Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

81 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The Wishing Game is perfection. A perfect blend of heartbreak and hope, wit and whimsy. I laughed, I cried. I raced to solve riddles and braved my own fears. I had so much fun on Clock Island.

I love stories that make you fall even more in love with stories. Books have been such an important part of my life, and I love when authors not only acknowledge what books mean to us, but write whole new stories just to honor and celebrate them! Who would we be without the books we’ve loved? I don’t care to know the answer. 

The Wishing Game is like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but for adults whose inner child is ready to come out.  For a book set in the “real world” without any actual magic, it felt like I was reading a fantasy. Clock Island truly felt magical and is certainly a place where wishes do come true if you’re brave enough to ask. 

I connected to this story personally on so many levels. You know a book was meant to find you when, halfway through, you’re already thinking about getting quotes and images tattooed on your body forever, because having them branded into your heart just isn’t enough.

The Wishing Game is perfectly paced and easy to binge-read if that’s your thing. It’s a quick read at just under 300 pages. Most of the chapters are quite short and even the longer ones move quickly enough that you don’t notice the difference. If you appreciate a good floppy paperback like I do, the publisher nailed this one - so easy to break in and then lays flat like a dream even from the first page! Also the cover?! Stunning! No notes.

In short, I highly, highly recommend The Wishing Game. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Outing

margotfoster's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I laughed. I cried. I want to read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Chronic illness

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

mj_86's review against another edition

hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Chronic illness and Miscarriage

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, and Drug abuse

cyndi1966's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, and Miscarriage

apandabearcub's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

kaylokay_'s review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

stormeno's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Medical content

lizzymorang's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I did find myself wanting to return to this story and it's quite an easy read, but there are just so many issues that weren't handled well. Almost every relationship dynamic in this book is weird and even inappropriate in some cases.

I was hoping the protagonist would see how wrong she was by the end and become redeemable, but this just seems like wish fulfillment for selfish, naive people. Not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Racism

gingerlaura's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Unexpectedly really liked this!

The background stories of several characters were a bit wonky, but other than that I really enjoyed reading this book. It was fun, heavy, emotional and lighthearted all at once, and I can't deny I teared up a little at the end. In other words, this was pretty much everything you'd want in a feelgood book, can definitely recommend this if you're in the mood for something fun yet comforting! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Miscarriage