Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

93 reviews

librarybookfamily's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is not what I imagined. It’s a heartfelt look into the power of stories and making a wish. It’s a great example of found families and working toward your dreams with faith. Light romantic storyline. Foster care problems. Children looking for solace in books. 

Favorite quotes included:

“Kids with hard lives deserved gentle words. Some people like to talk about how resilient kids are, but these were people who’d forgotten how hard everything hit you when you were a kid.” 
“The only wishes ever granted—’” “‘—are the wishes of brave children who keep on wishing even when it seems no one’s listening because someone somewhere always is.”

 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness and Abandonment

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

A woman’s attempt to recover from her rough childhood and help a boy in need.

alastaire's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

tcameron85's review against another edition

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

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

4.75

Jack gives a bit of a Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) impression but with the best of intentions for his "kids."

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

rachelschloneger's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage

mtnest's review

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage

kcrockford's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Terminal illness

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

bookcasey's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

bringmybooks's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

tl;dr → as a middle grade novel, this would have been fantastic

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗬𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦 ✨

I loved the idea of this novel, I loved the characters, I loved the island setting, I …. liked the book okay enough. 

That being said, I truly don’t think it should have been marketed for adult readers. 

Hear me out! Every element that felt weaker could have been stayed exactly the way they were if the elements around the children and the original book series had been emphasized. (For example, a lot of the relationships and interactions between the adults seemed oversimplified in ways that I would have expected from books geared towards a younger audience.)

I think that the pure simplicity of loving books and how much magic books hold for us will make this book work for a lot of people, and there are parts that brought a huge smile to my face, but it just missed the mark a bit overall. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

kitausu's review

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book had me crying by page 16 and kept me emotional throughout the entire thing. What an absolute lovely gut punch of a book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

gondorgirl's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Death of parent