I loved this book so much! Was a switch up from my normal genre and I really appreciated that. Definitely would recommend!

This was a wonderful, enjoyable read, and is a little gift for the adults who loved reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Narnia, Harry Potter, or any similarly beloved series as a child. Like those stories, the book series within The Wishing Game, the Clock Island series, transports the young main characters somewhere magical and mysterious that requires curiosity and a healthy dose of bravery.

Our main character is Lucy Hart, a 26-year-old teacher’s assistant who once found comfort in the Clock Island books as a child while feeling unwanted by her family. Now she desperately wants to adopt a boy, Christopher, who lost his parents suddenly, The two have grown incredibly close and Lucy has passed her love of the Clock Island books to him as she tries to get approved for a foster-to-adopt scenario. Unfortunately she can’t get approved until she has a new living situation, a car, and better finances.

Just as all hope seems to be lost, the reclusive author of the Clock Island Series announces a game for only a select few at a chance to win the only copy of the latest installment in the series, and Lucy happens to be one of four invited to compete (but I won’t spoil why that is for you here). So Lucy travels to the real Clock Island, the author’s home he created to mirror the island in his books, in hopes of winning the valuable manuscript, so she and Christopher can be together.

I’ve left out quite a lot of the gist of the story on purpose, as you should get to unravel the story yourself, but overall I enjoyed the way the novel wove together a fantasy children’s series, the lasting impact a good story can have on readers as they age, and real-life issues, both adolescent and adult. Although The Wishing Game isn’t exactly a fantasy novel, the Clock Island books are, and that feeling of fantasy seeps through as you’re along on Lucy’s adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me a digital copy of this book before it’s official release date.

This started out as a good idea and a unique concept but it just didn’t work for me but I saw lots of good reviews so maybe it just didn’t hit me at the right time. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for review

Lucy Hart grew up with parents who didn't show her any love and a sister who was always sick. At one point she runs away from home determined to find Clock Island and become a sidekick to the Mastermind, the proprietor of Clock Island. However, Jack Masterson the elusive author of the Clock Island books can't let her stay on the island. After all, what would the press think if they found out children were running away to live on clock island with an unmarried bachelor? After running away, Lucy is sent to live with her grandparents and has very minimal contact with her parents or her sister.

Flash forward, Lucy is now an adult working as a teacher aide. She has a student she tutors who is very dear to her heart, seven-year-old Christopher. Christopher had a very traumatic experience and is now left an orphan after finding his parents dead. Lucy is the one person he feels safe around, and she is determined to foster to adopt Christopher. However, the foster agency tells Lucy that unless she has a dramatic change in circumstances, she will likely never be able to adopt Christopher.

As she is poised to break the bad news to Christopher, Jack Masterson announces he’s finally written a new Clock Island book. Not only is there a new book, but he's holding a contest for four lucky contestants. The prize: the single copy of his newest book. Lucy is one of the four lucky contestants, and quickly makes her way to Clock Island. All four contestants have one thing in common: they all wrote to Jack Masterson and ran away from home to Clock Island. The four must play a series of games in order to win. Along the way they must face their fears and learn to break down their walls.

This book was very cute and quirky. I loved the idea of Clock Island and the characters were all so well written.

Lucy is struggling. Her only wish is to foster and adopt one of her students, Christopher. But as a teacher’s aide, she’s barely making ends meet and with no permanent home she has to face giving up her dream of adopting him. When award winning and Lucy’s favorite childhood author, Jack Masterson puts on a contest to win the only copy of his newest book in the famous Clock Island Series, Lucy knows this is her one shot to change her life. Once on the island, Lucy will need to face her fears in order to win, especially since everyone wants to get their hands on Masterson’s newest book.

What an adorable story!

While written for adults, it has a whimsical feel to it which transported me back to my childhood stories. Some readers might find it’s written for a younger audience, but I thought the mix of whimsical and reality was well done and perfect for adult readers. Lucy struggles with abandonment issues, there is discussions around foster care/adoptions, and all our main characters bring plenty of baggage with them. All of these topics make this book more of an adult read versus a young adult read in my opinion.

Primarily told through Lucy’s POV, we occasionally get Hugo’s (the illustrator of the Clock Island books) POV as well. The switch between the two was seamless and added a light romantic aspect to the story. I appreciated that the romance bit was more of a side plot and didn’t overshadow the rest of the story.

As someone who spent countless hours immersed in fictional worlds, I really enjoyed this story. It had a magical feel to it, even though it all takes place in the ‘real world’. Shaffer does a great job of highlighting the importance stories play in our lives and how influential magical worlds can be on a childhood. Highly recommend this lovely debut! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.


The Wishing Game comes out May 30, 2023. Huge thank you to Ballantine Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.

I love books about books! This book is giving Charlie and the Chocolate Factory if it was about books and I absolutely loved it. Years ago a really famous author quit writing under weird circumstances. know all of the sudden he wrote a book and came up with a competition. Lucy, our main character, is one of the winners of this once in a lifetime competition and of she wins the price could change her life and it could help her with her dream of adopting Christopher. This book was so unique and fun to read.

Thank you net galley for this eARC!!

I almost gave this a 5, it was so good! 4+ stars but not quite a 5. Great storyline that pays homage to readers, authors and fans everywhere. I also loved how everything worked out but not in a predictable way.

3.5/5 ⭐
Lucy grew up loving the Clock Island books. She even ran away to Clock Island once, hoping to get her wish to be the author's sidekick. Years later, her wish is now to adopt Christopher, a kid she works with. However, she doesn't have the money or resources to do so. When there is a competition to win the rights to the long-awaited next Clock Island book, Lucy is one of the few invited to compete.

Things I enjoyed: the setting of Clock Island! I wish there had been more of this. It was such a unique place and did feel straight out of stories. I also enjoyed the clues and riddles aka the competition.

Things I didn't like as much: It took a while to get to those competition bits and then there weren't as many as I was expecting. It was more about Lucy's journey rather than the competition. If you go in with that in mind, you won't be as disappointed with the lack of competition.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an fun, quick read. I would have preferred a little more character development, and maybe a little more depth to some parts of the story but overall neither of those things detracted from my enjoyment of the book. Strongly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced reader copy.

the setting of the story was great, with a contest for selected adults akin to the once-in-a-lifetime game played in willy wonka's chocolate factory at its center. i really liked the way the author weaved together childhood joys and pains, and adult wishes and hopes. the book left me with a magical and kind of nostalgic feeling, even tho i have nothing to be nostalgic about really, ha!

sadly, i didn't enjoy the characters. i felt like the only difference between characters was the difference in their past trauma. the only time i saw any sort of personality was when the characters talked about their trauma. and even if the author wanted to do that, i thought the execution of it was not handled delicately enough. i couldn't feel the pains of lucy and hugo. (however, i did tear up a bit in chapter 22...)

thank you so much netgalley for this arc!! i screamed when i got approved.

This book took me back to my childhood when I would read for hours and be transported to a magical place. When a famous children’s author writes a novel after six years of silence, he invites four people to his mysterious Clock Island compete in a game- a game to win the only copy of his newest book. For the four contestants, winning the game is everything… They all have a reason why they need to win. and in order to win the game, they must solve puzzles and riddles, (which were so fun to try to solve as a reader.) They also must face their biggest fears. This book had a little bit of everything and I enjoyed it so much. Fantasy romance mystery drama… I couldn’t put it down! Heartwarming and magical from start to finish! 5 stars and a big thank you to Netgalley for giving me a digital copy!

What a lovely book! A little Inheritance Games and a little of Willy Wonka.

Positives:
The setting of Clock Island was captivating
I enjoyed solving the puzzles with the characters
The adoption side story was heart warming and authentic.
So many themes are presented and they are done well! Mystery, Family, Friendship,
The references to other texts and the idea of how the books we read as children stay with us.

Negatives:
Some of the characters could have been better developed.

This really was a beautiful story and different than anything I have read in ahwile. I loved it and will recommend often!

Jack Masterson is a child’s author who lives on Clock Island which is named after his series of books. Mysteriously, after not publishing a new book for six years, he offers a contest to a specific few adults to win his only copy of his newest book. Who will win the game by solving his riddles?

I loved this story and wish the Clock Island books were real. Such a fun, lighthearted story.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

⭐️ 2.5

The Wishing Game is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Except in the Wishing Game, our Willy Wonka is Jack, a world famous author of children’s books. Jack, after years of not writing, decides to write one last book. Lucy, our MC, is trying to adopt Christopher, a lonely boy at the school she works at. Lucy gets an invitation to participate in the competition to win the only copy of Jack’s last book.

What I liked:
- It was happy!
- The idea of the story was sound.
- It had a nice intro, a nice hook. I was invested in the story and wanted to see what happens.
- It was easy to read.

What I didn’t like:
- It’s written like a children’s book trying to be an adult book by by occasionally adding adult language and mentions of sex
- We are expected to care about Lucy and Christopher’s relationship but are thrown in the middle of it with no background. This makes Lucy’s love for Christopher seem more unsettling than endearing.
- “As soon as Lucy sat down, she popped Christopher onto her knee again. That lasted all of one second before he jumped off and pulled a chair next to her. Sitting on her lap was fine in private, but not when grown men were around. “ — like, I work with children. That sounds like, if not a red flag, a violation of a policy.
- There was not a lot of character depth.
- There was too much detail in some places and not enough in others.
- There was a lot of straight dialogue with no description of how the characters are acting and reacting. I wanted to know HOW they were saying it, not just WHAT they are saying.

Time & Place: present day; Maine, California, New York
Language: mild/moderate (14 sh-, 3 f-, religious profanity)
Sexual Content: none
Violence: none
TW: child molestation/rape, child abuse, miscarriage, homophobia
Rep: gay SC


Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for providing an advance reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In the case of The Wishing Game, I believe this was an "it's not you, it's me" situation. With a premise that inspires the nostalgia of Willy Wonka a la Gene Wilder and a setting full of whimsey, Shaffer's story should have been a home run read for me! However, something about her style of writing didn't mix with my own and I could not get past the 25% despite multiple attempts to revive my reading. Rather than force myself to push on, I'm doing a soft DNF for now and will not be rating this (for the sake of Netgalley, I will give this 4 stars)!

Thank you to Ballantine and Netgalley for providing me with this digital arc :)

The Wishing Game follows Lucy as she returns to her favorite author's island. An island she ran away to as a child as she wished for a different life. This time around, she is there for a contest for which winning would be lifechanging. The book was interesting and a little whimsical. I enjoyed it but it could be a little slow.

The Wishing Game is a whimsical and tender adult Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I loved every moment of it.

Lucy is a struggling teacher's aide whose only wish is to adopt Christopher, one of the students she works with. They’ve bonded partly over the children's book series Clock Island. Then, the reclusive author of the series announces he's written another book, and he's holding a contest with the manuscript as the prize. Lucy sets out to win with the goal of being able to sell it in order to finally become a family with Christopher.

The characterization in this book was superb. I fell in love with everyone immediately. You won't find any morally grey characters here; they're all lovable and kind, even if slightly grumpy or full of idiosyncrasies. Shaffer managed to make them all feel like real people with flaws, problems, and a whole lived history. What some of them have been through will break your heart, but by the end it will have been put back together again.

The setting was magical. I don't mean that in a literal way—this is contemporary fiction, and there is no real magic—but the island on which the contest takes place is full of locations out of the Clock Island books, which makes it feel like the characters are around every corner and anything could happen.

If I have one complaint, it's that I wanted to see more of the games in the contest. Despite it being the main plot, it took up relatively little page time. The parts we saw were so fun, I would have liked more time devoted to it.

The Wishing Game was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it exceeded every expectation I had. I turned the last page feeling like I had been through the journey with the characters and came out uplifted on the other side.

4.5/5 and I highly recommend, especially if you like:
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
-Books about books
-Whimsical settings & characters
-Riddles
🫶-Lovable characters with heartbreaking stories
-An emotional and cathartic story, but you still feel lighthearted at the end

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of The Wishing Game.

Another fiver, guys. This book deserves each of those five stars. This one will have you smiling, laughing, and crying. It's such a fun story and premise. The book did not disappoint at all. It will keep you hoping and wishing but oh will it break your heart at times. I think it's a great novel for the young and old (or young at heart).

I think there's a novel for most of us when we were kids that captivated us and hold a special place in our hearts. For our protagonist, Lucy Hart, that book series was the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a teacher's aide in her mid-twenties, Lucy shares her love of these novels with a very special orphan, Christopher Lamb. Lucy and Christopher have a very special bond, and she has promised to do everything she cans to be able to adopt him. But just when that promise seems like it's about to be broken, Lucy is given the chance to win the rights to the newest Clock Island book from Jack Masterson. If Lucy wins, she will be able to give Christopher the life he deserves, but if she loses, their dreams will come to a screeching halt.

I absolutely LOVED this book.

I read someone’s positive review on goodreads.com and thought,”Not my usual genre,, but why not request the ARC from netgalley.com.”?”

I am so glad I did.

This book let me leave my life behind and enter a whimsical, magical world where dreams come true and anything is possible..

Wonderful. Highly recommend.


review on goodreads

Such a a fun read. Cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Westing Game. But muddled as to why the last test didn’t work out, some of the writing was fuzzy. But mostly it worked. Not really a feel good story, lots of darker themes.