The Wishing Game

Just when I was starting to doubt I’d get a second 5-star read this year, Meg Shaffer delivered the answer to my wish - the book version of a big, warm hug aptly titled The Wishing Game!

Lucy is a 26-year-old kindergarten teacher’s aide with little savings, no car, and three roommates, who - more than anything in the world - wants to adopt Christopher, a young student living with a foster family after losing his parents. Their bond is strong, but Lucy has just been told it’s unlikely she’ll ever qualify to adopt him. She’s preparing to tell him this when hope arrives in the form of a little blue envelope. She recognizes who it’s from since she received one just like it thirteen years ago.

Across the country, on a whimsical clock-shaped island off the coast of Maine, renowned children’s book author Jack Masterson, whose Clock Island series has been loved by millions has come out of a mysterious five-year silence to announce a contest that four lucky invitees will participate in for the rights to a brand new, singular copy of his newest Clock Island book. Those invitations were sent out in … you guessed it … little blue envelopes.

Does that premise sound familiar? It should. It takes inspiration from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where five children competed for Mr. Wonka’s chocolate factory. The similarities end there, though. Contestants Lucy, Andre, Melanie and Dustin had all written to Jack as children hoping that, like The Mastermind character in his books, he could fix their painful home or school situations. As adults now, they’ve overcome their childhoods, but each needs the money that selling the rights to Jack’s book would bring.

As all four gather at Clock Island, in Jack’s impressively large home, they also meet his assistant and illustrator of his books - a 34-year-old world-weary, sarcastic, but completely lovable Brit, Hugo, who’s been watching over Jack during his hard drinking writing exile. Hugo remembers Lucy as the thirteen-year-old girl who tried to run away to Clock Island once. She remembers how cute he was. I loved their fun, sweet interactions now that they’re both adults!

After days of Jack’s games and maddening riddles, whose wish will come true? That’s for you to read and find out! I did enjoy the (mostly) supportive nature between the contestants, and I love how things came together in the end. It was a little piece of perfection! There were some heavy themes like childhood trauma, parental neglect, alcoholism, bullying, running away and all forms of abuse, but it was never heavy-handed or depressing. Rather this story is a love letter to the power of books to change a reader’s life and is so kind-hearted in its approach. 

The books that stand out to me and end up as my year-end favorite always have this in common:  They make my heart happy. Plain and simple. Jack, Hugo, Lucy and Christopher all stole my heart and made this a new one for my favorites shelf. If you like whimsical books about books, found family, a bit of magical realism, romance (and great pet names like Vince Purraldi, Billie Pawliday, Darles Chickens, and Thurl Ravenscroft), I highly recommend this wonderful, well-written debut! Oh, and may I add … best cover ever. 😍

★★★★★ ❤

Thanks to Random House Publishing - Ballantine, NetGalley and author Meg Shaffer for this digital ARC to honestly review. It’s due to be published May 30, 2023.