Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

18 reviews

keelirae113's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

The author said it best, “this book is for you and all the kids who, in dark times, find a light shining from the pages of books.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

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

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Abandonment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Medical content, and Death of parent

missemmacrabtree's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

l1brarygirl's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

1.5

 1.5 stars - I did shed a tear for that extra half a star....

I wasn't too aware of what this book was about and I read so many thrillers, that I kept expecting a twist that never came. I could NOT connect with the MC Lucy at all and it made it very difficult to stay engaged. I also just was creeped out by a lot of the adults actions in this book. 

I think Jack's actions were fatherly in the end but for most of it, I just was kinda icked out by his actions. I couldn't get over Lucy's obsession with Christopher (highly inappropriate behavior for a teacher). The weird attraction between Lucy & Hugo (I'm okay with large age gaps but not when you first meet your SO as a CHILD). I also think Lucy was very unfair to her sister and completely glossed over her grandparents taking care of her. Also a slap in the face that everyone else in this story got a HEA except her sister.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

emilywemily6's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a lighthearted, wholesome, easy read. I liked the premise and the general storyline, and fell in love with Hugo and Jack. This book felt very juvenile though, like just a couple changes would have made this a middle grade novel. It touched briefly on a lot of heavy topics but I would have loved more depth and length in those discussions. I didn’t particularly care for Lucy, she also felt immature and irresponsible in a lot of ways- like I was reading about an 18 year old and not a 25/26 year old. Overall this book was sweet but could have been a knockout if it was handled with different aims.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Medical content

beckalette's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

georgiagirl1315's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Abandonment

rylaenna's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Miscarriage

anazap's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness