Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

119 reviews

breezer's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-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

My heart 🥺

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Medical content, and Abandonment

Moderate: Pedophilia

sway1991's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Child death, Pedophilia, Cancer, and Abandonment

ceruleanblue42's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse

turrean's review

hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

 The runaway children theme was more than a little alarming. The idea of a TA at a public school breezily coming in late to work because since she knew there was a parent volunteer in the room was so absurd I snorted out loud. I was impatient at the single-mindedness of Lucy’s drive toward her vision of the future, and aghast at the way a child’s hopes were raised in such an unrealistic way. 

…And since their happy ending literally (little pun there) needed the intervention of an eccentric multimillionaire philanthropist, and the just-in-time resolution of a child’s  phobia,, I think “unrealistic” is putting it mildly. This actually read quite like a kid’s book with some sad scenes and some swear words added in. 

The happy ending is clearly on its way from page one, and the honey-sweet story will make a great movie. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Abandonment, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction and Child abuse

chronologically_charlie's review

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

2.0

So many freakin' things that I disliked about this. 
A really slow start. Really weird character relationships. Like...really weird. And I like weird! But this was weird. A really slow and predictable plot. The writing felt flat. I just ugh...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Minor: Drug abuse, Cancer, and Pedophilia

kpflea's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring fast-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? No

5.0

LOVED this book. Emotional, heart-pounding, romantic, exciting; there are not enough words in my dictionary to describe the feelings this book gave me. MUST READ!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Miscarriage

mollywill's review

adventurous hopeful fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Child death

Moderate: Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Drug abuse

Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual violence

rachelmerrie's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This was so incredibly frustrating as a previous social worker. I’m sure I’d be able to actually enjoy it if it weren’t for the following issues I had:

1.  Never ever ever ever tell a child (especially a foster child or a child that’s not yours) to keep a secret. 
2.  Never ever ever ever promise a foster child that you’ll be his permanent mom one day (even though you’re not even his current foster parent, you’re just his after school tutor) and proceed to tell the child how much money you’ve saved (and how you make said money) to buy you both a home and. 
3.  This woman is upset that the social worker told her she can’t be the child’s foster parent because she lives in a bedroom with roommates who are freshmen in college, she has no steady income, and no vehicle (AND a very toxic ex that she still has contact with). 
4.   She went to this wonderland when she was 13 and thought the adult men were sexy, the adult men who coaxed her to come to the secret island and told her that her parents treat her poorly. 
5.   Why is she romanticizing the times that she ran away when she was a child to this foster child she’s trying to become a foster parent to?
6.   Why is she telling this foster child about how poorly her parents treated her when his parents just died? 

I only made it to chapter 11 (40%), but I can’t go on.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment

yarnarh's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

It’s a wonderful cozy book. Things I have issues with

- The way Lucy was so obsessed with Christopher. It doesn’t scream I love you, more like I’m obsessed and I can’t live without you.
- The age gap between Lucy and Hugo. 8 years age gap is quite a lot. I mean it make sense that Hugo have to be 21 to make his own decision and live on an island with an old man. But 13 and 21 feels like a huge gap. 
- luring kids to his clock island. He is an adult. He should know how gullible and naive little kids are. And if a Hogwarts letter come to my house as a kid I would have do whatever I can to get there.

Other than that, I love the book. Heartwarming, and magical

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

Minor: Incest

milenasbooknook's review

hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Rape, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Child death, and Cancer