TV reporter Julia Preston is frustrated in life and love...
...until a street vendor sells her a magical coin that fulfills all her darkest wishes
Denied a promised promotion, TV reporter Julia Preston learns that it went instead to ambitious newcomer Jennifer Bailey. Even worse, she discovers that Bailey is dating her ex. Walking home, seething with anger, Julia encounters a street vendor selling wishing coins. Skeptical, she's not interested until he offers an old tarnished coin with some geometrical figures that intrigue her. It soon becomes clear that the vendor's pitch was real; she has come into possession of a miraculous weapon to use against those who have wronged her. But what seems like the answer to her prayers soon begins to feel more like a curse.
Antara Man started writing at the age of seven and continues to this very day. Apart from reading and writing, you can find her practicing yoga, as she has developed a keen interest in self-improvement, spirituality and becoming a better human being. She is currently preparing her second book that is a mixture between contemporary fiction and sci-fi. She also enjoys writing criminal books and suspense stories and believes in unity in diversity. In her opinion, the best books and stories are a crossover between genres. Subscribe to her newsletter http://eepurl.com/SBGFf to be the first one to hear about new releases, giveaways and special offers. You can visit her website at http://www.antaraman.com.
This was a sweet tale that was worth the time spent to read it without doubt. The plot was a very solid and enjoyable: a hard-working woman who felt overlooked in her romantic life and career comes across a mysterious stranger selling a coin that will grant any and all wishes she may have but warns her to be extremely careful. Of course she isn't and faces the consequences throughout the novella.
Something I wish I could have seen more of would be character development. In the beginning there was no clear proof that Julia was actually a hard-working woman. Halfway through the book a few different supporting characters point out to Julia that she has drastically changed but I found myself thinking I had no idea who she was before the coin came into her life so I had no idea if that were true or if they were just being mean. Later it was explained that she was a career woman who wanted a relationship but not necessarily children. But it was hard to be fully invested in her because there was not a lot said about her pre-coin. And it was hard to be invested in any of the other characters for the same reason.
The premise, plot, and setting were all extremely good. The book is fast paced and well worth the read. I am glad to have gotten to read it.
A wonderful modern spin on the classic three wishes set in modern day New York City. I really enjoyed this cautionary tale about focusing on what you don't have. The main character was relatable, and I was hoping throughout the story that she would figure it out and get her life back in order. The author did a fantastic job of taking readers on a journey of self-discovery with the main character. The turning point will surprise you and leave you thinking about the deeper issues that surround this sort of tale.
A nice little modern fairy tale, based on the interesting idea of being able to get anything you wanted just by wishing for it. TV presenter Julia Preston's dissatisfaction with her life and career seems to be at an end when she buys a wishing coin from a mysterious street vendor, which can grant her every wish. But, as Julia soon finds, being able to get your own way all the time is not necessarily for the best...
An entertaining novella, which can be read in an afternoon or evening, this is worth the 99c price tag.
This was a fine read--quite short. It's about a woman who finds a wishing coin and learns that getting everything you want isn't always ideal. I thought there was good character growth in the novel, but I felt like the dialogue between the characters was a bit contrived and stilted. I don't have much more to say about it than that. It's only 99 cents on Amazon, so it's worth it if you want to unplug for an hour or so.
This is a cute book about getting what you wish for and sometimes this is not always a good thing. I enjoyed the journey the author took me on in this book and I think I would read more from this author. * I received this book from a LibraryThing giveaway in exchange for an honest review*
Boy howdy... the one saving grace of this novel is that it was mercifully short -- more of a short story or novella than a full-fledged book. It has a cute and interesting premise with a well-intended message ("be careful what you wish for"), but something went badly wrong in the execution. Not only is this a poorly written novel, its main character is thoroughly unlikable, the supporting cast is no better, and the whole thing feels more like a pitch for a Hallmark TV special than an actual book.
"The Wishing Coin" follows Julia, a New York TV reporter who runs a special segment dedicated to heartwarming stories of hope... and who is bitter when the promotion to the hard-hitting news show "The Screw" is given to another woman who also happens to be dating her hot ex-boyfriend. So when Julia finds a strange man in Central Park selling what he claims are magical coins, she gives in to curiosity and buys the most powerful one despite the seller's warnings. To Julia's shock, the coin works, and soon she's not only reclaimed her boyfriend and her longed-for promotion, but she's using the coin to fulfill her every desire, no matter how minor. But her wishes aren't free of consequence, and Julia soon learns there's a dark side to getting everything you want...
This book has a cute premise, but the execution is botched horribly. Julia is an unlikable character who we're obviously supposed to root for despite the fact that she's petty, selfish, and really doesn't learn much of a lesson throughout the novel aside from some forced guilt when when of her wishes backfires on her. Her boyfriend is a wet blanket who has the creepy habit of calling his mother "Mommy," while most of the rest of the cast, from the boyfriend's mom to Julia's friends to the coin seller himself, are either thoroughly unpleasant or practically non-entities without personality. It's difficult to like anyone in this novel or even sympathize with them, so why should I remain invested in the story?
The writing is pretty bad as well. Mann seems not to have learned the rule of "show, don't tell," and so huge chunks of the novel are simply recaps of everything that's happened, more like a summary than an actual novel. The dialogue is stilted and odd, and as another reviewer has pointed out it comes across as more European/UK English than American English despite being set in New York City. Also there are some major gaffes in research -- a few hundred likes on Facebook is treated as a major deal, and a supposedly Italian character speaks Spanish instead of Italian. A simple Google research trip could have rectified all these... Also, some of the names of TV shows are so obviously stand-ins for better-known shows -- "Good Morning USA" instead of "Good Morning America" and "The Screw" instead of "The View" (really?) -- that it becomes laughable.
Also, the story never resolves a few elements, such as how anyone reacts to the revelation that Julia has used them or the fact that her ex-boyfriend's current fling is a sexual sadist. Some books end up overly padded with needless fluff, but this is the rare book that could have actually stood to be longer, instead of recapping everything in summary form or refusing to resolve certain plot threads.
"The Wishing Coin" reads more like a pitch for a Hallmark or Lifetime TV movie than a novel, and spoils its potentially cute premise with awful writing, unpleasant characters, and massive research failures. It's one saving grace is that it's short... but this is still two hours of my life I'm not getting back.
Really sweet fairy tale, at least no one gets hurt. An opportunity for some self growth came at a great time. This would really be a great way to learn to be less selfish. But how many people would really “learn” the lesson. Wishful thinking! Good, light reading.
It's sad that a book with such a nice message and a good (if clichéd) premise got burned by poor research, poor characterisation, and odd (and oddly timed) plot developments. The occasional bout of sloppy editing (who the heck is Steve?) and not-quite-right word choices didn't help, either.
Poor Research
Julia, the MC and our narrator, though ostensibly a U.S. native, has a tenuous grasp of American English. Her narrative is peppered with Commonwealth English. So is her friends' dialogue, but that can at least be explained away: their origins are never alluded to. Dressing gown, anyone?
Julia's superiors at a national television network got excited over social media numbers that would have left the director of social media at mid-sized daily newspaper frowning. A few hundred tweets does not a sensation make for TV.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is referred to often, and the author's description makes it sound more like an entertainment news — think extra, Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight — than the late-night talk show it is. "...made me a Jimmy Kimmel Live's reporter, but..." Alas, no.
Finally, the author doesn't know New York City. I was fairly certain by the second reference to "walking down 54 West Street" (I took the first to be a typo) that the author wasn't actually talking about walking inside a building along the West Side Highway (the descriptions don't allow for it to be a building on the West Street section of the highway, either); instead, she seemed to mean West 54th street. It was also jarring to read about "the alley by the river near Central Park".
What mid-career, low-level reporter walks around the city with $500 cash in her wallet?
Odd Plot (and Oddly Timed) Developments
Julia's friends begin to rip her to shreds about the changes in her personality long before any such changes become apparent to the reader. Their insults are harsh and don't yet make sense. In fact, they never do really make sense because her friends never learn her secrets and her personality never demonstrably changes.
The characters, Julia included, make bewildering decisions, choices that really wouldn't work in real life and don't work for the characters as they are written.
Sloppy Editing
Who the heck is Steve?
Not-Quite-Right Word Choices
In addition the Commonwealth English usage (Julia lives in a flat, she wears a dressing gown), there's an early scene where the owner of an Italian restaurant can't seem to decide if he's speaking Italian or Spanish. But that wasn't what really caught my eye and pushed me out of the story.
Lots of little, easily missed things like "strollers" to mean people who are strolling, without any acknowledgement of the more common U.S. meaning of the word, left me baffled until I worked out the author's intended meaning.
The book might work for anyone who isn't familiar with USian English, has only the vaguest familiarity with Manhattan, and doesn't mind characters who make inexplicable choices (who doesn't seek medical attention when someone they love passes out, simply on the advice of someone else whom they know dislikes the person they love?).
After all, there's a very good message behind the flawed story.
“There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” –Oscar Wilde
Julia is a goal-oriented up-and-coming news reporter, but her career ambition is not working out as planned because there’s always some newbie that gets ahead of her. Imagine what it would be like to get one thing that you wanted. Then she meets a coin vendor selling wishing coins. A coin that grants wishes? Cool!
“Remember that now looks like a gift may very well soon turn into a curse.” Intrigue!
But what harm could a couple of wishes do? It’s nice to get what you want, but then there’s that whole “be careful what you wish for” thing. But Julia tries to be smart about, wording her wishes carefully so as not to accidentally kill someone.
But then the power becomes addicting. What started off as simple wishing soon gets out of control, especially when interfering with people’s lives.
This book is relatable and hits that yearning spot in all of us. Although Julia eventually comes to the realization that you can’t get what you want by wishing it, I wish she would’ve made more wishes before coming to the conclusion. Her story was just too short.
This is a twisted little tale that takes all kinds of bad turns during the story. Julia is a decent person with a conscience and had no intention of getting so out of control. It all starts off innocently when Julia is presented with a rare opportunity after a lousy day at the office. The magic coin vendor must have had an advanced degree in marketing, he knew exactly how to manipulate Julia. Be careful what you wish for is the theme of this tale, which ends up going from bad to worse. I found this a thought provoking short read. The important characters are well developed. The non-important ones were a bit two-dimensional, their single purpose was used for Julia to learn from. As misguided as Julia was during this journey, I wanted things to work out for her in the end.
Format/Typo Issues: I found a small number of proofing errors. However, in chapter 8 in the file I received for review, Mike was called Steve.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy.** June 22, 2015
A charming tale mixing the magic of a wishing coin and lots of contemporary name dropping.
I struggled with my rating, deciding how much some technical and structural problems took away from the pacing and charm of the story.
In the end, I decided that issues of a few typos, an unusual (but consistent) manner of opening new chapters, and the moderately regular appearance of some large block-style paragraphs, did not deter me from both enjoying the narrative (esp the dialogs) and wanting to know how the story ended.
Also, segment dividers (which I much prefer over empty extra lines of blank space) were very tight to the text in my laptop cloud reader, but not on my iPhone Kindle app. Once I got used to that, that was also no problem.
So much of story convention affects our perception of a story's value, but Antara's sometimes amusing sometimes angst-filled morality tale, despite my own adjustments as a reader, felt very much like real live with a you-can-see-it-if-you-try purpose.
When Julia Preston, a TV personality, buys a wishing coin that grants her every wish, she sees it as a blessing. But, as the power of being able to get anything she wants starts to darken her spirit and consume her, she learns a valuable lesson. The Wishing Coin by Antara Man is a modern fairy tale that shows that power is corruptive, but at the same time, the author shows that redemption is possible. The reader is shown, through Julia’s actions and reactions, just how this can happen. A short, but interesting tale of human emotions that is an enjoyable summer read. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review. It was the second book by this author that I’ve read, and it has made me want to see more—preferably a longer work that will allow her to take her talents to the next level.
Julia Preston, a TV reporter, seems to be down on her luck with just about everything. She fails to get a promotion at work and to top it off, she loses it to a newcomer who just happens to be dating her ex. Unhappy with her career and her now non existent love life, she sees a street vendor selling wishing coins.... Her life takes an unexpected turn soon after she makes wishes, would they be to her advantage, or is Julia cursed?
This is a short story that packs a pleasing punch as the main character sets the back drop for a twisted tale that spins a dangerous web. This isn't the usual run-of-the-mill classic turned modern innuendo, and the author does a wonderful job of mixing self-discipline with deeper underlying issues that only Julia can unravel - or can she?
This book is something I normally wouldn't read. Antara asked me to write a truthful review in exchange for the book. I loved the plot as it's something every person would like to come across. Julia is a lady who knows what she wants but gets overlooked in her career. She has the fairytale but it becomes twisted with the problems of a person in power. There is a focus on Julia's career with a hint of romance between Julia and her Ex. You get to feel the emotions she goes through and how she has to learn to deal with the problems she has caused. This book is a must read for anyone wanting a different sort of fairytale.
Meh. The writing is okay but I found it very irritating how the author tried to be clever by changing some of the names (ie instead of the tv show The View, it was called The Screw and George stephanopoulos was called Stephan Georgepoulos, which doesn't even make sense). There were some very minor typos in the kindle edition I read but I don't count those against the story. The plot line was okay but fairly trite. It's the same old be careful of what you wish for story. That's all fine and good but there was no freshness to the tale and the main characters personality was fairly grating. I just didn't root for her to have a happily ever after.
Did you ever wish your life was different? What if you could change the whole course of your journey by purchasing a special coin. A coin that can make all your wishes come true. Sound good? Or does it sound a little too easy. Julia Preston, a TV reporter discovers just how easy that can be. She also finds out that having all your wishes come true is not all it is cracked up to be. This is a lighthearted novella that will capture the imagination. This short story twists and turns and keeps the reader guessing. If you are looking for a light, but entertaining read this is the book for you.
GREAT STORY I very rarely give 5 stars for a book, but the only reason I have only given this 4 stars TO THIS BOOK is that it was not long enough! It is a great story and I didn't want it to finish so quickly. I hoped that the great idea it would develop and become more complicated. As a short book, the writing flows, the interest level is maintained and it was a great read. the characters were real and the story plausible, yes, really, even with the magic! Buy this book for a train journey and you will be well entertained.
If you've ever read a fairy tale about someone being given three (or more) wishes, you know the heart of this story. But Antara Man did a fantastic job taking the fairy tale and turning it into a character-driven journey of self discovery. Although short, The Wishing Coin is so tightly written that you don't feel like you're only getting part of a story, and chances are you'll be itching for more at the end. I'm looking forward to more from this author!
In addition to writing a wonderful magical story, the author has excellent technical knowledge. Her main character is a television reporter who wants her own show and her old boyfriend back. Can she have it all? This novella delves into the consequences of getting everything we want. The author gives a surprising twist on the end of the story. I was given a free copy of this novella in exchange for my honest review.
Really cute story of magic and wishes -- with a moral, be careful what you wish for. Sometimes things seem bad, in love, career and life in general and we want to fast track to something better. Sometimes you just have to slog through the ordinary to find the gold on the other side, which might be right there in front of you all the time. A quick read but well written and a different twist on an old time favorite theme. You'll be wondering how it will all end up right to the last page.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A cute story with a meaningful message.
I appreciated what the author was trying to get across to readers. There is no "easy" way out. And by being so focused on what we think we want, we might miss out on something even better than what we could imagine for ourselves.
It's a very charming story that I believe will hold a special meaning to everyone who reads it.
The Wishing Coin was an enjoyable story that reminds me a little of The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs. It teaches important moral lessons without being too preachy or highbrowed, a feat not easily achieved by many authors who attempt it. Readers will be delighted to delve into this fictional tale.
Eh. This book was so weird. The characters were so robotic. They had no emotion. They also talked weird. Like they were foreigners or something. I thought it had a good moral to the story but I couldn't get over the weirdness of the writing.