The Wishing Game - Meg Shaffer - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Meg Shaffer

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ without the “wonkiness”. [Pun intended.] I loved this book almost till the end. A sweet and beautiful read that will warm the cockles of your heart despite some sappy elements.

Story Synopsis:

Six years ago came the last book in the long-running Clock Island series. Since then, children’s book author Jack Masterson has stayed reclusive. Until now, when he has announced a brand-new Clock Island book and a special competition, offering the winner a mind-blowing prize.

Lucy Hart has always been a huge fan of the Clock Island series and of its author. As a teacher’s aide, the twenty-six year old shares her love of reading with her little charges, especially with seven year old Christopher, an orphaned child who loves his teacher more than anyone else. Lucy dreams of adopting Christopher, but her financial situation doesn’t allow her to fulfil her dream.

Masterson’s competition seems like a dream come true, and all Lucy has to do is to win his competition. But as we all know, dreams go hand in hand with perils.

The story comes to us in the limited third person perspective of mostly of Lucy and Hugo, Jack’s illustrator.

Bookish Yays:

😍 Though the story was quite straightforward and almost predictable, it was very tough to keep aside. The plot is a nice combination of emotional and heartwarming.

😍 As readers, what do we most love? Books! And when there are books about books, hallelujah! I simply loved the role books played in this plot, right from alleviating fears to providing imaginary escapes from tough situations to simply spreading joy and laughter. There were even some chapters that were written as “excerpts” from Jack’s Clock Island books. These were the perfect addition to the story. All the bookish elements were a bibliophile’s delight.

😍 While I love the premise of Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate factory’, Willy Wonka wasn’t really my favourite character. So imagine a similar premise, where you get a ‘golden ticket’ to Clock Island, and weirdo Wonka is replaced by the masterful maverick Masterson. I simply loved Jack’s character – he was the lynchpin of the plot in so many ways. Because we don’t hear from his character directly, he gets maximum attention from us and just as the children in the book, we hang on to his every word.

😍 The remaining characters too were as goody-goody as expected in this plot. Lucy, though a tad too impulsive and impractical, had a heart of gold. Christopher is one of the cutest child characters I have ever read. I wish I could just hop into the book and hug him tight! And what can I say about Hugo Reese! The typical romantic coconut – hard exterior, soft interior. First time ever I saw a lead character with arm tattoos! The secondary characters are mostly cookie-cutter, but a few of them still make their presence felt.

😍 The titular ‘wishing game’ refers to multiple things in the plot, one of which is the game that Lucy and the other three contestants have to play to win Jack’s prize. I enjoyed this game as well, with the riddles adding to the fun element.

😍 Through Christopher’s story, we also get a look at the foster care system. Though the author has deliberately focussed only on hopeful elements, the book still offers a touching, albeit somewhat saddening glimpse of a system overloaded with needy children looking for care and love.

😍 There are several other dark and depressing themes, but most of these are mentioned in passing, thereby keeping the impact on the lighter side. This works well for the plot because the positive vibes would otherwise have been killed by the sombre elements.

😍 Clock Island is not just the name of the book series but also a location. And man, what a location it is! Right from the rooms in the main house to its various clock spots, the whole island seems like the perfect spot to live in. To top it all, the book has a map of the island at the start!

😍 While there are hints of attraction in the story, romance never takes centre stage, which remains firmly focussed on the personal development of the characters. This always works to my benefit as I hate insta-attraction stories.

Bookish Nays:

😔 One particular writing choice towards the end disappointed me. That development simply wasn’t needed, and it felt like a satisfactory track had been purposely manipulated to heighten the emotional shock. Cutting off that part from the book wouldn’t have made any difference, or rather, would have improved the book.

😔 Certain elements in Lucy’s backstory also felt farfetched. Her reason for staying away from certain people wasn’t convincing. The big reveal in her arc reminded me of a Jodi Picoult book—not revealing the name here as it is akin to a spoiler—but it didn’t come across realistically in this story.

😔 Just as in the Roald Dahl book, you know who will be the winner. So the proceedings are somewhat guessable. Then again, this genre thrives on a guaranteed HEA, and the HEA is delivered to our satisfaction. But a small part of me wishes it had explored the boundaries of predictability and even gone beyond.

All in all, this was one of those books where you know how things will go but you still can't stop reading. The fast pacing also helped. Especially considering that this was a debut work, the author has handled it quite well.

For most of the book, I was accompanied by my Shoulder Angel and my Shoulder Devil. Angel was going all gooey-eyed, laughing and crying along with the candy-sweet plot developments while Devil was rolling his (her?) eyes at the improbability of the mushiness and the predictability. Angel and I decided to ignore Devil and relish the read with all our heart. But the final couple of chapters proved Devil correct as the emotional manipulation went a step too far with the introduction of the unnecessary plot point. Thereafter, Devil convinced me to lower my rating to 4 stars even though Angel was comfortably perched on the 4.5 stars mark. 4.25 is a way of keeping them both happy.

Recommended to those who would love to read a touching found-family style story with plenty of fun and emotional moments.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Wishing Game”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.