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sheryl's review
- 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
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
taylorjones118's review
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Chronic illness and Abortion
laura_berger's review
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Child death and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Abortion, and Death of parent
swell_gal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, and Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
amhud1030's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship
gholdreith's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
abriggs07's review
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, and Emotional abuse
laurenabeth's review
- 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
Spellbound. I am spellbound. Giddy. Gleeful. Childlike. I don’t believe I have ever been childlike, but this book is that kind of transformative. It put fuel in my tank; it brightened my darkness; it lifted me from my misery. This is the most magical book that doesn’t include magic, the most whimsical book that I don’t think ever used the word “whimsy,” and the most gratifyingly crafted prose I’ve read in years.
I can barely contain my joy to review this, except to say it was un-put-downable. I timed my reading session, and I blew through this in 5.28 hours. This is the most valuable 5.28 hours I’ve spent in ages.
Teacher’s aid Lucy is selected with a few other strangers to play a game at the remote home of a reclusive children’s author and his despondent illustrator. Questions and riddles and mysteries follow, but there are bigger prizes at stake…
You love Lucy. You love Jack. You’re praying that Christopher gets what he deserves, and you hope that Hugo gets that too. This is a story about the power of wishes and the fact that wishes aren’t granted, they’re chased. They are breathed into life by the mind and then hunted down and made manifest by sheer force of will and determination. And even then, you don’t get what you wish for, you get what you deserve.
This is a book about books, about love and hope, about found family and the power of fantasy. It’s a story within a story maybe within another story, and each ending feels like the warm sun on your face after a winter of gloom.
Trigger warning for various forms of child abuse, neglect, illness, bigotry. But for the love of all things holy and unholy, read this. I burst into tears around page 245, and haven’t stopped crying since. It’ll be the fastest thing you’ll read, and the thing you put at the top of your re-read list. I never re-read anything, but I already can’t wait to read this again.
It’s not too heavy, not too light, and is as near to perfectly charming as a book can be. A million stars, a million likes, a million thanks.
Graphic: Grief and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Abortion
actual_hobbit's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I recommend The Wishing Game as a relaxing beach read for any book-lover needing a nostalgic escape.
As a child who spent every waking minute glued to a chapter book, I got pulled so easily into the nostalgia and whimsy of The Wishing Game. Imagine getting to relive your favorite series as an adult! Clock Island’s hidden treasures and mysterious locations felt real to me, and I love how the author captured the sense of childlike wonder with this special setting.
Though I didn’t feel strong ties to the characters themselves, I enjoyed watching Lucy, Hugo, and Jack grow each in their own way. Though painfully naive in the beginning, Lucy learns that hope sometimes means accepting help from others and swallowing a bit of pride. Polar opposites Hugo and Jack learn to balance dreaming and reality.
This book deals with some emotional topics - the foster system, death, and parental neglect to name a few - but it’s not a mood-killer at all. As the reader, you come away a little bit lighter with a hopeful feeling at the end.
Maybe it’s because I got so nostalgic, or maybe it’s just my taste as a reader, but I felt that some portions of this book were underdeveloped. The contest itself feels too quick, and there’s a good bit of pages spent developing a romance that honestly didn’t feel needed. There were times when I felt things were rushed, or maybe edited back from the original copy. I was disappointed by that, but the concept kept me reading until the end.
Listen to my discussion of The Wishing Game on Books Are Magical Podcast. https://linktr.ee/booksaremagical
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, and Homophobia
beyourbestshelf's review
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Death of parent