Down with the Shine

by Kate Karyus Quinn

When Lennie brings a few jars of her uncles moonshine to Michaela Gordon s house party, she has everyone who drinks it make a wish. It s tradition. So is the toast her uncles taught her: May all your wishes come true, or at least just this one. The thing is, those words aren t just a tradition. The next morning, every wish no matter how crazy comes true. And most of them turn out bad. But once granted, a wish can t be unmade.

• ISBN10: 0062356046
• ISBN13: 9780062356048
• Publish Date: 26 April 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[tweetybugshouse]

"May all your Wishes come true, or at least just this one" That the secret to granting the wishes with this magical Moonshine that Lennie uncles have been brewing in the bath tub and that Lennie sneaks off to a cool party so she can be part of the popular crowd at least for a few hours.

Little does Lennie know that all the crazy wishes her so called friends wish really are coming true and she is in for the ride of her lifetime. This book has some comical bits to it such as the kid who wishes for steel balls, or the cheeto touch, and of course wishing your best friend back from the dead. By the end though everything gets figured out and Lennie learns some hard lessons along the way. A great fun read.

[whisperingchapters]

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.


Down with the Shine is a quirky, weird and silly book with lots of disastrous happenings.

Lennie wants to do what her dead best friend told her to do: go to the biggest party held by her classmates and have fun. She takes her uncles moonshine along with her to the party. What Lennie doesn't know is that her uncles grant wishes using the moonshine. Without knowing, Lennie starts granting wishes from very drunk kids so you can imagine how disastrous this will be.

This story was interesting yet so weird. This is my first time reading a book by this author but apparently this author shines for her weirdness in her stories. I don't know how I feel about it all. I did enjoy it and it was fun to read about all the crazy wishes that were granted and how they played a part in the story. Like Christy from Christy's Love of Books said, "Let’s just say I’m not going to eat Cheetos for a while." Yeah, I agree and I don't view cheetos the same anymore after reading this story because this kid asks for the Cheetos touch, which was comical but so weird. Another kid asks for balls of steel... Yes, he literally has balls of steel. I did laugh at this because I couldn't believe the absurdity of his wish. 

The story is definitely silly and I didn't know if anything that was happening was real. A few stuff happened that I should have felt at least sad about but didn't because there wasn't a connection between me and the characters at all. I wasn't able to believe the romance much. It was kind of cute towards the end but I wasn't really rooting for them to be together.

Overall, it was enjoyable with all its quirkiness but it wasn't for me.

I received an eARC from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
This is one hell of a fun book. Can you even imagine the shenanigans that would occur if you suddenly had the ability to grant wishes- only you didn't even know it? Because that is what is happening here. Lennie is a mess, basically, since her best friend Dylan's disappearance (which people blame her for, but that's a whole other issue). So when she starts granting wishes for all the popular kids at a party, she has no idea that her (often poorly worded) wishes were going to come to fruition. 

Lennie is a disaster in general, yes, but it's easy to see why. Her uncles make moonshine (and apparently grant actual wishes), her mom is pretty much incoherent, her dad is a real piece of work (and that's putting it mildly), her best friend is dead, and her best friend's twin hates her and blames her for his sister's death. So she's not in a fabulous place. So when she realizes that all the wishes she granted in jest actually came true, she knows that she needs to do damage control.

This was just plain enjoyable, really. The thing is, it isn't some fluffy contemporary though, it deals with some serious stuff. But then the infusion of magic, and the downright wackiness that happen at the party lighten it all up. I couldn't help but feel for Lennie. Yeah, she makes some bad choices, but she most definitely learns from them. I loved the quirkiness of the side characters, the chaos of Lennie's wish granting and the aftermath, and the ups and downs that Lennie experiences along the way.

The writing was fabulous, and I actually laughed out loud- in the serious way not in the "lol" way- several times during the book. Yet it was still emotive enough to leave an impact. And frankly, it was one of the most unique and inventive books I have ever read.

Bottom Line: If you are like me, and crave a little something "different" with your contemporary, this is absolutely a book for you. It's a book that can be hilariously entertaining, yet still have emotional fortitude when the story calls for it. Down With the Shine definitely didn't disappoint!

[celinenyx]

Kate Karyus Quinn not only has a fantastic imagination, but also the skills to translate that onto the page.

Everyone knows Lennie's name. After her criminal father killed a few people during a heist and got away with it, it's hard to just live your life; which is exactly what Lennie wants. There are more secrets in her family - including the fact that she can grant wishes. Which her uncles did not tell her. And now she has granted a dozen wishes to drunk teenagers by accident. Whoops.

I have been hooked on Quinn's books from the moment I read (Don't You) Forget About Me. Her stories are fantastic, nostalgic, and always resonate with me. Down With the Shine has plenty of moments that will break your heart, but overall I found the tone to be relatively light and humorous. Much of what happens is absolutely absurd and Lennie's adventure made me think of a teen Alice in Wonderland. Granting all those wishes has led Lennie down the rabbit hole, and will she ever return to normalcy?

The author does voice very well, and Lennie was realistic and relatable throughout all the madness that is thrown her way. Down With the Shine has a cute hate/love interest and I enjoyed their permanent banter. I mention this in my reviews quite often, but no sweeping declarations of eternal love here. Just two teenagers having a crush on each other, and both not ready to admit it yet.

My only issue with the book is that at some point it tried to tie together too many storylines. Though it never got to the point where it got confusing, I did not feel invested in all aspects of the story, most notably that related to Lennie's father. I can't pin-point the exact reason I did not care for that part. Maybe it was one step too far? Maybe that storyline was not set up enough? It wasn't a large issue, but it did temper my excitement for this novel a bit.

Overall Down With the Shine is a great novel of wonkiness and awkward teens being awkward teens and family members that are never exactly who you expected them to be.