Review: Paper Wishes by Spencer Hoshino

Paper Wishes by Spencer Hoshino

My Rating: 4/5 TARDISes

Series: The Magical Girl Series #1

Date Published: February 14^th, 2017

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing

Pages: 212 pages

Source: Author

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Author’s Website

Synopsis: There is a belief that with each origami star folded, a falling star is saved. After folding 365 stars while mourning the loss of her mother, Vilvian makes a wish that will change her life forever.

Enter Nox Bright, the handsome and mysterious guy who has been haunting Vilvian’s dreams. She can barely believe it when he walks into her homeroom near the end of the school year. Has she gone crazy or is it possible that wishes really do come true?

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*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

This is a spoiler-free review.

The young adult contemporary romance genre is the genre I am pickiest about. Typically, I gravitate more toward fantasy, mystery, and science fiction novels. I sometimes get really in the mood to read them, but they are always starkly either a hit or a miss for me. They can be either weighed down by the same types of tropes or feel like the same story as all the others with little originality. Very rarely do I find novels in this category that really pull me in and are enjoyable to read—with a few exceptions, of course. I am happy to say that Paper Wishes, for me, is one of those very few exceptions.

In this novel, we follow a girl named Vilvian, who is trying to recover after the recent passing of her mother. She had been keeping to herself, drifting away from her friends, and living more in her dream world, where she has delightful dreams about falling in love with a handsome mystery man.

As the story begins, she is gradually coming out of hiding. Slowly, we begin to meet the most important people in her life as she allows them back into her world, which is finally stretching beyond the closed door of her bedroom. But she is still in mourning, and during the process of healing she folds three hundred and sixty-five origami stars and makes her wish, as the fable dictates. Little does she know this cultural tradition will end up changing her life in a seemingly impossible way.

Paper Wishes is an utterly sweet and charming novel. The tone of the novel has a good balance between serious depth and light warmth. The addition of Japanese culture references and the backstory of the paper stars made for an even more intriguing read. Addressing the topics of overcoming grief, finding a family and support system, and falling in love for the first time, this novel is incredibly easy to connect with. And with the hint of fantasy in the plot, it makes for quite a unique read. Who wouldn’t want to have their best dream come to life?

The characterization in this novel was excellent. Hoshino really brings each character to life, giving them three-dimensional personalities that both flesh out the plot itself and allow the reader to effortlessly relate to them. Each one felt highly realistic and were nicely woven into the plot. One could say that there is a bit of insta-love between Vilvian and Nox, but at the same time, their story is a quite exceptional one. To me, Ann felt a bit pushed into the story just to create some conflict, but I think that was due to her having a more minimal part and less portrayal compared to the main characters.

Vilvian’s grieving process feels true to life, and her dream world is a widely used form of escaping from the stresses of the world. Nox figuratively—and later literally—represents the strength she has deep inside her that causes her to push on from one day to the next. He is both a tangible and intangible source of love, protection, and encouragement—a sign to Vilvian that things can and will get better, despite how bleak the circumstance appears to be.

Hoshino’s writing style is absolutely wonderful to read and get lost in. It flows beautifully and makes it very easy to become swept up into the story. Her descriptions are spot on and build the world up right around the reader. The text is deceptively simple—it is a fairly straightforward story, but there is so much depth and meaning behind the words. The bittersweet tone of the novel shines through clearly as Hoshino demonstrates her perceptibly talented word-crafting.

Overall, this is a beautiful and adorable novel, and one that is a fantastic light summer read. Despite my feelings about contemporary romance novels in general, I ended up having quite an enjoyable time with this one. This is the perfect sort of quick pick-me-up type read if you are looking for a sweet and heart-warming tale. It is so much fun to fall in to, and is impossible to get through without a smile. Hoshino has used her great talent for words to create a lovely and truly magical story that will work its way into the hearts of readers of any age.

Guest Post: Author Spencer Hoshino

Today’s post is a guest post by the lovely Spencer Hoshino, author of Paper Wishes (The Magical Girl Series #1). I am incredibly honored and excited to have this chance get to know her and to work with her to promote her awesome novel! Please make sure to check out Spencer on her website and social media. My full review of Paper Wishes will be posted in a few days!

Aloha (Hello)!

 

Hello! It’s me, Spencer Hoshino

It’s nice to meet you all! ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ

I’m Spencer Hoshino, author of The Magical Girl Series. I am a 4th generation Japanese-American and a lifelong resident of the state of Hawaii, where I live with my husband and two children, thanks to my great-grandparents, who came to Hawaii decades ago to work on a sugar plantation. (I’m sad to share that the last sugar mill, the one my great grandparents and maternal grandma worked for, closed down late last year.) 

I was very honored when Ariana asked me to write a guest post for her (totally awesome) blog. I wasn’t sure what I could share with you all, so I decided to write about my publishing journey. I’ve never written a guest blog before, so I hope that you will all bear with me. (*/_＼) 

 

Paper Wishes & Lucky Stars

 

Paper Wishes’ original cover made for Swoon Reads. Image used with permission from Audrey Faith Lim

The road to finishing and publishing Paper Wishes (The Magical Girl Series, #1) was a long journey, but the catalyst was my mom’s passing. I’ve always struggled with depression, but my mom’s death put me in a dark place I’d never been before. I was struggling to cope, when a friend of mine, who is like a sister to me, that I hadn’t seen in years made a surprise return to our hometown after living in Japan for a while. We met up for dinner and caught up with each other.

During our conversation, she encouraged me to be happy. She asked me what I wanted to do, and I told her that I’d been trying to write a book for years, that I wanted to finish it and be a writer. After some introspection, I made the decision (with the support of my husband and children) to quit my job as a web developer and finish writing my book, which I later submitted to Swoon Reads.Although my book was not chosen for publication, I made many wonderful friendships with amazing writers, like Gigi McClure and Macy Filia, which was the best prize of all. (*^^*)♡ 

Digressing, despite the amazing connections I made through Swoon, I still had my manuscript that had no home. At Gigi’s urging, and with Macy’s support (thank you for all of your tips and tricks), I started posting Paper Wishes to Wattpad. Best. Decision. Ever. I lucked out! Paper Wishes was well received on Wattpad, gaining about 700,000 reads within the first year. Thanks to Wattpad (and Gigi and Macy), I was able to share my work with people and they were reading it! I was elated! After working on my book for so many years, I had readers! But, beyond that, I was able to connect with so many wonderful people and my readers became my friends. (ノ_<。)ヾ(´ ▽ ` ) I’ve been incredibly lucky to have the most fantastically supportive readers, whom I call Lucky Stars because I’m beyond lucky to know them. 

Self-publishing & Non-traditional Media 

Paper Wishes 2nd edition with gifts

On the back of Paper Wishes’ success on Wattpad, I tried querying it to agents and boutique publishers with little success. At some point, there were three different boutique publishers considering Paper Wishes. Unfortunately, two decided to pass on it while I ultimately decided to pass on the third because I realized we weren’t a good fit. The thought of self-publishing was attractive because I would have complete control over my work and its design. I reached out to two of my favorite writers who had self-publishing experience, J.M. Wilde (The Eva Series) and Dan Garcia (The Succubus in a Red Dress Series), and they gave me a wealth of advice. (Did I mention how lucky I’ve been throughout this writing journey?) Having decided to self-publish, Paper Wishes was released on February 14th, 2016 as a Kindle e-book first, then as a physical copy a couple of weeks later. 

Aside from believing strongly in the possibilities of self-publishing, I am a huge fan of non-traditional media. I have so many apps, like Tapastic (now Tapas), Spottoon, and TappyToon downloaded into my phone. I love supporting creators and purchase new chapters/episodes on a weekly basis. I have been fortunate enough to be invited to share my work on Radish Fiction and Tapas (formerly Tapastic) apps. In September 2016, Meteor Garden was released as a serialized book on the Radish Fiction app. It is the companion novel to Paper Wishes and tells the story of Vilvian and Kai’s mothers, Maya and Eri, their friendship, and who Vilvian’s biological father is! ∑(O_O;) 

On February 14, 2017, the 2nd edition of Paper Wishes was released (much to my excitement) on the Tapas app. Upon releasing Paper Wishes on Tapas, I pulled the e-book from the Kindle store so that it would be exclusive to them. It has been such an honor to have Paper Wishes on Tapas. They are seriously the best, especially Editor-in-Chief, Gabby Luu, who has been so flipping supportive of me and my writing. (Ｔ▽Ｔ) 

A hui hou (until we meet again)!

So, that’s been my experience with writing The Magical Girl Series and publishing. While I think traditional publishing is great, and I love that there has been more awareness regarding diversity in publishing, in the end, I felt that self-publishing and non-traditional media were what would work best for me. I was very fortunate to have everything come together the way it did.

Aside from the support I received from my Lucky Stars and the friends that I’ve made through writing, I was also very lucky to be given the opportunity to share my work through non-traditional media, like Tapas. (Did I mention how much I love being a part of the Tapas Media Family? Because I do!) To any of my fellow writers, if Tapas Media reaches out to you about potentially publishing your work, I encourage you to seriously think about it. I have nothing but good things to say about them and hope to have other works published through their app in the future.) 

If any of you decide to give Paper Wishes a read, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving it a chance. If you read Paper Wishes on Tapas or the unedited version on Wattpad, please be sure to comment and let me know that you found me through Ariana’s blog! 

♡ ～(‘▽^人)

Thank you so much for reading! And, an especially big thank you and hug to Ariana for allowing me to share a little about myself and my journey.

http://spencerhoshino.com