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The Fourth Wish

(The Art of Wishing #2)

Lindsay Ribar (Goodreads Author)

3.64 · Rating details · 330 ratings · 66 reviews

Here’s what Margo McKenna knows about genies:

She’s seen Aladdin more times than she can count; she’s made three wishes on a magic ring ; she’s even fallen head over heels in love with Oliver, the cute genie whose life she saved by fighting off his archenemy. But none of this prepared her for the shock of becoming a genie herself.

At a time when she's trying to figure out wh ...more

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ebook, 384 pages

Published July 31st 2014 by Kathy Dawson Books

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Sep 07, 2013 Lindsay Ribar rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

THE FOURTH WISH: A PLAYLIST

1. Phoenix Burn (Alpha Rev)
2. Joking (Indigo Girls)
3. Sing Loud (Alpha Rev)
4. Always (Panic! at the Disco)
5. Chokehold (Adam Lambert)
6. Middle Cyclone (Neko Case)
7. Torn to Tattered (Carbon Leaf)
8. Come Around (Sarah Jarosz)
9. Alone With You (Alpha Rev)
10. Take Tomorrow (One Day at a Time) (Butch Walker)
11. I Will Wait (Mumford & Sons)

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Jul 02, 2014 kari rated it did not like it

Shelves: ya, 2014

1/2 star.
This is the worst follow-up book that I've ever read. Nothing that I enjoyed in the first book holds on in this book. Nothing.
I think the author was too busy making a point about sexuality to see that she was way off course with both the characters and the plot. She literally beats the reader over the head with it and I don't think that was necessary or added anything to the story. Additionally, I felt like I was being preached to by Oliver(or the author) about it and I don't like tha 1/2 star.
This is the worst follow-up book that I've ever read. Nothing that I enjoyed in the first book holds on in this book. Nothing.
I think the author was too busy making a point about sexuality to see that she was way off course with both the characters and the plot. She literally beats the reader over the head with it and I don't think that was necessary or added anything to the story. Additionally, I felt like I was being preached to by Oliver(or the author) about it and I don't like that, no matter what is being preached.
Also, the idea that someone has the right to do whatever they want to your body and you should as Oliver puts it, "simply adjust your thinking" is so off-putting that I don't have the words to reflect my disgust.
And the sexuality is some kind of omni-sexuality. It isn't straight or gay, it's whatever with whomever. Truly, Ms. Ribar, people actually do have sexual orientation or preferences. A girl who is straight isn't going to be into a girl and vice versa. A girl who is gay isn't going to be into a guy, even if that guy was a girl yesterday. And I could have just gone with the flow here except it is brought up over and over and over and over.
There is far less about what it means to be a genie and almost all of it is about their sexuality. Why?
Nothing much happens here, nothing of an urgent nature and Margo, whom I liked, becomes just such a special sparkly snowflake that I could not stand her. Being a genie is difficult, takes years of work, but she, of course, is just good at it and has awesome powers and control after just a few days, because she is, say it with me, a super-special sparkly snowflake.
And Oliver is just completely lost.
There is no fun banter between these two characters, not like the first book. And the romance is flat, flat, flat. I didn't much care whether they were together or not. I was quite frankly, bored with both of them.
Whoever made the comment that pushed this author from crafting one well done story into extending it into a series, you did not do her a favor!
I am so disappointed that I won't ever read this author again.
At this point I can't even recommend the first book. Badly done. ...more

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Sep 30, 2013 Carmen marked it as to-read

Can I wish for this to magically appear in front of me.

Heh get it wish.

I really need to stop with my bad jokes.

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Jan 10, 2014 Paige (Illegal in 3 Countries) rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I received from the publisher.

After the cuteness-yet-seriousness (it makes sense, I swear!) that was The Art of Wishing, I was definitely in need of The Fourth Wish and more of Margo’s story. Thankfully, Lindsay Ribar and Penguin are awesome and I ended up with an ARC I may or may not have snuggled after taking 1000 pictures of it with my cat as I do with all my books. ANYWAY. This book was totally worth my excitement and anticipation. See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I received from the publisher.

After the cuteness-yet-seriousness (it makes sense, I swear!) that was The Art of Wishing, I was definitely in need of The Fourth Wish and more of Margo’s story. Thankfully, Lindsay Ribar and Penguin are awesome and I ended up with an ARC I may or may not have snuggled after taking 1000 pictures of it with my cat as I do with all my books. ANYWAY. This book was totally worth my excitement and anticipation. Margo’s story continues and concludes is this sometimes-frustrating-but-ultimately-satisfying novel.

Margo makes an astounding number of stupid decisions throughout the book. To be fair, she just became a genie and is exploring her magic, which leads to the obvious outcome of her getting a little power-drunk on what she can do and feeling invincible because of it. Still, planning to abandon what little of her life is left and just take off with Oliver when he starts pressuring her into it? I was practically screaming at her to stand up and tell him to stop being so pushy! Thankfully, she has great friends she can trust with her secret and trust to shut her down when she’s about to do something especially inadvisable. Naomi and Simon = the best. Even if Naomi has her own flaws, what she says to Margo really matters.

It’s not all fun and games with Margo’s new life as a genie, though. Her very first master is gross beyond belief. His first wish makes that clear enough, but his second nearly forces Margo to have sex with him against her will and it’s a scene that might make you vomit in your mouth a little bit. This scene is primarily meant to show the darker side of being a genie enslaved by your master’s wishes, but Ribar also uses this to make it clear that any sex that is coerced in any way is rape. Margo wants it because of the wish, but that does not equal her actually wanting it, which makes it rape. As much as the scene hurt me, what she did with it made my heart sing.

All in all, Margo is forced to come face-to-face with the fact she can’t do what she wants anymore. Where she could live by the loose rules of society before, she lives by a much stricter, absolutely immovable set now where she has to take a pick from a plate full of poor choices and learn to live with it. So basically adulthood metaphors are happening here.

Speaking of that darker side of being a genie, Oliver. Oh, Oliver. Margo sometimes has to verbally beat it out of him, but he opens up a little more about his past (including his relationship with Xavier, his former lover and enemy) and he makes it clear that he’s had to do worse for some masters. All I have to say is :( because there aren’t words to express my sadness and horror. In general, Oliver has a few good moments with Margo and remind me of why I ship them, but he spends most of this installment being extremely pushy and unable to reconcile the fact he wants something Margo doesn’t yet. Because he’s like that for most of the book, their chemistry from The Art of Wishing isn’t quite there.

Though the book is a little aimless for the first half as Margo learns the genie ropes, things really pick up in the second half as the growing distance between Oliver and Margo becomes half the conflict (the other half being the possibility of Margo abandoning her life to travel the world with Oliver genie-style and her issues with that). While everything ends happily and with a good, solid conclusion, it seems a little too neat to me. To get close to it without saying too much, genie magic is presented as very finicky when it comes to how genies can use it on themselves and the solution to Oliver and Margo’s problems is so win-win for both of them that it seems like something their magic wouldn’t go with. Yet it does. Hm.

If you want a little something magical that still deals with very real issues like consent without losing any humor, this duology is something to look into. Lindsay Ribar is definitely one of my favorite authors as well as being one of my favorite people ever! I’ll be waiting eagerly for news of her next book because she’s kinda good at this writing thing and I want more of her words in my face. ...more

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Dec 23, 2013 Elisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, speculative-fiction

How nice it is to read a YA highschool book that tackles such intense themes as the balance between slavery and personal freedom, the gray areas of sexual assault and consent, moral integrity in a magical world, identity as it relates to responsibility to others, and non-binary gender issues... and does it all WELL. This book explores many of the sticky results of exactly what it could mean for a human to become (or make use of) a "genie" without preaching or moralizing. The characters make choi ...more

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Jul 25, 2013 Debby marked it as to-read

Shelves: own-tbr

Why? Why this cover? Why?! ;_______;

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Jul 17, 2018 Stephanie rated it did not like it

PLOT WHAT PLOT

all the characters are major jerks. The shitty choices include but are not limited to:

-boy wishes for girl to be in love with him (fortunately they don't sleep together)
-boy wishes for girl to WANT to sleep with him (he doesn't consider this rape)
-girl threatens to force her "best friend" to stay in their home town forever
-girl wishes for her sister to break up with her fiance (this is fine with the characters and there are no consequences)
-entire school decides to bully a boy (onl ...more

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Feb 10, 2015 Colette rated it it was amazing

Wow! This book was amazing! It explored gender issues, identity questioning, and young love. It put all these themes into a creative, unique storyline that left me entirely satisfied with every page. Overall 5/5 stars; I was so sad when the story ended- I want more!

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May 04, 2018 Juliana rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018-ontd-challenge

3.5 stars. I love when I can get through an entire book in one evening.
This is the sequel to The Art of Wishing and it picks up directly after the first one. Many unanswered questions were answered in this one and I liked that. Margo made a fourth wish to save Oliver and in turn, became a genie herself. We see how she adjusts to the powers of becoming a genie and balancing her human life at the same time. Margo and Oliver are a great couple and Oliver is just so casual about everything. He's be ...more

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May 30, 2014 Meredith rated it it was ok

Shelves: terrible-disappointing-or-annoying, fairytales-myths, fantasy, finished-series, people-with-powers

Eh. The first one was cheesy, quick, and had some serious issues in the Teens-Fall-Head-Over-Heels-And-Make-Ill-Advised-Decisions category, but at least it had a really morally ambiguous villain and a cool premise. This one had all of the bad stuff of the first, exhausted the premise and had no bad guy or major issue. It was 350 pages of her trying to figure out the genie thing, with no real big issues aside from some teenage angst. It's not really necessary to the series - it was more cute coup ...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: i-will-go-down-with-this-ship, bitches-get-shit-done, on-my-shelves, owned-print-copy, arc, quiltbag, needs-more-hype, right-in-the-feels, nerd-bait, favorites-paranormal

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

For more reviews, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

Before I get started, let me state for the record that I think Lindsay Ribar is an awesome person. I consider her a friend and got to hang out with her a bit at BEA both inside and outside the conference center. What’s awesome is that I actually got to know her after I was the first person to review The Art of Wishing, which I totally reread and loved even more (knowing a book’s in a series is super helpfu Actual rating: 4.5 stars

For more reviews, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

Before I get started, let me state for the record that I think Lindsay Ribar is an awesome person. I consider her a friend and got to hang out with her a bit at BEA both inside and outside the conference center. What’s awesome is that I actually got to know her after I was the first person to review The Art of Wishing, which I totally reread and loved even more (knowing a book’s in a series is super helpful) than the first time. I don’t think my admiration of Lindsay affected my reading of her book, but full disclosure and all that. The Fourth Wish is a delightful, norm-smashing, humorous sequel and all people who enjoy a well-placed pop culture reference simply must read this series. There will be some spoilers for The Art of Wishing, so if you haven’t read that yet, just go do that.

The Fourth Wish is not what I was expecting. Usually that’s a bad thing, but it wasn’t here. The Art of Wishing was partly fluffy and partly intense and dark. That might sound unbalanced, but the story really made all of that work. There was a foundation for the turn the plot took, but it’s unexpected in that perfect emotion-punching way. I expected The Fourth Wish to continue with that dark intensity and, if anything, to be darker in mood than The Art of Wishing. That’s not the case. The Fourth Wish actually does something different altogether.

In The Art of Wishing, Margo was dealing with the realization that there’s magic in the world and with her feelings for a genie. It was very much about handling the paranormal aspects while being a human being. Now, though, Margo is paranormal herself and, unlike a lot of YA fiction, Ribar delves into the impact that has on her life. Obviously, this change means that she’s got to do genie work, which is a definite alteration, but it also affects her relationships with other humans and, most importantly, her sense of who she is and what she wants to do. Ribar tackles all of this and makes something fantastical feel very true to life.

In fact, The Fourth Wish ameliorated the only remaining criticism I had of The Art of Wishing, which is that Oliver and Margo enter the “I love you” phase much faster than I’m comfortable with. While they’re still together, it’s not easy. The love declarations obviously were not a way around developing the relationship. For all that Margo felt like she was in love, she’s constantly having to reevaluate their relationship and everything is not sunny. They fight and have to reach compromises.

Even better is the way that being genies impacts their relationship. See, genies change their form every time they get a new master, meaning that both Oliver and Margo change gender throughout the book. Though both can change back to a desired form if they work at it, sometimes they’re not the Margo and Oliver they’re both used to from the first book. For Oliver, this is old hat and no big deal, but Margo has to shift her paradigm that says what a relationship should look like. As with a lot of things, Margo’s not fully embraced the potential of their unique status by the end, but she’s made progress and oh my do I want some steamy fan fiction about these two.

Margo’s character arc is wonderful. She’s very much the same girl she was before, both in good and bad ways. Margo does some seriously frustrating things and sometimes I wanted to shake her. All of it, however, is very Margo and the book is about her gaining awareness of some of her less healthy mental processes. Basically, falling love and becoming a genie in such a short period of time sort of throws her off and she has to sit back and think about her behavior. Margo may be a hard character for some to take, as most characters who push people away seem to be, but she’s trying really hard and learning all the time. Also, I love her for the way she handles her first master; it may not be the classiest way, but I want to give the girl a high five. Plus, it attacks gender norms yet again, which is fabulous.

I wouldn’t say The Fourth Wish is action-packed, but my attention never wandered. There were always things happening, but it was life happening rather than the lives are at stake norm of paranormal fiction. It’s more character-focused than plot-focused, which for me is ideal. The one thing I would have liked to see is some resolution with Margo’s family. They’ve been typically distant for the whole series, neglecting Margo partly through trust but mostly because they’re so wrapped up in love for one another. Throughout the series, they don’t have many moments and Margo never really even starts to deal with her issues there, which felt out of place next to the time Margo spent dealing with everything else important to her (and her mom at least is very important to her).

There’s a special kind of bantery magic in this series and I wish that the people who would love this series will find it. I love both of them and they’re definitely the sort of books I’ll be rereading throughout the years. ...more

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Oct 31, 2014 Stormy added it

The Fourth Wish dives right into the story–we’re thrown pretty much right into where The Art of Wishing left off. For that reason, The Fourth Wish doesn’t feel so much as a sequel as just part two. While this sometimes bothers me in books(I feel strongly about books having their own story arcs), for some reason The Fourth Wish didn’t feel that way at all. Instead, I found The Fourth Wish to be a great wrap-up on Margo’s story.

As Margo is now a new genie, she struggles to figure out how to balanc The Fourth Wish dives right into the story–we’re thrown pretty much right into where The Art of Wishing left off. For that reason, The Fourth Wish doesn’t feel so much as a sequel as just part two. While this sometimes bothers me in books(I feel strongly about books having their own story arcs), for some reason The Fourth Wish didn’t feel that way at all. Instead, I found The Fourth Wish to be a great wrap-up on Margo’s story.

As Margo is now a new genie, she struggles to figure out how to balance her genie life and her human life. As a genie, Margo has to take whatever shape will make her master feel comfortable, grant wishes even when they have affects on the people she cares about, and be at someone’s beck and call. As Margo tries to remain tied to her human life, she finds the balance between her friends, family, and things she cares about thrown off balance. How can she think of going to college when she has to deal with all her genie things? And then, of course, there’s the nature of Margo and Oliver’s relationship. Now that they’re both genies, some things are easier for the two of them, but at the same time it also makes their lives harder as they keep changing at the whims of their masters.

Despite all that’s going down in The Fourth Wish, it never feels like too much is happening. There’s a lot of introspection on Margo’s part, which is to be expected. While it may have been slightly annoying to see Margo struggle with her new life, I found it refreshing. There’s a learning curve to being a genie, after all, and it makes sense that Margo doesn’t just find herself immediately comfortable in her new identity, especially as her identity keeps changing due to her genie nature.

I find that often when books have a magical element, the magical world is always considered superior to the “normal” world, without any thought as to how or why that is. That’s why I appreciated how much Margo was willing to fight for her human life in The Fourth Wish. She enjoyed her magic at times and hated it at others, when it caused her to do things she didn’t want to do, but the portrayal was all very balanced. She wasn’t ready to just uproot her entire life to become a genie, and I really appreciated that. There’s always a sense of dismay when a character abandons the real world for the magical one and the magical one is “better”–it leaves the readers in a world that’s portrayed as empty of adventure. Which is why seeing Margo clinging to her human life was so refreshing and made me happy.

Of course, the romance in The Fourth Wish is quite strong considering what happened at the end of The Art of Wishing. Now that Margo and Oliver are both genies and they’re past that initial stage, their relationship takes a turn for the more serious. They have cute moments, too, but on the whole this book has a shift to a darker and more serious tone. However, it’s still endearing to watch Oliver and Margo navigate their relationship, especially given the new parameters of the world. The Fourth Wish delves into the nature of gender and identity a bit, and the exploration is all done thoughtfully and considerately.

In the end, The Fourth Wish was a great conclusion to Margo’s story. It had the cute moments from the first book, but manage to shift it’s focus to more serious topics well, including things like identity and the struggle Margo felt between her genie life and her human life. The magic system in The Fourth Wish was explained a bit better, and it’s clear that everything in this book was very thought-out. I just can’t help but to be charmed by this sequel.

This review first appeared on Book.Blog.Bake. ...more

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Jun 25, 2013 Alexandra Christo rated it liked it

Shelves: contemp, fantasy, series-books-i-completed, romance-focused

The Art of Wishing was one of my favourite books of 2013 and so when I got my hands on a copy of The Fourth Wish, I couldn't wait to spend the entire day devouring it.

The Fourth Wish picks up right where the last book left off, so we are thrown straight into Margo's new reality, experiencing the overwhelming wonders and fears of being a genie alongside her.

Seeing Margo's struggle between trying to control her new powers, while maintaining a normal life was fascinating. She fought not to lose who ...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Lizzie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, own, young-adult, new-and-exciting, my-friend-wrote-this, fantasy-or-something

Hey! It's a duology! You don't get a whole lot of those, do you? It's pretty great to read a sequel that isn't just biding its time in a trilogy. Very smart choice.

I was very eager for this one, because our previous teenager/genie encounter in The Art of Wishing leaves us with about a thousand ~~more wishes~~ questions. Because — I guess we're not spoiler-spacing Book One any more — in the end, after a few weeks of whirlwind "magic is real; also having a genie is complex and rather ethically dub Hey! It's a duology! You don't get a whole lot of those, do you? It's pretty great to read a sequel that isn't just biding its time in a trilogy. Very smart choice.

I was very eager for this one, because our previous teenager/genie encounter in The Art of Wishing leaves us with about a thousand ~~more wishes~~ questions. Because — I guess we're not spoiler-spacing Book One any more — in the end, after a few weeks of whirlwind "magic is real; also having a genie is complex and rather ethically dubious also fun," our hero Margo marches right off into the turning-yourself-into-your-boyfriend's-magic-power trap. It is a trap. And, uniquely, Margo knows it (now, if she didn't at the critical moment) and spends the good majority of her sequel pondering it out. What a crazy thing to do for your boyfriend! How did I really do this? etc.

It's a neat formula: this book reads like it's made of Marshmallow Fluff, but what you're reading about is not. There's gender-fluidity and sexuality-questioning, ethical quandaries and sexual consent issues, infinite identity crises, and fine yes there's kissing as well. You get some kissing, guys! Red alert! But mostly, for Margo the whole point here is: Who is she? Can she still have an identity? This is a girl who turns into a magical genie — which forces her to look like a different person, per her master's desires — and then goes right home to her parents' house to sleep in her room. Because she's still her! Her life is still there. Right? Or is it her life, with a Margo-shaped hole in it?

Things brighten up and then complicate some more for her once she learns how to control her body to look like her old self. (Being a genie sounds pretty uncomfortable, actually.) What's the first thing she decides to do? Put on her old body, and go to school. Keep up with rehearsals for the musical. Open her college admissions mail. Both she and the genie boyfriend, Oliver, are in a little denial about things. They're happy together, but where is this going, now? You know… forever? That's weird.

I wish a hundred more things could be included in this book. Like, you're actually immortal now, WHAT DO YOU DO with this information! How do you process. Also, when will you tell your parents? Tell them, tell them! I wanted to see what would happen. But the things Margo spends most of the book figuring out, and the plan she announces at its end, is pretty spot-on and satisfying.

The only difficulty in reading this is that you can't really make a case for it as a stand-alone sequel; it picks up right away and hews very closely to Book One, and relies on lots of rules and information we learned there. (And, if you've read it too long ago, mighta forgotten? Erp.) So if you go for no. 1, just read them both, if the mood's right.

Also, notable: Margo's wish-making spirit vessel is the guitar pick she picked up as a souvenir from a Neko Case concert. Therefore: everything Neko Case touches turns literally to magic? And, possibly someone in her band is a genie? QED. <3 ...more

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Sep 04, 2013 Kinsey rated it liked it

Cutesy. Not as good as the first, I think, but I did enjoy it. It was fun learning more about their magic and watching them grow together; though Margo acting like the jealous girlfriend the majority of the time didn't leave me with anything but a slightly annoyed expression
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Before I start, may I just say the amount of Aladdin references I could make are absolutely infinite, so be grateful I've suppressed ever pun-making bone in my body Cutesy. Not as good as the first, I think, but I did enjoy it. It was fun learning more about their magic and watching them grow together; though Margo acting like the jealous girlfriend the majority of the time didn't leave me with anything but a slightly annoyed expression
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Before I start, may I just say the amount of Aladdin references I could make are absolutely infinite, so be grateful I've suppressed ever pun-making bone in my body to write an actual review.

If I could use one word to describe this book, it would be "cute". Because that's what this second installation to Lindsey Ribar's series is. The first book sort of stunned me with the whole modern genie thing, as it was the first genie book in Young Adult literature I had read. It was quite well done and I really enjoyed it, so I had sort of high expectations for this book.

Don't get me wrong, there were some cool things in this story. We got to learn more about the actual rules of being a genie, and traveled to all the cool genie places and played with the new magic, which I found quite entertaining. However, I feel like we could have gone more in depth as to what the magic actually was and how it worked.

I think I didn't enjoy Margo or Oliver as much in this book either. Margo was pretty self-centered, and Oliver wanted to just do things his way, without giving much thought as to Margo's actual life.

That was another thing I didn't quite agree on. If I were suddenly turned into a genie I wouldn't attempt to live my normal life like usual. It would be painful to leave, but in the end probably easier for everyone instead of revealing magic to every human in the town. It just didn't make much sense to me.

I did like the ending a good deal. I thought it all wrapped up pretty nicely, even if it fell sort of rushed.

If you liked The Art of Wishing, and are wondering whether to read this book, I'd say go for it, but don't go in expecting it to be like the first. I still definitely recommend the first book. Especially if you enjoy magic in modern settings. ...more

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Jul 08, 2014 Kyra rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, sent-for-review, favorites

This book was won in the goodreads first reads giveaway.
First reaction: 4.5 stars. WOW OK THAT WAS CUTE AND UP TO MY HIGH-BROW FEMINIST STANDARDS. I enjoyed it far better than the first one, because this was more about people and how people behave. It was more of an inner conflict, Margo was fighting herself more than fighting off bad guys. In fact, for a book about genies there wasn't any mystical evil forces. (view spoiler) I was able to con ...more

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Aug 19, 2014 Nasty Lady MJ rated it liked it

To see full duo-logy review click here.

Don’t get me wrong. The Fourth Wish had a lot going for it. I liked the look that Ribar took on serious issues-like sexuality, slavery, and free choice. But compared to the first book. Well, I didn’t get the chemistry between teh two characters.

Yeah, the fluffy kitties were gone.

It’s still a good book. And even though I wasn’t having a purr worthy moment reading about Margo and Oliver, there were some cute moments.

One thing I did like about this book (and t ...more

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Oct 14, 2013 Dahlia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014-releases, i-own-arc, quiltbag-ya, paranormal, i-own-in-hardcopy, bi-pride, favoritey-faves

THE ART OF WISHING was my most pleasant surprise of 2013, given that I'm not typically a paranormal YA reader, and I was dying to see if I could possibly love THE FOURTH WISH as much. The answer is hellllll yes. Not only do I remain utterly in love with Margo and Oliver, both separate and apart, but this book is full of themes and discussions that kept making me think "Really? You just did that in a cute genie book? Really?" Consent. Bisexuality. Gender fluidity. All these things are somehow cov ...more

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Aug 08, 2014 Annie rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015

Maybe like 3.5

So I really liked most of this book, but it was kinda unsatisfying in the end. First off, there wasn't that big of a plot. The first book had this crazy intense Big Bad and it was dramatic and full of action, and this one was so much weaker in comparison. We didn't have a Big Bad, and then, the ending was insulting. I always loved Margo because I felt like I could super relate to her, but she got pathetic in this book. Especially in the end. No lies, she was such a bitch to Naomi a ...more

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Oct 14, 2013 Jen (Pop! Goes The Reader) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Please Note: This review will contain spoilers for the first novel in this series, The Art of Wishing.

“There was only pain, at first – the pain of my magic breaking me into a collection of atoms, getting ready to make me into something new. It was painful, but I knew it was necessary.
I just wished I could make it happen faster.”

One choice can change everything. No-one knows this more than eighteen year old Margo McKenna. After choosing to cast a fourth wish in order to save Oliver from his dange ...more

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Aug 28, 2014 Vicki (The Wolf's Den) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Vicki by: Chez Apocalypse

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, free-read-borrow, the-wolfs-den-reviewed, girl-power, urban-fantasy-paranormal, romance, book-group

Amazon ~ Powell's ~ Jan's Paperbacks

After that non-ending from the last book, I was excited to dive into this one. After all, we had a new genie on the loose and I had no clue where this book was going to take her, even after watching a slightly spoilery interview with the author. So, I guess if you're looking for a new big bad to show up and the genies having to work their magic to save the world, you're going to be kinda disappointed. But if you're interested in seeing how a teen deals with a ...more

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Jul 09, 2017 Donna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017challenge, towerteam-v, july2017tbr

This was an interesting story. I can't remember the last time I read a book with a genie in it so it was a nice change of pace. This book was ok. Margo really wasn't my favorite kind of heroine. I prefer a stronger heroine that can kick your butt and hand it back to you. Instead, she is one of those high school girls who don't really know what they want and keep changing their minds. Plus she seemed a bit self-absorbed. Jamie was all about using the gift to help people and she just wanted to liv ...more

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Aug 13, 2018 Lydia rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018, theatre, light-reads, fantasy

I only wanted to read this book because I knew it included musical theater. I didn't know it was the second book in a series but I didn't find it hard to follow. I found it very similar to the sequel to Evil Librarian, except this I actually finished. I shouldn't be too hard on the book though. When people write about some nonhuman creature that there's hardly anything else written about, they make up stuff that that's hard not to sound meaningless and weird. But there didn't seem to be much of ...more

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Oct 01, 2020 Angela rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-contemporary, books-that-i-won-t-read-again, 2020-reads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 30, 2018 Jill rated it liked it

Shelves: series-to-remember, ya

A very satisfying and neatly tied up conclusion to this duo series. Being a genie has consequences Margo didn't anticipate, but her strength of will and stubbornness are just two of her assets. Oliver is another. I enjoyed Margo's character--nice to have a smart, strong young woman who figures things out on her own. And....sure, there is room for another book, but I don't think there will be. We will have to imagine the adventures that Oliver and Margo will have. ...more

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Aug 19, 2017 Kyla added it

Shelves: best-ever-done

Best book ever! The Fourth Wish is my second favorite book! I try to read it again, but whenever I finish reading a book. I can't read it again! But I don't get why, Lindsay, would not make another book. It would be nice to make/have another one! ...more

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Nov 08, 2018 Quinn rated it it was amazing

Absolutely gorgeous book! I usually don't read a series because books usually go down i quality as the series goes on but, not with these! I highly recommend this amazing and adoring novel. It will have your heart crying all throughout. ...more

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Jun 12, 2018 Devina Boughton rated it did not like it

I thought the first one was decent if a bit fluffy but the main character became insufferable in this book. Does she have a conscience??? Apparently not!!

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Aug 26, 2018 Ashley rated it liked it

This book was okay. I enjoyed the first book more but, this still was a good read.

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Aug 11, 2017 Cara rated it really liked it

This was okay. It's pretty much just more of the same. The main difference between this one and the first book was seeing things from a genie's perspective, which was cool. ...more

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Crazy for Young A...: The Fourth Wish by Lindsay Ribar → Start Date: July 8th, 2016	6	9	Jul 08, 2016 10:08PM

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About Lindsay Ribar

Lindsay Ribar

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Lindsay Ribar lives in New York City, where she works in book publishing by day and writes YA novels by night. She attends far too many concerts, watches far too much nerdy TV, and consumes fanfiction like it's made out of chocolate. She is fond of wine, cheese, and countries where they speak English but with really cool accents. Oh, and she has a Harry Potter tattoo. ...more