Review: Of Metal and Wishes (Of Metal and Wishes #1) by Sarah Fine

Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: borrowed
Publication Date: August 5th 2014
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Pacing: fast
POV: 1st person & female
Genres & Themes: YA, Gothic, Steampunk, Romance, Ghosts, Friendship.

BLURB:

There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.

Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her … for a very long time.

As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her … and she might go down with it.

REVIEW:

How…

That cliffhanger is just the worst…yet those are actuallty my favorites for they in reality make me long for a sequel. I just hope the continuation for this book will be released soon.

The premise of the story is not that high but the story does deliver. We have this mysterious ghost who keeps surprising us and, guess what? He grants wishes! Whatever your desire, he will make it come true. Except that sometimes we wish too quickly, without giving something second thoughts…

Wen is the kind of character that you will like but maybe not actually connect with. She’s a good girl and caring but the reason I couldn’t connect with her is that she almost NEVER talks about herself so we don’t really get to know her. Same thing happened while reading The Cure for Dreaming (which I anyway highly recommend.)

Also, it was awkward how so many guys wanted to touch her or do her. By looking at the cover, Wen does seem like a very beautiful girl but I still can’t help but wonder if the author made Wen seem like a ‘victim’ so we try to empathize with her more than anything else. She is pretty naïve though.

The romance was adorable. It was a slow-burn and true. Not unpredictable but definitely heartwarming. Not easy since it is an unnexpected love and not many are in favor of it at all but the fight Wen takes for her love made it even more admirable.

Since this is also shelved as steampunk, it must include some clockwork, cool and inventive stuff, right? Well it does and they’re really great but also a bit scary. I wouldn’t want for people in this society to actually be able to create those. Imagine robotic spiders with a desire to kill in your house. Would you be able to sleep at night? So, yeah, those were creepy but surprising and I loved them still.

The writing itself didn’t impress me. There were way too many sentences starting with ‘I + verb term.’ The problem is that those are mostly action ones when I wanted more descriptions. We don’t know that much about the world-building except for what directly affects our main character. Still, it was good, just not incredible.

Now this is hard…Do I actually recommend this story? Hmm, I think it’s worth the read but at the same time not worth prioritizing if you have many other books you wish to start. Also, don’t forget that there is a huge cliffhanger so be warned if you, unlike me, despise those.

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