Deena Mohamed

In a world where wishes can be bought and the more expensive the wish, the more powerful it is, three individuals, Aziza, Nour, and Shokry, try to figure out what to do with their first class wishes.

The title translates to “Your wish is my command” and this graphic novel really dives into the age old question, “If you had one wish, what would you wish for?”. I really enjoyed the interludes between the stories where it dumped the information about the wishes with what they were and how they worked. It really helped me understand the world the characters were living in.

Aziza’s story is what starts everything off and goes into what a lot of women and lower class citizens go through - especially when it comes to something high price.

Nour’s section was the most intense in my opinion as it dealt with depression. As someone who has battled with depression for years, the questions Nour would ask about it and the best way to ask his question is all stuff that I felt like I would ask as well; especially since you had to be precise on your wishes or they’ll grant you not exactly what you wanted.

Shokry and Hagga’s story(ies) broke my heart with their tale of family. I knew Hagga had her reasons for doing what she was, but I didn’t think it would be that.

The art style of this was drawn the same throughout but would go from color while Shokry and Hagga would talk about the selling of the three wishes to black and white when it would go into each individual story.

Overall, this was an amazing graphic novel. It’s hefty, at 528 pages, which I think is what kept me off of it for as long as I did, but I devoured it as quickly as I could once I started it. In the end, it will really make you think about what your level one wish could be.… (más)

What a MASTERPIECE!!!
This Graphic Novel is not just a book, it’s full of life advices, how important is to believe in yourself and your dreams and never give up on what you highly believe in!

If you had one wish, what would you wish for? Made me think! From one hand, there is so much that I’d like to have/achieve, but this book made me think deeper into my desires… can I clearly formulate my wish? Do I really want it to manifest or can I work on myself and get what I want? And if I had a First Class wish on hand, ready to be manifested, would I be able to deal with any consequences this wish fulfillment might bring?!

The illustrations were beautiful and the stories were heartwarming. So much light and soul was put in this book!

No matter of your age or believes, I’ll still highly recommend this graphic novel! It’s inspiring, light, warm and very cozy.… (más)

I think this is the closest I've come this year to giving a book five stars. If only I weren't so stingy . . .

In a world where genie wishes are bottled and sold as part of a quadrillion-dollar industry, an old man who runs a failing newsstand puts three bottles he inherited from his father up for sale. The story is told in three parts as we see each of the wishes used. The fist wish gives us a tale of grief, injustice, and determination. The second wish allows an exploration of mental health issues. And the third wish grants us a couple heartwarming portraits of family life entangled with a horrible tale of revenge. As is often the case with wishes, the book is rife with melancholy and regret. Layered in also is anger at Western colonialism and exploitation.

Beautifully drawn and told, my only negative is that the middle story about depression, while well done, simply dragged on a bit too long with the least interesting of the lead characters.

(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one of more of these lists:
• Washington Post
• NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made both lists.)… (más)

Wow! What a fabulous book!

This is the story of a kiosk owner in Egypt who comes into possession of a box containing three bottles, each containing one wish. However, wishes are not so simple in this story.

There were so many things I loved about this book. I like graphic novels anyway, but this story was so unique. I was fascinated that it was written by an Egyption and took place in Egypt. I loved that Arabic terms were used and translated in footnotes. I enjoyed reading a book whose two main characters were different religions. I also appreciated the moral of the story as well as the ending. The drawings were terrific. There was nothing not to like about this book. Well, maybe that it was so long, but seriously, it could not have been even one page shorter. I guess it was perfect.… (más)