The Wish List Reviews - Portrait Reviews

The Wish List by Eoin Colfer
Review by: Amanda

Meg is one of those kids who always seems to be getting the short end of the stick. She recently lost her mother, and things in her life seem to keep getting worse. Because of a rotten home life with a stepfather she never wanted, she finds herself helping a petty thief named Belch break into the house of an old man. When the job goes horribly wrong, an explosion leaves Meg in Limbo, her soul dead even, stuck between heaven and hell. She has one chance to go back to Earth and redeem herself, by helping the last person she wronged to complete his “wish list” in the final days of his life.

Now, obviously, this novel borrows ideas from Christian theology. Even if you have a completely different set of beliefs though, you will still be able to appreciate the story. The interactions between Meg and Lowrie, the man who she was supposed to steal from, are great. Half the time they are insulting one another, and the other half, they showing empathy for the other’s plight. Like all of his novels, Colfer puts his own spin on the stories he draws from. His version of the afterlife involves complicated technology used in the underworld and special cell phone calls between Saint Peter and Beelzebub. It’s definitely an interesting take, and Meg’s story is of the heartwarming variety, making her journey a joy to read.