Books like How to Make a Wish

A tender, beach-set coming-of-age story about finding the courage to wish for your own future. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with How to Make a Wish.

bittersweet
intimate
coastal
yearning

01
Girl Made of Stars
Ashley Herring Blake
A raw, deeply empathetic exploration of fractured loyalties and the painful, necessary journey toward speaking the truth.
Shares:
- earnest
- hopeful
02
Our own private universe
Robin Talley
A tender, sun-warmed summer romance about stepping out of your own head and into the messy, beautiful reality of first love.
Shares:
- earnest
- tender
- hopeful
03
Hurricane Child
Kacen Callender
A lush, stormy exploration of grief, first love, and the spirits that haunt us, set against a vividly rendered Caribbean backdrop.
Shares:
- earnest
- tender
- resilient
04
Delilah Green Doesn't Care
Ashley Herring Blake
A sharp, steamy, and surprisingly tender exploration of coming home, shedding armor, and falling for the girl you used to love to hate.
Feels:
- cozy
- electric
- emotionally warm
05
Ash
Malinda Lo · 2009
A quiet, wintery reimagining of a classic tale where a grieving girl must choose between the alluring escape of the fairy realm and the grounding warmth of a real, beating heart.
Shares:
- yearning
- earnest
- tender
- queer awakening
06
The Whispers
Greg Howard
A tender, tear-jerking journey through the woods of childhood imagination, where magic serves as a fragile shield against profound grief.
Shares:
- earnest
- tender
07
The gravity of us
Phil Stamper
A swoony, high-stakes queer romance about finding your anchor when the whole world is watching.
Shares:
- earnest
- tender
- hopeful
08
Who I Was with Her
Nita Tyndall
A raw, quiet exploration of what it means to mourn a love the world didn't know you had.
Shares:
- bittersweet
- intimate
- earnest
09
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel
Sara Farizan
A warm, witty exploration of the sheer panic and ultimate joy of a high school queer awakening.
Shares:
- earnest
- hopeful
10
Her Royal Highness
Rachel Hawkins
A cozy, banter-filled sapphic fairy tale set against the misty backdrop of an elite Scottish boarding school.
Feels:
- cozy
- escapist
- misty
11
The upside of unrequited
Becky Albertalli
A warm, witty, and deeply relatable exploration of the terrifying leap between crushing from afar and risking your heart in the real world.
Shares:
- earnest
- tender
- hopeful
12
More happy than not
Adam Silvera
A heartbreaking, speculative exploration of whether erasing our deepest pains is worth losing the truth of who we are.
Shares:
- bittersweet
- intimate
- earnest

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