Tick-tock welcome to the clock.....

Willy Wonka meets the Wizard of Oz, sign me up!

The Wishing Game is a great read about making wishes and keeping promises. This is a book that will transport you back to your childhood for those that loved to read. It is heartwarming and heartbreaking. And you will fall in love with the wonderful characters and Clock Island itself.

Lucy is a teacher's aide who desperately wants to foster and adopt Christopher. She has never wanted anything so badly. But she can barely support herself. When she was a child she read Jack Masterson's Clock Island books as her escape. Now she has been chosen as one of four people to compete in a game to win the only copy of the new Clock Island book. Will she succeed?

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy for review.

The comparisons people are making to Willie Wonka are only somewhat accurate: Wonka's contest was open to anyone, and he's a bit of a misanthrope. Here, the contest has been opened to hand-picked contestants and Jack is, if anything, guilty of caring too deeply. Clock Island is imaginative but also feels very derivative - the author has clearly studied many children's classics and is giving them a slightly different twist.

There's only one real moment of suspense here, with the rest of the book following fairly predictable lines. Having said that, those lines are charming and will make many readers hope that there will be a real Clock Island theme part at some point. The relationships between Jack and Hugo, Hugo and Lucy, Lucy and Christopher are all well drawn but also predictable. Some elements of surprise would have been nice.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

I just absolutely love mysteries about the authors of children’s treasure hunt books and Meg Shaffer’s “The Wishing Game” met my expectations! I consider it a sub-sub genre (like Janice Hallett’s “The Twyford Code” or Erin Kelly’s “The Skeleton Key). A children’s book usually means brightness, happiness, and innocence, but add a twisted mystery about the book’s author, and suddenly reading a kids book is ratcheted up with tension and suspense.

Jack Masterson is the author in this narrative, creator of beloved 40 book Clock Island series (featuring the mysterious Mr. Mastermind) who, 6½ years ago, stopped writing, started drinking more, and just meandered around his real-life Clock Island recreation off the coast of Maine. Hugo Reese, Jack’s thirty-something illustrator of gray imaginary landscapes, has been on Clock Island with him, waiting for Masterson to resume writing (as thousands of young fans have also implored him to do so).

And suddenly Jack apparently has written a new Clock Island book, but not for normal publication. The single copy will be part of a contest: Jack invites 4 young adults who once ran away to the island to visit him. Each now has a chance to win the lone copy after a series of riddles and challenges. They can do whatever they want with the book if they win.

We primarily get to know Lucy Hart — a sweet kindergarten teacher’s aide who wants to adopt 7 year old Christopher Lamb, who also loves the Clock Island books, and remembers Hugo from a lifetime ago (she ran away to the island at 13 and it’s 13 years later). There is also a lawyer, a doctor and a businesswoman competing against Lucy, but Lucy’s life will be the one most affected if she prevails — she’ll be able to afford a house, a car, and adopt Christopher. We get to root for her.

The book is whimsical and yet intense as the game continues, yet it turned out to be non-nefarious. Lucy and Hugo bond over their miserable past lives and their future wishes. This book is an emotional journey and definitely a writing triumph for Ms. Shaffer. I suspect many other readers will love it as much as I did. 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Random House/Ballantine/Bantam and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Although Christopher has equally rare hazel eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Clock Island is magical, the real one and the imaginary one, and all plants are just fine.

This was one of the most creative books I've read in the past few years. What a story. What characters. The plot was constantly engaging. Highly recommend.

All I can say is that I want to live on Clock Island! This tale (an author invites four people to his island to compete in solving riddles and ultimately win the only copy of his highly sought after next book), sucked me in right from the beginning. The atmosphere is fantastic, and the story lines are so heartwarming. Our grumpy old author is my favorite - he's kooky and silly and just a good person, which just makes you happy. I laughed and I cried (literally). I was not a big fan of the adoption story only because it seemed a bit too far-fetched, but honestly I didn't even mind once I got into the story. The ending is nice and neat (we love a good neat ending), and now I want to write letters to my favorite author in hopes this happens to me! This would make a wonderful movie - true to the author's roots!

Note future review will be posted on my Instagram handle at @bookslibrariestea around the publication date. Current review is posted on Goodreads!

Lucy Hart grew up without loving parents. She found solace in books, especially the Clock Island Series by Jack Masterson. She even ran away from home to Clock Island only to be returned home. She is now 26 and a teacher's aide earning very little and wanting to foster a special child, Christopher. But she doesn't have the money or stability. Then Jack Masterson announces a contest for his newest book. Lucy is chosen as on of four contestants to win the only copy of the book. This could be her answer to her prayers. The plot is filled with twist and turns, poignant scenes, and a hopeful outcome. This book is a magical journey.

The Wishing Game has to be one of the best books I’ve read so far this year! Off to Clock Island where if you’re brave your wishes may come true. Four people chosen to come to the Island to play a game, and the first one to solve the mind boggling riddles will win. This is a book within a book, a magical island and a reclusive author of a children’s series who hasn’t published a book for years. Finally the author is writing again and this latest book will be the prize, which will be worth millions. Which of the four contestants will win? You will be reading through the night, and turning the pages so fast it will create a breeze! I Loved The Book, I Loved The Ending Even More! Job Well Done, Meg Shaffer.

Thank You to NetGalley, The Author Meg Shaffer and the Publisher Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing me to read this book for an honest review,

This book was such a fun, delightful surprise. I am not a typical fantasy reader, but any story involving books is an instant try for me. Wonderful character development! We meet Lucy, who has an open heart and cares so deeply for a little boy, Christopher. Both Lucy and Christopher love the Clock Island series and bond over their love of the story and more. Is Clock Island only a fictional place, or doe sit really exist? I loved all of the relationships in this story. The ending brought tears, which does not happen often for me. If you like Willy Wonka and Harry Potter, this is the perfect read for you. Great for young adults as well.

Mysterious Island and children's books? A great combination with an adult theme. I enjoyed the contest part of this book but I enjoyed the characters even more! One felt that there was an ode to how important books and children's imagination can be.....Yes, I felt a Willie Wonka vibe but I felt a lot of heart in this book. I would also love to see some of the artwork discussed in the book but I will use my imagination. Thank you Netgalley

I get the Willy Wonka meets TJKlune/red nose studio meets Hunger Game connections. But this is so much more! A warm story with heart and whimsy!

The Wishing Game had an intriguing plot line and beautiful cover, but sadly the book failed to capture me. The story and main characters Lucy felt immature at times, and the overall pace of the story felt slow and quickly became uninteresting.

5 Stars ⭐️

Congratulations to Meg Shaffer for writing such an amazing debut novel! This is my favorite book of this year and I'm my top 10 of all time.

How many ways can I express how much I just loved and adored this book. It brought so many emotions in me, that I found myself crying just from just sweet authentic moment.

It's beautiful, magical, and heart wrenching. The core of this book deals with childhood trauma, the grief and fear that it can carry with someone into their adult years. Affecting someone's overall self worth. But in this grief and trauma, this children's author wrote a series of books that kids could escape thru. This also stemmed from his own traumatic experience as a child. All he wanted was to provide a world kids could find some joy but also overcome their fears. Realizing you may not get exactly your wish but the strength to persevere.

This does have elements of Willy Wonka for adults but I loved it so much more. All the characters are just amazing and loveable. Even the other side characters completing. They wanted to win but that weren't just jerks to be jerks. They had depth and likeable traits.

The line "Be silent, when hearts are breaking" will forever stick with me. It's so beautiful, being present and there for someone

I would love more of Jack, Hugo, and Lucy. Hugo and Lucy's dynamic and interactions thru the book was just perfection.

I can't wait to see what else Meg Shaffer writes because she is incredibly talented. I will be picking up anything she creates.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

The Wishing Game is an enjoyable book, along the lines of the Westing Game or the Inheritance Games series. Lucy is a broke teacher's assistant who dreams of adopting one of her students, and she gets a chance to compete in a game thrown by her favorite author. Of course there is a romance, and the book wraps up nice and neatly. The characters are mostly sweet and charming, even when they're not being nice.

Lucy is chosen to compete with 3 other contestants on Clock Island for a chance to win Jack Masterson's last book. Lucy grew up a fan of Jack's and has shared her love of his books with a foster child name Christopher. Lucy wishes to win the game so that she has a chance to adopt Christopher, her ultimate wish. The story was a quick, fun read with a happy ending.

The Wishing Game
By Meg Shaffer
Lucy had an awful childhood, marked by absent parents and a sister whose illness always took precedence over Lucy’s life. After losing her fiancé and her unborn child to miscarriage, she takes a job in a community and becomes attached to Christopher, a young boy whose parents are killed and who finds himself in foster care after foster care. The two of them connect, and Lucy longs to foster Christopher, but with no home, car, or money, can’t meet the qualifications. She just wants to be his mother.
Jack Masterson is the author of dozens of popular children’s books, but mysteriously stops writing. Together with his Illustrator, a game, The Wishing Game, is created, and only children who’ve been invited by the reclusive Jack can play. Why they were chosen, and the unfolding game tells a story so heartbreaking and whimsical, that the reader wants them all to win.
This is a well written, sweet story with just enough adventure and romance to soften the most bitter of us. It’s written in a style that will delight middle grade readers, though it’s listed as sci-fi and Women’s fiction. None of the whimsy seemed too far-fetched, and the book is equally entertaining to those of us who are older.
Thank you to Random House Ballantine for the ARC of this delightful story. It will be released on May 30, 2023

In this homage to Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with a bit of Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter vibe thrown in, Lucy Hart grew up in a family who seemed have little time or love for her giving their all to an older sister who was ill. Lucy found solace and joy in a series of books by a reclusive eccentric author Jack Masterson. The Clock Island stories were Lucy’s refuge and guiding force to the point she once took a harrowing journey to meet her idle.

Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher’s aide, Lucy encourages her students with the same love of books and pleasure in reading. One young boy, a seven year old in foster care named Christopher, has become her son in all but the legal aspects. Lucy desperately wants to adopt him; however, she does not have the means financially to make it happen nor a stable living situation. Christopher’s young life has been very harsh with the loss of his parents and then being bounced around in the fostering system.

Years before, Jack Masterson had suddenly quit writing after a tragedy that sent him on a downward spiral. Jack lives on the Clock Island described in the book , a literal fantasy come to life the coast off rural Maine. When he announces a new book release that will be part of a contest where Lucy and three other formerly young fans are invited to play for a chance to win the book, she cannot believe that fiction becomes reality. If she can play all the complicated games and win the book, Lucy will be able to achieve her heart’s desire of adopting Christopher. The competition is ancillary to the emotional journey for all those who participate in the contest including Jack and Hugo.

Another island inhabitant, Hugo Reese, whose POV is also a part of the story, is a cranky artist illustrator of Jack’s books, doing so first with a fanciful painting done on the island, to be approved by the author. He and Lucy are attracted to one another adding a bit of romance to this journey of love, loss, and second chances as well as found family. This story includes a tale within a tale with pages from the first Clock Island book that captivated Lucy’s imagination and brought her comfort at a desperate time in her young life. For the most part, this book provides a tale that is an appealing intersection of fantasy, fiction, and wishes being fulfilled in unexpected ways. It does get a bit over angsty and emotionally piercing in places, but overall is a very engaging story.

There is no way this book is a debut.
It was so wonderfully written and elicited so many emotions!
A book about books, it can't be that much right? Wrong

It was wholesome and heartwarming, and like being wrapped in a warm hug.
Its about forgiveness, facing your fears,

The comparison to Willy Wonka, is very accurate!

It was so enjoyable!

Congratulations to Meg Shaffer. This is a beautiful story and should be pre-ordered by readers. I decided pretty early how The Wishing Game would conclude, but that did not detract from the story at all. Loved the characters; loved the plot; loved the ending. Some might say that it is derivative of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I would argue it pays homage to that classic and is fabulous, heartwarming and thoughtful in its own right.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of this book for an honest review.
Lucy is a teacher’s aide and she desperately wants to adopt a boy named Christopher who is in the foster system. She loves him and he loves her but she doesn’t have the resources financially to support him. It’s a sweet story and I think the majority of people really liked it. It was just not the type of book that holds my attention.

The Wishing Game was a totally unique and fun book to read. I had a blast reading this book and had no idea what was coming next. Jack Masterson is bestselling children's author that abruptly stops writing books in his popular series The Clock Island. Lucy was a huge fan of the Clock Island books growing up and used them as way to escape her rough childhood. She shares her love for the books with new orphaned Christoper. Lucy wishes she could adopt Christoper and be a real family but it's too hard and expensive or so she thinks. Suddenly out of his mysterious retirement Jack announces a contest that could change everything for Lucy. The Wishing Game is full of great characters and has a unique plot that's tons of fun to read.