👩‍🏫STEM girly
💫magic realism
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨opposites attract

i was so excited to see this arc from forever on netgalley that i didnt think twice before downloading!
ali hazelwood meets ashley poston, right? xx

unfortunately my enthusiam waned as this story *crawled* until about 30%
i usually love a neurotic fmc, but i found Catherine really unlikeable right off the bat by the way she judged others, namely our sweet mmc who was HELPING her (and literally everyone) yet she had nothing but bad things to say about him??
ulitmately this made me want to dnf by 40% but i powered through, and the overall story is cute but the fmc made it unloveable.

thank you forever and netgalley for providing this ARC!

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
Tropes, etc: Opposites Attract, He Falls First, Found Family, Supernatural
3rd Act Breakup?: Yes

The Praise: I really liked the premise. It was very unique and fun. I also loved Luca and how he was always willing to go out of his way to help others, no matter the situation. I also liked the side characters quite a bit.

The Critique: While I understand that Catherine’s need for order and control stemmed from her turbulent childhood, I feel like she fell just on the wrong side of the line between sympathetic and unlikable. It was clear that Luca was kind and always helping everyone he encountered (including her!) and she acted as though he slacked on his duties just due to laziness without giving him the opportunity to explain.
I also felt like the relationship between Luca and Catherine wasn’t very well developed. She couldn’t stand him and then suddenly she was smitten with very few real scenes of them connecting in any meaningful way.

Final Thoughts: Overall I felt like the book was fine. I just wish there had been more scenes of Catherine and Luca building their relationship.

I adore magic realism in novels so was very excited to read this! While it fell a little flat for me as I had a hard time connecting to the FMC it was still a very fun enjoyable read and I really liked the magic element as well as Luca’s family. Would still recommend.

I chose this book because I liked the cover. I didn't know anything when I went into this book and it was definitely different that the other books I've been reading and reviewing. Thank you Netgalley and Forever for sending me this e-ARC.

I liked how Catherine developed from the beginning to the end of the story. When I started it, I didn't understand what was going on but then it clicked all of a sudden and the magical realism was pretty nice. This is my second magical realism romance (the first one was the Seven Year Slip) and honestly it was really fun.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a magical realism, found family, closed door, and reverse grumpy x sunshine book. This wasn't the best book but it wasn't a three star feeling so I would say 4 :)

This was such a quick and fun read. I don’t usually read the dedications but this time I felt like it and I was glad I did. It made me appreciate the story even more. Reading about Luca reminded me of the kind souls in my life. He was such a lovable character and truly he made the story. Initially there were so many moments where I felt frustrated with the FMC and her father but as the story progresses, you can’t help but realize that these characters are representation of humans doing their best.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc! It was cute and fun!

I absolutely loved The Second Chance Year, and was so excited when I saw that Melissa Wiesner had written another book. The idea of this story was new different and sounded interesting, it just fell a little flat for me. The plot was exciting, however to me the characters just seemed one-dimensional and not that believable. The supernatural aspect of it didn't feel full fleshed out to me (no pun intended), and it made me a little confused. The romance was cute but I wasn't that invested in it, it just seemed a little too dramatic. I did love Luca's family though, I'd read a book just about them. This book was an interesting book, but it wouldn't be one of the first I'd recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for this ARC!

Wish I Were Here

A cute magical realism romance about Catherine, a type-A mathematician, whose identity goes missing, The only one who can help her is her happy-go-lucky and carefree doorman, Luca.

While the premise was interesting, I struggled to connect with the FMC. While I appreciate rules and order, she felt rigid and it felt forced unnecessarily into every aspect of her lift. Because of her rigidity, the romance between her and Luca felt a bit forced.

This one was ultimately not for me, but I hope it finds it's audience with others who enjoy it!

I read someone else's review that described this as "slightly magical" and I was so confused what that meant-- I get it now. While I didn't love this one as much as I loved Second Chance Year, I did really get into Catherine's story and was rooting for her and Luca. I didn't necessarily understand either of her parents and their choices (especially ONE of her parents), but I loved how this was so much more than "just" a romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

ARC from NetGalley and Melissa. These are my own thoughts and opinions. Thanks for the advanced copy!

This was a cute read! I don't read many magical realism books, but always enjoy them. I did think that this one was more of a women's fiction over a romcom though. It definitely had a romance subplot, and I laughed throughout the whole thing, but the FMC's storyline was the main plot. Cute, whimsical, cheesy, and all around a fun read!

Review posted on Goodreads, StoryGraph, & Instagram stories 6/26 (saved in highlight). Posting to Instagram feed first week of closer to release

While I loved Melissa Weisner's "Second Chance Year", I had to DNF this book 50% of the way through.

As much as I tried, I could not find myself able to stay engaged with Catherine's story. I picked up the book and put it down a few times before finally deciding not to finish.

Catherine was not a stand-out FMC. Her type-A personality was grating and was judgemental out the gate. Luca had a fun personality (with tattoos, we got it!) and was a caring person but the romantic build up I read was pretty bland.

Also quick note, the entire elevator situation the first like 15% of the book.. I was why are we still talking about this? There were multiple cringy parts in the beginning that were hard for me to get past.

I did like a few of the supporting characters which helped me get to the halfway point, honestly.

Overall, the first half of this book was very slow which is why I ultimately put it down. I will most likely give this book a second try down the line because I really like Melissa's writing, this just was not the book for me, at least right now.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the story. The growth of Catherine and the lessons she learned wrapped up nicely in the end. I will say it took me a long while to be interested in Luca. I don’t feel like his personality jumped off the page so much and their chemistry didn’t feel like it existed much. But towards the end when the story is coming to a close you learn so much more in just a few pages about him specifically, it’s everything that was missing for his character in the beginning. I understand why it was done this way, but it made it a little hard to like him until that info was revealed. Outside of that small thing, it was cute and I enjoyed the found family aspect.

I expected this to be MORE of a romance if that makes sense? I never really felt a spark between Catherine and Luca. The storyline was okay, and I had an easy enough time reading it. It just didn’t hit the mark for me on what I like out of a romance novel.

Catherine loses her identity, like wiped from the system. She has to proof she is who she is. But during the process realizes life wasn’t so grand as she thought. And of course falls in love.

I loved the importance of perspective in the book. I couldn’t wait to pick this book back up and keep reading!

Wish I Were Here had such a fun premise- a type A mathematician FMC loses her identity (literary!) and begrudgingly accepts the help of a fun loving, tattooed MMC to help find it, and herself, again.

I really enjoyed the side characters in this book, particularly the building residents, Ginger Ale and the MMC’s various family members! It was fun to see who would pop up next and how they would play a role. I also really liked how there were some breadcrumbs throughout and magical realism elements with her missing identity. This was also well written and flowed really easily making it easy to follow along!

While the premise was fun, I struggled to get into this one and several aspects took me out of it a bit. Several characters, including the FMC, felt exaggerated in their descriptions and came across prototypical. While I liked the MMC, I don’t think I knew anything about him, other than he had pretty tattoos (which I did love), until over halfway. While I enjoyed the magical realism, I wished there was more or that it was flushed out more thoroughly. Finally, the inclusion of ghosts, while it provided a sweet moment, just felt weird and kinda tossed in there.

Overall, this had potential and while cute, fell a bit short for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Melissa Weisner for an ARC of this book! I enjoyed reading and giving my honest review.

This is the lighthearted and slightly magical story of what happens when slightly up-tight math professor Catherine collides with charismatic doorman Luca in the lobby of the DeGreco building. Catherine moves in ready to take full control of her own life and leave her chaotic upbringing behind. But when her identity is wiped from every system she should be in, she is thrown back into chaos. Catherine turns to her father - an honest-to-goodness clown who juggles and walks on stilts - to locate her original birth certificate in order to prove she exists, but he tells her he can’t help her and refuses to say more. Luca is more than willing to help Catherine on her hunt for answers, and soon the two of them are spending an awful lot of time together.

I absolutely loved the opposites-attract trope in this book. Luca and Catherine are polar opposites; she readily chastises him for slacking in his doorman duties while he doesn’t understand her rigidity and love of schedules. But Luca’s charm and Catherine’s loneliness draw them closer the more time they spend together. I also loved the found family in the neighborhood - the secondary characters were so well drawn and interesting. The DeGreco gives Arconia vibes with its close knit and meddling residents - Mrs. Goodwin is a favorite. The little bit of magic didn’t quite land for me since everything else in the book is very much set in the real world, but it will definitely appeal to readers of magical realism.

Wish I Were Here is out October 15th!

Wish I Were Here
By: Melissa Wiesner
Review Score: 4 Stars

Boogie’s Bulletpoints
•No spoilers, but I was cracking up at how this story started.

•I loved that there was a bit of mystery in this book.

•Wiesner does such an amazing job of showcasing the layers of her characters.

•I actually wish this book was a little longer, there were parts that felt a bit rushed.

————————————————

Wish I Were Here was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and Forever, Grand Central Publishing. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy this wonderful book!

Release Date: 10/15/24

I was so excited to read "Wish I Were Here", a story about Caroline, who suddenly loses her identity, and has to figure out how to get it back.

Luca, the doorman in her building, offers to help her. I loved seeing their relationship evolve, and how you learn about who people are in more ways than one.

I will say, there were parts of this book I wish were longer. There is some character development that seemed to be cut a bit short for me.

Additionally, the little bit of magical realism in this book is so well done. No spoilers, but I definitely teared up a little bit.

I really enjoyed this book!

This was a really sweet read where opposites attract. I would've liked a little more romance but overall I enjoyed the characters and the magical elements. This was the kind of book where it's more story than sparks flying which is a nice reprieve from some of the other books in the genre.

I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down! Freaky Friday meets sweet romance. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys Emily Henry's writing style and looks for strong character development/a plot that extends beyond the romantic interest.

She’s a grumpy, organized, workaholic who thinks rules should be followed at all times, but when you’re raised by a single father who is a literal clown (circus performer) its no surprise that you’d crave structure in your life.

He’s sunshine in a tall, handsome, and heavily tattooed body - he’s also always late, never follows the rules and she finds him infuriating (even if she can’t look away).

When Catherine loses her identity she has no choice but to rely on the unreliable (and unbelievably sexy) Luca to help her get her identity back before she loses everything that matters to her. What she finds in the process is more than she bargained for yet just what she needs.

An adorable book about community, friendship, love, and family. This book grabbed my interest from page one and did not disappoint. Catherine Lipton lands her dream job as a mathematics professor and finds out during onboarding that something is wrong with her new hire paperwork. Her identity can’t be verified in any of the government systems - social security, department of motor vehicles. As Catherine and Luca (the kind and handsome doorman) partner together to find her digital identity, she is also on a parallel journey to discover her roots and herself. Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.