Book Review: Down With the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn

Down with the Shine
by Kate Karyus Quinn
On Sale Date: April 26, 2016
Juvenile Fiction \ Fantasy & Magic
HarperTeen, 368 pages
Source: Publisher
My Rating: 4 Stars

There's a reason they say "be careful what you wish for." Just ask the girl who wished to be thinner and ended up smaller than Thumbelina, or the boy who asked for "balls of steel" and got them-literally. And never wish for your party to go on forever. Not unless you want your guests to be struck down by debilitating pain if they try to leave.

These are things Lennie only learns when it's too late-after she brings some of her uncles' moonshine to a party and toasts to dozens of wishes, including a big wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was abducted and murdered six months ago.

Lennie didn't mean to cause so much chaos. She always thought her uncles' moonshine toast was just a tradition. And when they talked about carrying on their "important family legacy," she thought they meant good old-fashioned bootlegging.

As it turns out, they meant granting wishes. And Lennie has just granted more in one night than her uncles would grant in a year.

Now she has to find a way to undo the damage. But once granted, a wish can't be unmade.

Moonshine. Magic. Mayhem.
 

Inventive, humorous, and filled with dark twists Down With The Shine captures your attention with the hook "be careful what you wish for" and gives readers a highly entertaining, yet thoroughly different read. 

Close Your Eyes. Take A Sip.

Lennie the protagonist ends up bringing some of her uncles' famous moonshine to a party in hopes of fitting in. In an act of rebellion, she sneaks out and delivers to each guest at the party a drink of the moonshine asking them to "make and wish" as its a family tradition and then toasts them with: "May all your wishes come true, or at least just this one."  

"May all your wishes come true. Or at least just this one."

I was looking forward to some fun and mayhem as a result of the magical moonshine wishes but I was not prepared for the dark twists that Quinn delivers. As each wish is revealed, often hilarious wishes that only teens would come up with - balls of steel, the Midas touch but with Cheetos, becoming demi-petite...as in doll-sized, and bringing back Lennie's best friend recently murdered, from the dead, a darker side of its consequences is chilling revealed. 

Tantalizing kisses, dark supernatural twists, and heartwarming humor are blended into a unique concoction. 

As Lennie tries to undo the wishes, she comes face-to-face with her famiy's uncanny history of bootlegging and her father's dark past. Wrapped up in this is strange tale is the murder of her best friend and a touch of romance as Lennie and her crush bring new meaning to "I wanna hold your hand" as they become literally stuck together, holding hands. Tantalizing kisses, dark supernatural twists, and heartwarming humor are blended into a unique concoction. 

In the End

Suspending belief was easy as I got caught up in this wonderful, odd tale. With its strange mix of weirdness, horror, comedy, and superstition. Down With The Shine is a perfect read for those who enjoy a touch of humor mixed in with the supernatural and are wanting something out-of-the -ordinary and strange.