Review: Too much mish-mash warps a good one.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 30, 2013
Read the blurb and imagine a gigantic Las Vegas resort filled with zombies as the outcome. Picture something really important at risk and a clock counting down just a couple of hours for the hero and heroine to get to it in. Now pepper it with the tension of long lost love and a chance at it being reborn. That's the basic jist of this short from Michelle McLean.I love a good zombie story. I love a great fairy tale retelling. And obviously I enjoy romances. The trouble with WISH UPON A STAR is that I'm not sure which McLean really wanted it to be. The blurb doesn't hint at the possible retelling aspect in an overt way so I went in expecting a zombie romance. On that it certainly delivers. Ceri's ex-husband is an absolute psychopath and Jason asking for her help in convincing him to help their family quickly proves to be a bad situation for them both. I quickly took a dislike to him when he got mad that Ceri had moved on, so not a cool move when the hero is the one who jilted the heroine.Once the story gets set up the mentions of Pinocchio thematic elements quickly becomes notable but never really manages to give WISH UPON A STAR a proper retelling. Instead, it just feels disjointed and distracting. The Pinocchio weirdness and Jason being less-then-likable aside, it's a nail-biting race against a clock with zombies to escape and a love to rekindle.Notes: ARC received via publisher.