Dream by Barbara O'Connor

 

Dream by Barbara O'Connor

3.5 Stars rounding up to 4

I loved Wish by Barbara last year and was so excited to see the Dream audiobook available on NetGalley! Suzy Jackson does such a great job narrating. As a southern Tennessee gal, I love her accents for the characters and it feels like home. 

As a follow up to Wish, Dream follows Idalee Lovett, who lives in the small town of Colby, North Carolina. Idalee's Mama is going on tour for the summer with her cover band and Idalee works on her songwriting skills. There is a local radio songwriting contest and Idalee is determined to win with her songs. Idalee needs a new guitar and there is supposedly long-lost treasure for her and her friends to find hidden somewhere in their house from her late grandfather... the friends spend their time helping Idalee trying to find it, while sneaking around. 

We see Howard, Charlie and Wishbone from Wish helping out in this book - loved seeing them again. You can technically read this outside of reading Wish, but I think you best enjoy it after reading Wish.

I liked this one in general. We have quirky characters who rent out rooms in the house, great friendships, a sweet dog and a sweet ending. Wish is still my favorite, but this was a good companion. 

However, while I enjoyed the book, I wasn't a fan of a side character portrayed as a pet fortune teller/psychic with orange "aura". She acts kind of weird around pets pretending to be a pet fortune teller and the kiddos talk about her being convincing and think she really may be one. There is also a brief mention of tarot cards and general fortune tellers. It wasn't anything overboard, brief mentions, but I didn't love those parts. I also wish we had a bit more of Wishbone in the story as the cover indicates.

Loved her song and the ending, so very sweet.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a complimentary copy of the audiobook to honestly read and review. All thoughts are my own.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7783105553
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4olbzBp

*Amazon links are affiliate links and a commission may be earned on items purchased from these links.

Wish by Barbara O'Conner

 

Wish by Barbara O'Conner 
5 Star Favorite

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book touched my heart in the best way. This is one of those rare stories that quietly sneaks into your heart and refuses to let go. Charlie is a character I won’t forget. We open the story with her sadness of longing for a family after her mother walked away from her when she was younger and her father is in jail, so she is living with her Aunt and Uncle - it's really like a foster situation from the child's POV. She has such longing for a family and to be home in Raleigh, NC and she is not happy to be alone, without her parents and older sister, in a "hillbilly small town". 

We see her navigate a new home, form an unlikely friendship with Howard (the sweetest boy!), and open her heart to a stray dog (beagle!) named Wishbone. Your heart breaks for her but you also see her growth and it's beautiful. She continues to make "wishes" along that way and where things end is not where she thinks...

I teared up a few times in this one! Her journey of realizing that love, family, and belonging don’t always look the way we expect hit RIGHT IN THE FEELS YALL! 

If you love stories about resilience, found family, and wishes that come true in unexpected ways, then Wish is a must-read. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time. ❤️🐶✨

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7139639737
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4kkcJel

*Amazon links are affiliate links and a commission may be earned on items purchased from these links.