Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

130 reviews

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.

jcole32's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Death of parent, and Abandonment

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

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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. 

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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

infjkiki's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

I very rarely write reviews but this was one of the best books I have ever read. 

I highly recommend it to anyone who found solace in books to escape childhood trauma. 

The author does a beautiful job of highlighting the role that books can play in a person's life especially during their darkest points. I've said it before and I'll say it again, books saved my life. This book shows the life changing effects that a book can have on many people's lives and I just think that is so amazing. 

I cannot count the number of times I cried while reading this book. It was so beautifully written and I cannot wait to read another book by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

louisekf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

cc_shelflove's review

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

When you gotta scream, you gotta scream. From the very first page, I already knew this book was going to be too short, and that I would soon be wishing it would never end. You won’t want to put it down either, and you’ll be screaming for more pages! 

Lucy is an extremely broke kindergarten teacher’s aide. She forms a bond with one of her students, who is in foster care after his parents’ deaths. She would do anything in the world to be able to adopt Christopher, but after two years of trying, it appears impossible. Enter Clock Island. Lucy receives a letter from the author of the bestselling children’s series to visit Clock Island herself. Her invitation includes the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to win the one and only copy of the newest Clock Island book. Lucy’s wheels begin to turn. Can she win the book and sell the rights to a publisher for a pretty penny, all so that she can finally adopt and support Christopher?

It is so rare to find a book that appeals to so many different audiences. The Wishing Game is a true gem. It reminded me so much of the stories that made me fall in love with reading in the first place, and I found myself wanting to revisit The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. Clock Island was a truly magical place. I simply will not be able to get over this book. If it does not win Book of the Month’s BOTY, I will be shocked. I already want to read it again. 😩 I loved the characters, I loved the setting, I loved the plot, I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment

thesonnetsilence's review

lighthearted medium-paced

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

1.5

I wanted to love this one so badly, and I just can’t.
I disliked almost everything about this book. Especially Lucy. 

The only positive thing I have to say about this book is I love the fact that the raven is named Thurl…Sadly an obscure reference to a voice actor from the 50s isn’t enough to make this novel even slightly interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death

swell_gal's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

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