Am I too old for middle grade stories? For a second I thought I would have rated this higher if I were younger but then again I was far more pretentious when I was about 9 or 10. I fancied YA books that I couldn't really relate to because I was too much in a hurry to grow up. Now that I'm in my twenties, I'm much more open to all genres in whatever age bracket. This is why Wishes and Wellingtons is making me question myself. Everyone who's listened to it seemed to enjoy it a great deal. Except for me.
It's not that it's a bad story. The premise is promising. I just find the protagonist annoying. Have I been reading middle grade books with unrealistically mature characters? I don't believe so. They made plenty of bad decisions here and there but they weren't petulant. I really didn't like the lead in this one. Decisions, actions, thoughts... I couldn't believe I was listening to a book about a 13 year old girl. She sounded way younger than that. At some point I cheered for the adults who acted like villains towards her because on some level I felt like she deserved it.
"Because you're being childish!"
"Ugh you child."
"Ohhhhh shut the f*ck up." (this is harsh but I was already irritated at this point)
...were some of the things I repeatedly said aloud while listening to the book in my car. She was THAT bad for me. I just couldn't stand her. I actually found her friends and sister far more interesting and tolerable.
I was ready to mark this as DNF but I read one review that said the ending was heartwarming. I had to see for myself so I skipped a couple of hours only to find that it was underwhelming. I realized I was far too uninterested to find it redeeming in any way.
It wasn't all terrible. Just okay. Definitely not for me. The narrator was great though so gotta give props for that.