Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Bir Dilek Oyunu by Meg Shaffer

14 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

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

koplomps's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

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

cheriejanette's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.5

What a feel good story! I loved this, and I even got a bit teary eyed 🥺🥹 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

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

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

dkamada's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

Really sweet story, seems like it’s targeted at a slightly younger audience, but I appreciate a feel good story where everyone gets their wish in the end

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment

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

peytonr's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

beckyg1016's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

If you have been through the heartbreak of trying to "adopt while poor" - this book is going to be hard to read in some places. Not really a tag for that.