Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

28 reviews

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

5 trillion stars all around for this beautiful novel that had me crying tears of joy and sadness from beginning to end. I’ve heard such amazing things about this book so I had no choice but to read it myself, and it’s a decision I’ll always be grateful for. 

Our main character Lucy is a kindergarten teacher who is trying to foster then adopt one of her orphaned students Christopher, who she has formed a wholesome bond with over the past two years but is facing some financial setbacks that is stopping her from meeting the requirements to foster her baby boy. She would read her favorite childhood book series to him whenever he needed comforting from his trauma of finding his parents passed away and it was an outlet that helped him heal, so when the author of said series who has been on hiatus for years suddenly posts about a challenge to solve various riddles for a shot of winning his newest book Lucy has no choice but to accept his invitation.

This was a beautifully written story about family, heartbreak, and finding new love in the most unknowing situations. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in reading it or to those who’ve never heard of it, and definitely see myself rereading this eventually bc yes it is just that good❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

ixris's review

hopeful fast-paced

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

3.0

A very easy read, which would not be a bad thing except that the writer will repeat herself sometimes on the same page, sometimes in the next sentence. The amount of things I had to stop and reread because surely the redundancy was a misread on my part (it wasn't) was more than I care to admit and made the reading unpleasant at times. 

The plot focuses on a woman who (to me, a person who spent nine years as a childcare aide) is the least believable depiction of a struggling poverty class worker let alone a childcare worker and how she is enamored with the MPDG of an old man who invites her to return to his Defunctland vibe private island and falling in love with his grumpy live in illustrator (Sorry she's not sunshine tho).

A lot of this was really trite to me but maybe I'm not the right audience. It was a coherent plot and structurally sound, and I quite liked the flirting scenes - our FMC and her MLI really had a good vibe overall. 

You could spot this plot from space though. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Third act trauma dump

girl being raped by her dad tries to swim to the island and drowns is the source of Jack's grief

emmakchapman's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-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

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Medical trauma

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

The Wishing Game is perfection. A perfect blend of heartbreak and hope, wit and whimsy. I laughed, I cried. I raced to solve riddles and braved my own fears. I had so much fun on Clock Island.

I love stories that make you fall even more in love with stories. Books have been such an important part of my life, and I love when authors not only acknowledge what books mean to us, but write whole new stories just to honor and celebrate them! Who would we be without the books we’ve loved? I don’t care to know the answer. 

The Wishing Game is like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but for adults whose inner child is ready to come out.  For a book set in the “real world” without any actual magic, it felt like I was reading a fantasy. Clock Island truly felt magical and is certainly a place where wishes do come true if you’re brave enough to ask. 

I connected to this story personally on so many levels. You know a book was meant to find you when, halfway through, you’re already thinking about getting quotes and images tattooed on your body forever, because having them branded into your heart just isn’t enough.

The Wishing Game is perfectly paced and easy to binge-read if that’s your thing. It’s a quick read at just under 300 pages. Most of the chapters are quite short and even the longer ones move quickly enough that you don’t notice the difference. If you appreciate a good floppy paperback like I do, the publisher nailed this one - so easy to break in and then lays flat like a dream even from the first page! Also the cover?! Stunning! No notes.

In short, I highly, highly recommend The Wishing Game. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Outing

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Racism

garnethalo's review

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

For everyone who had a favorite author as a kid, this book explores the relationships with the books that defined us. A wonderful story that had me turning every page eagerly.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

hmbrokaw's review

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

3.5

The Westing Game meets Nancy Drew meets The Mysterious Benedict Society

Sadder than I anticipated, but a cute read

The ending is incredibly corny but also cute, so who am I to complain?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Drug use, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

morgan_trainer's review

medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Poor handling of advocating for children in foster care, Ill-prepared for trauma informed care

beckalette's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

georgiagirl1315's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Abandonment