The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer is a Book About Books!

When Lucy Hart was a child, she found the love she lacked at home in books and her favorites were from the Clock Island series by children's author Jack Masterson.

Lucy was so taken by these books that at age thirteen she ran away to Clock Island with the dream of living with her favorite author.

Thirteen years later...

Jack Masterson reappears to announce he's written a new book in the Clock Island series and will hold a contest on his private island where four hand-picked readers will compete to win the only copy, the manuscript.

At age twenty-six, Lucy has a different dream now. When she's about to give up hope, she receives a blue envelope with news she'll be traveling to Clock Island as one of the four readers chosen to compete in the competition.

This could be Lucy's chance of making her dream of a better future come true...

My initial thought about The Wishing Game? It was slow and written for a younger reader and audience. My hope was the pace would pick-up and the writing would age-up as the story progressed.

That's exactly what happens beginning with Part Three. The pace picks up, the story gets meatier, and becomes verifiably Women's Fiction through the remainder of the story.

The Magical Realism was a bit sparse but the magic of the story and the island was definitely thick and mysterious. It has a great mix of characters but the story primarily focuses on Lucy, Jack, and Hugo who is Jack's illustrator and his right-hand for just about everything.

The island and the Clock Island books feel like characters, too. This story stirs fond memories of those fun childhood experiences with books that lead your imagination into delightful free-fall.

I recommend The Wishing Game to readers who enjoy a little magic, a little romance, and a little bit of YA in a Women's Fiction Book about Books!

3.75 stars rounded up!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Meg Shaffer for an ARC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

This was an ARC I was able to review thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. This is a debut novel by Meg Shaffer and it is a beautiful one! This story encompasses childhood trauma, overcoming it and how it can impact individuals within their lifetimes. The themes throughout this novel were so good, and this novel kept me reading. I enjoyed this novel and can’t wait to see what else Meg writes!

This is a fabulous gem of a story and I was absolutely mesmerized by all of it. Lucy Hart, a teacher’s aide, wants nothing more than to adopt 7 year old Christopher, but she lacks the resources to do so. Jack Masterson, a world renowned author known for his numerous Clock Island children’s books, who hasn’t published anything in years, is now holding a contest for his newest volume. The winning contestant will be eligible to win that highly coveted single copy. Hugo Reese, the illustrator for all of Jack’s books, has no idea what Jack has up his sleeve with this competition, but figures that like all things about Jack, it doesn’t have to make sense. As for Christopher, Lucy introduced him to the Clock Island books during a dark time and it’s these stories that inspire him.

The characters were each endearing and lovable in their own vulnerable way. Lucy is praying for a miracle and this opportunity might be her last chance to become Christopher’s mother. The setup of Clock Island, which is really an island, is like a children’s fantasy come to life with where all the adventures take place since Jack Masterson lives here. There’s something special and magical in how kids perceive Jack Masterson, who encourages them to be braver and to keep wishing until someone listens. Jack may be an older guy, but he’s young at heart, and the best listener of all. Yet he loves his puzzles and riddles so Lucy and the others spend most of their time decoding his clues and cryptic conversation.

As much as I loved the storyline and characters, I also adored the lessons and messages. This reads like an escape into a more youthful time full of endless possibilities even in the most dire or hopeless of circumstances. It’s a bit of a found family dynamic, but also a collection of lost souls who all needed to be reminded that they are loved. There were several scenes that squeezed my heart or had me choke up with emotion. Not to mention all of the unexpected little twists that kept me anxiously reading and racking my brain, eager to see if everyone gets their wish or some other hopeful version of happiness. It’s impossible not to be invested in Lucy’s quest and not to want to see her dream come to fruition. What a stellar debut novel.

I enjoyed reading The Wishing Game. It definitely has vibes from Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. People can relate to the themes of the book - hope, family, love, loneliness, and struggling. I also instantly liked the characters and how the author resolved them all in the ending. I would love to read more books from this author!

Loved it! As a former social worker I fell in love with Christopher immediately and Lucy too. The novel was perfectly paced, with lots of humor, riddles, and heartwarming scenes. Definitely a feel-good kind of book!

The premise of The Wishing Game immediately sparked my interest and I was so excited to get the chance to read this book early!

This book was WONDERFUL! It reminded me of Willy Wonka, but with books. Jack Masterson is a famous author of children’s books. Lucy Hart fell in love with Masterson’s Clock Island books when she was younger and still treasures them as an adult. Jack decides to host a game to win his newest book on the real Clock Island where he resides and Lucy gets to be one of the players. The book is so much more than just that. I laughed, I cried (multiple times)- I really didn’t want this book to end. I absolutely loved it. I’ve been thinking about this book since it ended and I think I could easily be one of my favorites of the year!

Thanks to Random House Publishing - Ballantine & NetGalley for a chance to read this outstanding book!

4.5 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


Willy Wonka for the reading set. What a marvelous story.

Lucy moved to California without looking back. She had an unhappy childhood and adulthood isn’t looking so great. Split from her narcissistic ex and working as a teaching assistant for a kindergarten class, she has become quite attached to a small boy living in the foster care system. Lucy wants nothing more than to adopt him, but the system says no. After all, she has no car. She lives with two college students in a 3 bedroom house. She lives barely paycheck to paycheck. Not the stable environment that the foster system is looking for.

When a contest appears for Clock Island, Lucy jumps on it. Who better to answer the mystery question than the little girl who as a child ran off to live on Clock Island? The prize could be the answer to all her concerns for adopting Christopher. And with that, Lucy and 3 others have returned to Clock Island to play for the ultimate prize - a single, unpublished copy of the latest Clock Island book.

I love books full of hope and optimism. While this one has its very dark moments, ultimately it is about pushing forward and continue to wish and work for what you want in life. It was a really fun book to read. Will be a great beach read. I would absolutely read another book by Meg Shaffer (and wouldn’t mind reading the Clock Island series too!)

Easily going into my favorites of the year list! The Wishing Game is not my usual genre, but it has such great reviews I decided to give it a try. I loved this book more than I ever expected! It was fun, has riddles, life lessons, romance, and childhood fantasy. It delves into the topic of the foster system and adoption, but instead of exploring the complicated system of it all the book depicts the hope and dreams of a child who is in the foster system. The story also explores childhood trauma and how you carry those experiences into adulthood. It also touches on how certain traumas can leave us with guilt and the results of experiencing that guilt.

Lucy grew up feeling neglected and unloved by her parents. Her sister was sick and got all the attention. Lucy found solace in books, mainly the Clock Island series written by Jack Masterson. She always dreamed of him being her father and what it would be like to live on Clock Island. Jack was influenced by his own childhood trauma and wrote the books mainly for children to escape their everyday struggles and provide joy and a way to overcome their fears. As a 26 year old teacher's aide she is invited to Clock Island to participate in a contest with 3 other contestants to win Jack's newest book. Lucy has been trying to adopt one of her students, Christopher, who lost his parents in a tragic death. She needs money to be able to qualify to adopt him. Lucy's chance at winning the most sought after book could be her ticket to fulfilling all of her and Christopher's dreams. Meanwhile, Lucy runs into Hugo who is the illustrator for the popular books and lives on Clock Island. There is a budding romance between them as she participates in the contest.

I wish I could go back and read this book again for the first time. I will be looking out for any future books written by Meg Shaffer and hoping there are more to come!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and Netgalley. I really hoped to like it more but obviously i missed was a fantasy world too much for my taste. For those that enjoy it should really work better.

Delightful and lovely story, a world I did not expect to love as much as I did!

Thank you for the ARC!

I absolutely loved this book! It’s almost like if Willy Wonka was an author, but less scary. If you had the opportunity to not only meet your favorite author, but live the books they wrote; this would be what it’s like. The best part of being a kid who loves reading and immersing yourself in that world is to also be able to do that as an adult.

I think maybe I am not the right audience for this one. It just did not work for me. That does not mean it will not be good for others.

I received a digital ARC from Random House Publishing - Ballantine through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I am worried that if I say too much about this book, I will spoil it. I truly think everyone should go into reading it without reading the synopsis. Just let the story unfold as it is meant to. This uplifting story, all of it’s characters, and Clock Island will stay with me for a long time.

Lucy Hart, whose childhood was one of neglect and loneliness, found her comfort in books, her favorites being the fictional Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. In The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer, coming out at the end of May, readers learn that Lucy and several other children ran away from home hoping to live with the author on his private Clock Island off the coast of Maine.

If this seems far-fetched, in 1987, a 15-year-old boy actually hopped a plane from New York to Florida in hope of living with his favorite author, Piers Anthony. In this debut novel, Lucy, now 26, along with three of the other runaways, are invited to attend a special event on the island.

Lucy is a kindergarten teacher’s aide who longs to adopt a student named Christopher who has been scarred by the overdose death of his mother and father. But in a minimum wage job, Lucy can barely provide for herself, sharing an apartment with roommates from whom she must borrow a car if she needs to go somewhere.

The Clock Island contest will allow the winner to receive the only copy of Masterson’s latest book in the Clock Island series. Lucy must compete along with three other former runaways to win the rights to this book which would provide enough money for her to give Christopher a proper home. The other runaways have equally important wishes: Dustin’s wish is to pay off his student loans that allowed him to become a doctor, Andre’s wish is to find a kidney for his ailing father, and Melanie’s wish is to keep her independent bookstore afloat.

Masterson along with his lawyer have devised a series of riddles and games each contender must play. The one who earns 10 points will receive the one and only copy of the writer’s new book. While Lucy wins the first round, she soon finds herself neck to neck with the now two contenders as Dustin was dismissed for breaking the rules and being rude to Lucy when she wouldn’t go along with him.

Hugo Reese, the handsome illustrator of the Clock Island books, is on hand to help guide the contenders in their challenges. He has been living on the island for some time as almost a surrogate son of Masterson’s, but he wants to leave the island now and strike out on his own.

Of course, the question is, who will win the coveted new Clock Island book? If Lucy can pull it off, the funds from selling the book rights to a publisher would pay her way to obtaining custody of Christopher, her greatest wish. But what happens if she loses? The contest is more than a game for her. Winning could change her life—and Christopher’s-- completely.

This is definitely the book for fans of Willie Wonka, Dorothy in Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and Harry Potter, young adults and grownups alike.

Meg Shaffer is a part-time creative writing instructor and a full-time MFA candidate in TV and Screenwriting at Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri. The Wishing Game is her debut novel.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 15, 2023.

I would like to thank Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the copy of The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer. What a magical book! If you only read one book this year, read this one. I was captivated by the story of four lucky readers being picked to enter a contest for the only copy of a new book by a best-selling, reclusive author. The author’s books, The Clock Island Series, had touched each of the contestants’ lives when they were children, and each has their own reason for wanting to win. After reading the excerpts, I wished the series existed, but this is a debut novel which makes it even more extraordinary. The story was mesmerizing, and I liked the riddles.
While it seems pretty obvious Lucy will get a happy ending, how she gets there is delightful. If you’re looking for a charming, feel good book, don't miss this one.

he Wishing Game has that wonderful and rare quality in a book that transports you into a different reality. It's also utterly delightful; so much so that I didn't want to finish reading and invented chores so that I could put the book down to make the experience last longer. Some may say that this is more of a middle-school or young adult novel, but I can assure you that it has no upper age limit.

When Lucy was a small child, her parents sent her away from home so they could focus on their older daughter's serious illness. Lucy lost herself in reading, particularly the novels of Jack which all took place on Clock Island off the coast of Maine. Lucy identified with the characters so strongly that she took a ferry to the very private real Clock Island to offer herself as a companion to the author.

Thirteen years later, Lucy is a Kindergarten teacher's aide, quite underpaid, who has fallen in love with a young boy traumatized by the loss of both parents to drug overdoses and has no other family. Enter Jack again with a contest that would provide the winner with his new book. Jack has not written anything for a number of in years). The contest for the prize, filled with riddles and puzzle solving, just like in the Clock Island books, could provide Lucy with the money she needs to be able to adopt Christopher, the boy she has grown to love.

The story may remind you of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, being filled with humor and excitement, but it stands alone as a unique and totally wonderful piece of writing. It overflows with love and wonder. Please let us hear more from you, Meg Shaffer.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for allowing me to read this early copy

I can’t stop thinking about this book. It was such a fun read. If you grew up loving books and adventure those books would take you on this book should be on your TBR! It's full of hopes, dreams and wishes, as well as riddles and games! Jack Masterson is a well known author for a book series called Clock Island. He lives in a circular island that he has turned into the Clock Island from the books. He loves riddles, games and the adventure of imagination the books can take you on. He has one final book to be released but has turned it into a game to be won. There are 4 contestants he has chosen to participate. One of those contestants is Lucy our main character. She is a school teacher and as a child read and dreamed of being in a happy place like the adventures in clock island. Turns out all 4 contestants had made the journey to clock island as a kid and Jack has invited them back for a chance to win his final book. I loved the games and riddles. It was a such a fun read. A great story one I keep thinking about. Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

i got stuck on this review, which i began approx. 15 minutes after finishing the book, b/c i couldn't remember the main character's (lucy's) name - which either says something about me or something about the book. not sure which.

this was cute and very sweet, but not tremendously special. you could map out pretty much the entire plotline once you got to, oh, say chapter 3? very trope-y and the characters fell flat. you see this sort of feel-good book everywhere, and whether you read it or don't, you'll probably read the same story somewhere else.

regardless, though, the book was a pleasant, light read. i wouldn't consider this book a waste of my time... just not very special. maybe i'm too old and cynical to be swayed by a child's wonderland.

-- spoilers past this line --

quite frankly, i found it a little creepy that hugo and lucy ended up together. the whole "meeting a grown adult in childhood and when i get older we fall in love" trope grosses me out a little, even when done with as low of a creep-factor as possible (as is true here). stop doing this shit!!!!!

thanks to random house publishing group for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars rounded up! A sweet story about the power of wishes and the written word.

Several years ago, Lucy Hart moved across the country to California to get away from neglectful parents and a toxic relationship. Now 26 years old, she is an elementary school teacher’s aide who desperately wants to adopt Christopher, a former student who is stuck in the foster care system, and start her own family. However, with her paltry salary, she doesn’t have the money for the two-bedroom apartment and car she needs to pass the home evaluation. She is about to give up on her dream when she receives an invitation to a once-in-a-lifetime contest…

Jack Masterson is the renowned author of the “Clock Island” books, a popular children’s series in which the mysterious Master Mastermind grants wishes to brave children who run away to his island, solve his riddles, and complete his challenges. Jack abruptly stopped writing six years ago and became a recluse on his own version of Clock Island off the coast of southern Maine, his only companion being his illustrator and surrogate son Hugo Reese. But now he has come out of seclusion and announced a contest: four people will come to the island and compete to win the only copy of the newest book. For Lucy, the chance to read it with Christopher and then sell it to a publisher for six figures is a sure way to their happiness.

“The Wishing Game” is a very readable, engrossing story perfect for those who had their own favorite series as kids and dreamed about what it would be like to really escape into the fictional worlds. The book explores the importance of pursuing your dreams and conquering your fears just like your favorite protagonists, and has a bit of adventure, romance, and familial love to keep you engaged. I wish more time was spent on the Clock Island competition, but I can understand the book may have gotten long-winded and convoluted if it did. As it is, the novel is charming and captivating, a great pick to take with you on your own trip.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. My review was posted on April 14, 2023 to https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5325520238.

Really interesting and unique premise, but was ultimately a bit too slow for me. Really did enjoy it once it picked up!