The Wish List

I read The Wish List at a time when I was feeling low and wondering whether there was any point in being nice and good to people. So I picked this book up because I needed to chase the gloom away, and I had found Artemis Fowl entertaining. I was expecting more of the same brand of tongue-in-cheek humour, and I wasn't disappointed.

The basic premise of the book is a girl who is balanced on the hair's breadth line between being good and being bad; and has a chance to go back into the world and try to make amends for her misdeeds in order to get a chance of going to heaven.

But it's much more than a humorous tale of the afterlife. It's a story of regret, redemption and second chances. It deals with the oldest war in the world - the one fought inside every person who has to make a choice between good and evil.

The book is a refreshing read. It's funny, light, profound, thought-provoking, page-turning - and though there's a moral backdrop, not preachy in the least. I found echoes of Good Omens in the relationship between St. Peter and Beelzebub. The techie consultant of hell is a stroke of absolute brilliance.

On the whole, it makes for a very nice and pleasant read, leaving you refreshed and hopeful for the promise that tomorrow holds.