Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

73 reviews

oxfordcommas91's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book made me feel all the warm fuzzies. A grown up Willy Wonka, where our heroine competes to win the newest book by her favorite childhood author on his secluded island in New England. While there’s some fast paced adventure moments, this book is sweet and soft and can be savored with a nice mug of tea curled up on the couch. Easily binge-able, this is at its core an emotional tale of found family and the lengths we will go to in order to be loved. It has some heavy elements but isn’t sad, and handles complex topics of grief, illness, and even abuse with careful thought and consideration. It was a wonderful book to start the year with. I wish these people existed in real life, they are the types of characters you wish could come off the page and into your living room for a nice dinner party.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Car accident, Abortion, and Pregnancy

rylaenna's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Miscarriage

fairytalefootnotes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Pregnancy

hannahrose_fgc's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

4.75

 Finished reading: December 12th 2023

"Always remember that the only wishes ever granted are the wishes of brave children who keep on wishing even when it seems no one is listening because someone always is. Someone like me. Keep wishing. I’m listening."

I kept hearing fantastic things about The Wishing Game, and after I saw it was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards I decided to give in and finally read it as I hadn't read ANY of the fiction nominations yet. I'm glad I did, because I can definitely understand the love for this story now! Whimsical, heartfelt, sad, hopeful... It is hard to put this story in a neat little genre box, but I can guarantee it will win over your heart and take you on the most incredible journey. There is a lot to love in The Wishing Game... I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but what I can say is that if you love a bookish story, you will be in for an absolute treat. Both the Clock Island books, its author AND illustrator play a key role in the plot, and I loved how it showed the power and importance of books for children and adults alike. The descriptions of the Clock Island itself are wonderful, and it gave the whole story that whimsical and magical realism feel without overpowering the plot. The story was a lot heavier and sad than expected, but this was balanced with moments of hope and even a dash of romance. The characters are a true delight, and part of the reason this book works so well... This is a story that will stay with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

melchncookies's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s an easy read, but around chapter 19 it picks up and is a page turner, like a read to the end in one sitting. This book was only a 2 day read for me though. Anyway, I would definitely recommend this book. This will be one of my favorites. I love it enough I’m going to buy it. 

Cozy mystery.

When Lucy gets back to the island

I saw it coming but not exactly, the twist is slightly unexpected, but I guessed the overall ending. It’s definitely

a feel good

, exciting read.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Drug use, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

sway1991's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Pedophilia, and Abandonment

chronologically_charlie's review

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

So many freakin' things that I disliked about this. 
A really slow start. Really weird character relationships. Like...really weird. And I like weird! But this was weird. A really slow and predictable plot. The writing felt flat. I just ugh...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Miscarriage

Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, and Pedophilia

kpflea's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

LOVED this book. Emotional, heart-pounding, romantic, exciting; there are not enough words in my dictionary to describe the feelings this book gave me. MUST READ!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage

notbrhymes's review

emotional hopeful

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I cried my way through this book.
What a beautiful, beautiful story brimming with love and whimsy and so much humanity. My heart was broken and repaired multiple times throughout this novel and I think it is such a feat when an author can accomplish that while also having an otherwise interesting story. 
I read this in one sitting and I couldn’t be happier that I decided to ignore the other books that I had due back to the library much sooner & I picked this one up instead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer