as a whole gels. I did read an ARC, but imo it would have needed a full reworking of the first 25-30% to fix, so I highly doubt major changes have been made. I wish, though, because this was so close to being a book I loved with my whole heart.

I definitely ended up being very glad I read this, but I would only recommend this to existing fans of Katherine Center. It's not a good place to start with her work (go for Happiness for Beginners instead), and if you didn't like her prior books, I doubt this will be the one that sells anybody. If you do like/love her other books, I do think it's worth pushing through the beginning to get to the good stuff that feels like her other works.