Genuine Sweet is a poor girl who wants nothing more but a full belly. One day, her grandma tells her a secret of sorts. A magic she has in her for she is a fourth generation wish fetcher. The thing is that she can only grant wishes for other people, not herself. Genuine's life turns upside down as she starts granting wishes and learns a thing or two about her mother and life. I liked the storyline. Genuine was fun to follow around. I didn't like the way she talked at times because it just didn't seem... genuine. And I'm still iffy about how everything turned out in the end. ( )

This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.

I needed this book. Neck-deep in studying for my AP exams, my brain was fried and my patience thin. I had the sinking sensation that only comes when my stock of reviews has bled dry and I've got a week of reviews in my backlog before I'm plumb out of content. I had a couple of books on my review pile, but none that really caught my eye and made me pour out a heartfelt review for. The TBR pile at the foot of my bed was full of appealing titles, but they had been sitting there waiting for so long that they already felt cliche and already done.

And that's where Genuine Sweet came in. I'd seen a review of it somewhere and requested it on a whim, and the day I hit my all-time low this new, shiny book popped into my hands screaming "I'm fun! I'm unique! I'll make you smile!" And it sure was. And did. Out of all the small-town-quirky-magic books I've read in my life, this one has carved its own spot. Where many "uniquely quirky" books fail in their use of the same old outside-the-box tropes, Genuine Sweet manages to take a lonely girl with negligent/dead parents, a loving/wise grandmother, and a new best friend, and actually make something new out of it.

The idea of wish-fetching is a very neat one, and I love that Harkey uses it to dig deep into the selfishness of human nature, through the people who harass Genuine for wishes, and the true potential of wish fetching - saving people in third-world countries. The fact that Geniune and Jura are so concerned about making the world a better place was just awesome.

However, I would be leery of recommending Genuine Sweet as a Middle Grade book. Harkey crafts a great story, but she includes enough mature themes that i know I for one won't be handing this off to my middle-school aged brother. For example, Genuine has an extremely sweet and touching slow-bloom relationship with a boy (whom I won't name for fear of spoilers) that I absolutely adored for as long as I could forget the fact that they were in middle school. Then I remembered, and I liked it a whole lot less. It's just weird when they're that age!

Actually, that's probably the biggest issue with this book: Genuine's age. If only she were seventeen, and then I could adore the book to pieces without feeling uncomfortable! As it is, I can still adore it, but I can't figure out who to recommend it to. I guess I'd offer it to fans of books like Savvy, Scumble, Drizzle, and Remarkable. It ranks right up there by the best of this sub-genre of quirky small-town magic, and would be absolutely perfect if Genuine were just five years older. ( )

Genuine Sweet is truly sweet. She has a drunk for a father, who she basically ignores. She’s raised by her grandmother, only passing his drunk father on the porch as she enters the house. Unfortunately, drunks make little money. There’s hardly any food, and the idea that things will get better is foolish.

Genuine learns that she is from a long line of wish fetchers. Her grandmother teaches her to call the stars. They send starlight that can be used to grant wishes. These wishes cannot be used for oneself. Genuine is fine with that--she’s knows a lot of people in her town who need help. A new girl, Jura Carver, is a future businesswoman. She learns about Genuine’s ability after asking for her own wish. Jura is able to coordinate big wishes to help the world. There’s no stopping them! Genuine begins to feel a little overwhelmed.

Once people learn about Genuine’s ability to fetch a wish, life isn’t the same. People can be greedy and mean. Genuine sees the problems that comes with wish-fetching. As life gets more complicated, Genuine has to make the right choices despite all the chaos around her.

This is a really sweet book. If you liked Wonder and A Snicker of Magic, you’ll like this book. It’s not quite the caliber of those two books, but it is a really nice book about reality and how people should treat one another--which is the real magic. ( )

Twelve-year-old Genuine Sweet has just discovered she is a wish fetcher. Wish fetching is in her family—mom and gram could fetch wishes too. She gathers magic from the stars to grant wishes for others, but never for herself. Things go well for Genuine as long as she keeps the wish-granting local, but when a friend convinces her to grant wishes online, it all gets a bit more complicated than she anticipated.

Filled with southern charm—the story is set in a small Georgia town—it’s sweet, folksy, and moves at a leisurely pace; almost a bit too slow at times. There are a lot of characters, not a lot of action, and a few adult topics—death, cancer, alcoholism, plus a budding romance. These are handled well and are suitable for a book aimed at middle grade and older readers.

I was expecting more magical realism and fantasy, but instead this is a sweet story with several lessons about responsibility and growing up. ( )