“I was fourteen years old when I bought a Wish Potion in exchange for a kiss.”
All aspiring young playwright Isamae Allickson has ever wanted is to be normal: to fit in and be accepted by her peers. The moment she learns of the existence of Wish Potions – and that she can buy one from Nahlia Cress, the most beautiful and popular girl in school who runs a not-so-secret potions store – she is immediately desperate to get her hands on one, at any cost.
She knows that buying a Wish Potion will change everything, but she had never expected to befriend Nahlia, or for her life to change so drastically. As she and Nahlia get closer and closer, Isamae finds herself caught up in a whole new world of romance, dreams, and hope. Questioning everything she thought she knew about life, she must now decide who she truly wants to be, and how to claim her place in the world – no matter how frightening that might be.
Andrea Ulibarrena lives in London. She’s been coming up with stories since she learned how to string two words together and writing them down since she learned how to hold a pencil, and she loves stories that explore the intricacies of human relationships and emotions, especially when set in a fantasy world. She also loves cats and chocolate and coffee shops, and has a strange obsession with bow ties. You can follow her on Instagram @andrea_the_writer
I beta read this novella last year, and it is truly spectacular. I fell absolutely in love with this beautiful story and these fantastic characters! I am so excited that y'all are able to read this for yourselves now(because I need people to flail with me)
Read this book if you like:
🌈 - soft sapphic girls (a distinguished lesbian + a chaotic disaster lesbian) 🎭 - theatre (the lovely descriptions of which warmed my theatre kid heart) 🧙♀️ - a girl who make potions ⭐️ - a girl who feels like an outsider 🌷 - coming of age stories 🦋 - absolutely gorgeous writing 💕 - a sweet romance
Also just read this book. Period. It's so beautiful and I loved it so much and I was absolutely bawling by the end (in the very best way)
This book was so cute! Ismae's character felt deep and real, and I loved reading from her perspective. The romance was so pure and good. Nahlia was such a wonderful person! It has the sweetest happy ending, too.
(Also I know the author so yknow... that's another good reason to read it!)
This lil' story is now out in the world! It's a coming-of-age tale set in a fantasy world, following one girl's growth and development throughout the years. It features magic, wishes, cuteness, finding the strength to follow your dreams, and two girls falling in love, so if any of those things appeal to you, you’ll definitely enjoy this!
As a very smol new author who just wants to share her words with people, I'm extremely grateful for any support. If you've read it and liked it, I'd love you forever if you leave me a review either on Goodreads, Amazon, social media, your blog, or any other site I don't know about :)
Ok so I've never been a big romance reader. I usually gag at that stuff. So somebody please tell me why I will ship these girls to my grave! I've known Andrea for a little while now and have been meaning to read this since she mentioned it existed. The story is so heartwarming and adorable and relatable and just go read it ok? I guarantee you'll be smiling all the way through.
I loved this book! I first found out about this book when Andrea plugged that she published her own novella in our university teams class. I was beyond impressed and very excited to read it for myself as I've never met anyone who's published a book before. It is my dream to publish my own book and I hope Andrea can give me some tips but enough about that, let's talk about this book. Where do I begin? This book is so cute I felt all the feels whilst reading it (as Andrea knows lol :D). I highly resonated with Isamae's character, her unsociable, shy nature reminded me of myself as I too am shy and have struggled to talk to people in the past (and still do!) Izzy meeting Nahlia and venturing outside of her comfort zone warmed my heart, I was really proud of Izzy for putting herself out there and letting Nahlia read her scripts! When she actually acted upon her dreams and moved to the city to become the successful playwright that she is by the end of the book I was so moved. It's what I envision for myself when it comes to my own writing and, although Isamae is a fictional character, it made me optimistic and hopeful for my own writing career. Nahlia and Izzy's relationship is the greatest and the cutest! Ever since they started hanging out at lunchtimes I rooted for them to be together. Nahlia is such a wholesome, pure person and pairing her with Izzy is the best thing to ever happen to her as Nahlia brings out the best side of Izzy. We all need a friend like Nahlia why can't there be more 'Nahlia's' in this world?! When Nahlia and Izzy FINALLY confessed there feelings for each other and KISSED my whole heart exploded and I couldn't stop 'ahhhing'. My whole body filled with warmth at this pure moment I couldn't cope lol. When Izzy didn't want to leave to go to the city because she was in love with Nahlia and didn't want to leave her I was practically screaming 'this is so cute but you can't give up on your dreams!' (Nahlia encouraging her to leave and to not give up on her dreams for her further intensified my love for Nahlia's character). Although this book is highly cliche I love it so much and thoroughly believe that cliches can sometimes be all we need, fantasising about our one true loves can make us feel happy and content and optimistic for the future! I would love to see this turned into a Netflix series or movie - this book 100% deserves to be there. In conclusion, this book is super cute, raw, relatable and wholesome and I'd highly recommend to anyone who is into the young adult fiction/romance genre like I am.
This is one of the sweetest books I have ever read. Andrea Ulibarrena is a young writer who is mature well beyond her years, both in terms of her writing skills and her outlook on life. This is the kind of story that will resonate with anyone who has a dream — which, I hope, means anyone. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this novella: the characters, the setting, the plot, the pacing, and the positive messages it conveys. I can't wait to read more from this talented young author!
It feels like you’re reading someone’s diary or like an old friend is recounting their life to you. There are so many ADORABLE moments (smol gays make me happy lol) and it’s also just inspiring.
This book is for everyone who’s ever felt like they were different and wouldn’t ever fit in (or anyone who’s just looking for an easy cute read).
I'm pretty sure that Andrea and I are kindred spirits. After reading this book, I found that I related to Isamae quite a bit. Even the parts I didn't find 100% relatable were still very gripping and well written. I wish I wrote that well as a teen.
It was written in a way that it really tugged at my heartstrings and made me feel for the characters. And the writing was just amazing. It flowed beautifully without being too wordy.
I look forward to more from this author, for sure.