Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

28 reviews

mdavis26's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

beckyg1016's review

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

If you have been through the heartbreak of trying to "adopt while poor" - this book is going to be hard to read in some places. Not really a tag for that.

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. 

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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

sheryl's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

juffnstuff's review

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Minor: Terminal illness

gholdreith's review

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

goldenbeebookshop's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This is a delightfully earnest and incredibly charming novel. While the author cites Willy Wonka as a core influence for the story, it also has a dash of The Westing Game and a sprinkle of Matilda.
There are so many delightful details that it also gave me a little hint of what I loved about my all-time favorite book, The Night Circus. The descriptions are whimsical and magical, and capture the sort of clever ideas that spark joy in the parts of us that love to believe that the well-loved places from our favorite childhood books are somewhere we can really visit.
It’s a book for adults, but the style and content of the story makes it a great read for a wide range of readers.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

lastblossom's review

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

tl;dr
A sometimes tragic, mostly hopeful story about the dreams we had as kids, and the courage it takes to make them come true as adults.

Thoughts
When a mysterious reclusive author invites people to his remote island to compete for a prize, the first thing my mind conjures up is backstabbing, cynically evil people, and a murder or two. And at first, it seems like we might be heading in that direction, but the Wishing Game willfully chooses a more hopeful voice. The competitors are all flawed, but sympathetic, with difficult (sometimes traumatic) and relatable histories that make it very easy to wish the best for everyone involved. The game creator in particular is incredibly human, and potentially the most sympathetic of the entire cast. I normally have a clear favorite character, but I found myself invested in everyone on the island. Hugo the artist perhaps squeaks out as my fave, but only because I have a soft spot in my heart for grumpy rebellious artists. The plot is fairly straightforward - a chocolate factory-esque competition, but for adults (or perhaps for kids who simply got older), and I appreciated the perspective of people who have lived long enough to understand what's really at stake. With the addition of some light romance and a few fun puzzles, this was far from the dark cynical book I expected, and I am immensely grateful for it. Strong recommend for anyone looking for an honest, but hopeful take on being an adult and making your wishes come true.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advance copy. All thoughts here are my own.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Pregnancy, and Abandonment