Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank: A Review

“It all started when I saw myself dead.” For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn’t enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect. Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen– do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty secrets of his own. Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.

I simply adored this book. Rose's innocence, from beginning to end, was absolutely endearing.  Her ability to see the short spurts of the future, and her inability to keep those visions to herself, gets her into a lot of trouble.  The day she sees her own death, she ends up finally standing up to her unloving and abusive mother – making a scene in front of the neighbors – and heads to the library, her safe haven.  Not wanting to go home just yet, knowing her death will be coming, she decides to make a list of 28 things she’d like to do before she dies. 

After creating the list, she comes home to find her vision true... only it was her mother who died. Without knowing what to do, she went to her new neighbor, Joe. The vision of her death sucks her into a world she knew nothing about. The death of her mother freed her in a way she didn't know she needed and, while being sucked into a situation that was beyond her control, she managed to find herself and live her life the way it was meant to be lived.

The story is very well written and highly enjoyable.  I wasn't a fan of Rose's sister, Violet, because there were a few moments where she was just as controlling as her mother, but I ended up warming to her later in the story.  I thought Joe was pretty awesome and, I think, he really cared for her from he get go and wanted to just come clean with her but wasn't able to. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  I laughed and cried and would highly recommended giving this a read.  I'm looking forward to more books from Denise Grover Swank!

For me, it was definitely a 5 star book!