Wish Me Dead [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

Steffi, her boyfriend Timo and friends, Max, Izabela, Jocken and Hanna live in the quiet German town of Bad Münstereifel. Painfully shy, Steffi is resigned to having to work in the family bakery, even though she really wants to be a singer. When Max suggests spending Walpurgis night at the abandoned house of Rote Gerd (a legendary witch who was burned alive centuries earlier by villagers who suspected her of kidnapping local children) to try and raise her ghost, Steffi reluctantly goes along.

There they find a box filled with wishes made to the witch. Steffi's persuaded to write one wishing for the death of Kara Klein (an elderly German folk singer and local celebrity). When Kara subsequently dies they decide to repeat the experiment - this time with all of them making their own wishes. Steffi wishes for 500 and again, it comes true. In fact, every wish she makes, comes true. But when the wishes take a sinister turn and more deaths strike close to Steffi's family, she begins to question whether it's right to be given everything she wants - and whether she really wants what she's asking for.

Helen Grant's third novel is a thriller with supernatural overtones and the message that you should be careful what you wish for.

Steffi is a well-drawn character and has a strong first person voice that conveys her confusion and dilemma at having her wishes come true. Because she's so shy, it's difficult to empathise with her at times, particularly her passivity at the developing relationship between Timo and Izabela. However she does grow as the story progresses and the open ending reflects the choices available to her, which I liked.

The story itself though is slow to develop, lacks tension and unfolds in a predictable way - including the `twist' at the end, which Grant sign-posts too early and which relies on a soap opera motivation. At times Steffi's persistent refusal to believe in the power of the wishes in spite of the evidence is irritating and a conversation between her and Julius (who wants her to sing for his band) relies too heavily on her deliberate misinterpretation.

All in all, it's not a bad book and I enjoyed the small town German setting but my problems with it meant that my attention kept wandering and I never really cared enough about Steffi or the central mystery.

Wish Me Dead is Helen Grant's third novel and once again, she brings us another thrilling mystery with perhaps a supernatural twist. In it she returns to the location of her first novel The Vanishing of Katharina Linden: Bad Münstereifel. As I haven't read said title yet - it's on the TBR-pile - I can't say for sure whether there are any connections between the two books, though there is talk of a spate of murders in the past. The atmosphere of Bad Münstereiffel is perfect. Like the perfect little towns you see on TV during the Tour de France and other European cycling races, Bad Münstereiffel looks completely quaint and picturesque, but is just as small to live in as such towns look. And while such close-knit communities are often a good thing, they can be insidious, because everyone knows each other and they are often rife with small-mindedness and gossip. This latter side is what is showcased in Wish Me Dead to good effect, with devastating consequences, not just in the book's present, but also in its past.

The novel is peopled by an interesting set of characters. Not all of them are as well-developed as our central characters, but they are there for a reason and none of them feel like caricatures, except perhaps Frau Kessel, the town busybody. She reminded me of nothing as much as Mrs Crumplebottom from The Sims 2. She was this pruny old lady, who hung around town snooping and giving anyone who was getting too amorous a slap with her purse! Though Frau Kessel did much worse than just slap some people, she is the ultimate malign gossip. Steffi is part of a strange circle of friends. One of them sort of steals her boyfriend - not that she really minded as the relationship was slowly dying anyway - and two of the boys, Max and Jochen, mostly bully the others into doing what they want. I found it hard to care for any of them and it made Steffi seem isolated and an outsider.

Our main character Steffi is well summed up by her surname Nett, which means nice in German. She is very shy and afraid to stand up for herself, leading her to be easily steam rolled into things she'd rather not do by her friends and family. For example, visiting Rote Gertrude's cottage or staying in Bad Münstereiffel to take over her father's bakery. However, during the course of the book Steffi learns to stand up for herself and to speak her mind. She tries to fight for what she wants, sadly not always very successfully, but she does try. By the end of the novel, she is able to speak her mind and to make her own decisions, without putting other people's desires and emotions first. Thankfully, this is not due to a boy who rescues her and makes everything better, as is so often the case; no, Steffi does it all on her own, with some help of her friends (one of whom is a boy, yes), but mostly through learning some really hard life lessons and finding out the truth about her family's past. Which doesn't mean that by the end of the novel she flounces off perfect and completely confident, but she has learned that she is in control over her own life, as long as she holds onto that control and doesn't let others take it away.

The idea of the witch's house is very cool. Every old town has some sort of old abandoned building and it isn't hard to imagine such a myth as that of Rote Gertrude to spring up in such a place. It is scary, fascinating and it feels as if the witch could appear at any moment. On the one hand it is hard to understand why Steffi keeps going back, on the other hand, the place is compelling and in the case of three of her curses, I do understand why she made them. And it must be strangely empowering for a girl such as Steffi, who often feels tongue-tied and weak, to have all her wishes come true. Wish Me Dead is not just the mystery of who is granting Steffi's wishes, it's also a look at what happens if your wishes come true, however horrible they are. Who hasn't ever thought I wish so and so would just disappear; it would be so much easier? Now imagine how scary it would be if that actually came true? Would you be guilty of murder, because you wished someone dead? Would you feel eaten by guilt and remorse? Or would you fly high as a kite, drunk on the feeling of power? In Steffi's case, it's all of that and more and it's interesting to see how these events help her grow into a stronger, more self-assured individual.

My only real problem with the story was the return of the prodigal sister. Magdalena's short visit seemed a little pointless. So she comes back, shows her face and let's everyone know she is now happy and settled up North. But it didn't seem to actually tie into anything else. It felt rather superfluous, even though the reason she returned was a valid one. I would have liked to have seen more interaction between the sisters, some sort of rapprochement between them.

In the end, while I wasn't taken completely unaware as to whom was the killer, I hadn't seen it coming too far in advance, and I really enjoyed the twist to the ending. I loved Wish Me Dead. Ms Grant seems to be getting better with each book. And I love her particular brand of mystery. While mostly marketed to a YA audience, this is definitely very suited to adult readers as well. If you're in the mood for some creepy mystery, Wish Me Dead is the book you want to read!

I'm not usually one to go for supernatural books, and reading the blurb of this, I was convinced that this would be the kind of book that you persevere with until chapter five and then, reflecting back lethargically on what you have read, decide to close it and save it for a rainy day (which never comes). However, I found that once I gave this book a chance, I was gripped - in fact I read it in two days, and couldn't put it down. It is great, and for all my fellow supernatural-dislikers out there, it doesn't revolve around the magical theme too much. It is a totally absorbing thriller, with mystery and romance too. The settings are well described, and although I did try and predict what happened next, I failed miserably, which only increased the tension and kept me sitting on the edge of my seat all the way through. This is a remarkable read that I thoroughly enjoyed - a must-read!! Well done Helen Grant!

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 5 customer reviews...

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff!
I wasn't too keen on Helen Grant's "The Vanishing of Katharina Linden", so I did not have high hopes of this one. However I really enjoyed it! Read more

Published 5 months ago by Jan

5.0 out of 5 stars wish me dead
A compelling book, couldn't put it down. Lots of twists and turns, well worth reading. First Helen Grant book that i have read.

Published 5 months ago by jellytot

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 5 customer reviews...

Search Listmania!