Tina’s review of The Wishing Thread by Lisa Van Allen

I am a huge fan of Sarah Addison Allen. When I read the synopsis for The Wishing Thread and it stated that it would appeal to fans of hers, I knew I had to read this book.

The Wishing Thread, by Lisa Van Allen, is magical story about the Van Ripper Family. The matriarch, Aunt Mariah, has recently died, and her three nieces have been reunited at her funeral after being estranged for some time. They discover that their Aunt has left her yarn shop, The Stitchery, to all of them, and now they must decide what they want to do with it.

The Van Ripper women are well known in Tarrytown and the surrounding area of Sleepy Hollow NY for fulfilling the hopes, wishes and dreams of the locals by knitting magic into their handcrafted creations. But, there is a catch to the magic they create – for the magic to work, the requester must sacrifice something in return.

This story is highly reminiscent of Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen and Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. The similarities between the three books are many, although where Garden Spells revolves around food, The Wishing Thread centers on knitting. But magic is magic afterall, and this story does have it’s share.

I did think that the setting was very fitting for the book. I enjoyed the author’s descriptive writing style, and although I am not much into any type of hobby that involves knitting or crocheting, I still found the story to be entertaining. Although some reviewers have found the comparison to be unsatisfactory, I believe that fans of Sarah Allen and Alice Hoffman will find The Wishing Thread to be an equally enjoyable read.

I received this ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I rate this book a 4 out of 5

This book is available from Ballantine Books.  You can buy it here or here in e-format.