Review Detail

I had the opportunity to read both ‘Eden’s Escape’ and Eden’s Wish’. They are both installments in the ‘Eden of the Lamp Series’.

This is a middle grade, fantasy series geared toward ages 9-12.

The premise of the series is that ‘Eden’ is a 12-year-old genie in training. She lives in her genie lamp with her two mentors, Goldie and Xavier.

Whenever someone on Earth finds the genie lamp and rubs it, Eden must appear and give them three wishes.

Eden is from a long line of genies. When each genie reaches 999 wishes granted, they get their own wish and live for the rest of eternity on earth.



In the first installment ‘Eden’s Wish’, Eden grows tired of granting wishes and decides to spend to live as a normal human teenager on earth. During her time on Earth, Eden makes friends with siblings, Tyler and Sasha.



‘Eden’s Escape’ is the second installment in the ‘Eden of the Lamp’ series. Eden is staying in New York with genie alum, Pepper. Eden’s life on earth soon takes a turn for the worse.



I really enjoyed both books. Even though it is a middle-grade series, it is written is such a way as to also be enjoyable for teenagers or adults. I loved that the novels were fantasy but the premise was totally different from most other fantasy middle-grade fantasy novels .

When I began reading the novels, I couldn’t help but compare them to the T.V. show ‘I Dream of Genie’. I also couldn’t help but wonder if ‘Eden’s’ name was inspired by the ‘I Dream of Genie’, actress Barbara Eden. Eden’s escape was in fact totally original and totally different from the T.V. show.

I think it is really significant that Crowl made Eden a genie apprentice who, although magical, had flaws. Eden makes mistakes throughout the stories but learns from them. This makes ‘Eden’ very relatable and likable. I also enjoyed the back story to the lamp. The past genie alums were all ‘brilliant and beautiful’ but came in many shapes and sizes and ethnicity. I loved how ‘Xavier’ was described as looking like Clark Gable.

Crowl also did a wonderful jobs with the descriptions. The description of the inside of the lamp was detailed and descriptive.

I think the ‘Eden’ stories have an interesting premise, wonderful characters, and a positive message. I can’t wait for my kids to read them.