Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

55 reviews

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

abbygdickerson's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Medical content, and Abandonment

keelirae113's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

The author said it best, “this book is for you and all the kids who, in dark times, find a light shining from the pages of books.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

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

sydneylmeyer7's review

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Death of parent, and Abandonment

fleur____'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

kaylokay_'s review

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

runbeck's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Abortion, and Alcohol

koplomps's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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: Death of parent and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

mammd's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Pedophilia and Suicidal thoughts