Book Review: The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

“How did you make adults face their fears when being an adult was nothing but waking up every morning with their fears already in their faces?”

Meg Shaffer, The Wishing Game

Review:

From the start, I’ve had an apprehensive relationship with this book. It caught my eye when it dropped as a Book of the Month selection. I ultimately passed on it because I couldn’t determine if it would be something I would enjoy. I liked the premise but after seeing so many fantasy tags, I decided to put it on the back burner (and eventually bought the Kindle version). When a buddy read opportunity came up I figured I’d finally put my curiosity at rest. 

In the style of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Jack Masterson holds a contest at his home, Clock Island, which is the backdrop of his famed children’s books. The prize is his newest book in the ‘Clock Island’ series — the only copy. Four contestants all have their reasons for wanting to win, however, the story focuses heavily on the contestant Lucy Hart. She hopes to win the book especially for her young student Christopher. Though she knows it’s merely wishful thinking, she hopes to adopt him. 

I feel like a lot of good intentions went into this book… but they came out in all of the wrong ways. Lucy’s relationship with Christopher is unhealthy and, frankly, inappropriate. Not in an abusive sense, rather, she’s imposed herself into his life, taking on the role of mother when she is hardly in a position to take care of herself let alone a child. Very much on the surface, it’s a sweet bond, especially connecting through the ‘Clock Island’ books, but when you look at the situation, it’s unsettling, especially in today’s climate. 

Another instance of this is with Jack admitting that he’d always wanted a child and was not in a time, place, or situation that would allow him. But it goes beyond that. This man received letters from children, many of them along with their wishes (as per the theme of his books). Sadly, many of these wishes centered around tragic home lives… to which Jack would reply with what many people would point out as a red flag in the real world. Despite that, we are left to assume his intentions were good-hearted. To go even further, we hear about an occurrence with one child who took up one of his offers to live with him on ‘Clock Island’. 

Were there some scenes I got sucked into? Enjoyed? Definitely. Did they matter in the greater scheme of the book? Sadly, no, and I can only recall the details of one of them due to it being a buddy read discussion. The book lacked direction as a whole. At the beginning of the book I thought it was going to be multiple POVs, then the focus on Lucy took over, and then the other contestants seemed to be mostly forgotten as Hugo and Lucy’s friendship grew. (Some of that early stuff is likely on me as I was under the weather, but given how the book progressed, I stand by it.) On top of this, I found the characters superficial, albeit, not without potential. Unfortunately, those characters with the most promise have the major strikes against them that I’ve already mentioned. 

Lastly, there is a strong YA voice presented in the writing, which is fine and complements the plot, however, it’s not being marketed as such. Even making Lucy say, 20, would explain the way she presents herself (to a certain degree). I’m also confused as to why this is being so heavily tagged as fantasy. I’d say there are whimsical elements at best but it is otherwise very much a piece of contemporary fiction. 

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• The themes of escapism through books, especially at a young age and following it into adulthood.
• Some sweet moments.

What I didn’t like;

• Random additions to the plot that didn’t need to be there, or needed to be broken off and made into a series.
• Major red flags!!!!!
• An overall unpolished feel to it.

Afterthoughts:

I’m genuinely confused about the hype this book has received. Over the past several months I’ve seen a lot of people around saying they DNF the book and others saying they barely made it through. On the flip side, there were definitely others who adored this book. To each his own, of course, it just surprised me to see that the Goodreads average is relatively high for a book I’ve seen people either love or hate.

Where to buy the book: