Book Review: The Wishing Game

We just finished reading None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell for book club and have moved on to The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer. I chose not to write a review of None of This Is True because I really didn’t enjoy the book and don’t want to spend an hour thinking about it to write a review. We haven’t met to discuss The Wishing Game yet, so if you’re in my book club, STOP READING HERE. You can come back after our next meeting. 

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

Lucy Hart is a 26-year-old teacher’s aid. Her biggest goal in life is to adopt one of the students in her class, an orphaned 7-year-old named Christopher, but her financial struggles and living situation make it impossible for her dream to become a reality. When Lucy receives an invitation to compete to win the only existing copy of the next book in the popular Clock Island children’s series, she sees an opportunity to make her dream come true.

A lot worked in The Wishing Game. While the Clock Island book series is fictional, Clock Island is a real place in the book. The series’ author, Jack Masterston, lives there. The only other resident is his illustrator and quasi-caregiver, Hugo Reese, a grumpy yet inspired artist who inhabits a cottage near Jack’s mansion.

The descriptions of the island were whimsical and fun, but I wish there had been more to it. There are twelve sites on the island that correspond with the hours on a clock, and while they were listed at the beginning of the book, they didn’t play a substantial role in the story. I feel like Shaffer could have done a lot more with the setting than she did. 

I also appreciated the themes of found family in this story. Jack is an older man with no family or children. Hugo is like a son to him, and each of the people invited to compete for the Clock Island book have been impacted by Jack in some way. Lucy is also wrestling with this theme of family, as she was the unwanted youngest child—her parents sent her to live with her grandparents when she was a girl. She views Jack as something of a father figure as well, and her motivations for adopting Christopher are rooted in her desire for family.

While I enjoyed The Wishing Game, I think I would have enjoyed the Clock Island books described in the story much more. I was expecting a bit more magic and mystery and was disappointed. The competition to win the book manuscript fell flat for me. The stakes were low, and there was no real risk to the competition. It was more like an elaborate and expensive game of trivia.

I was also confused by the characters' motivations and actions. Aside from her tragic backstory of childhood neglect, I didn’t understand Lucy’s connection to Christopher. Their attachment was a bit off putting. Most authors give their main character a driving motivation, but I felt like adopting Christopher was Lucy’s only motivation—it made her one dimensional. Everything in her life related back to her desire to become Christopher’s mother, which felt weirdly obsessive.

Overall, I thought The Wishing Game was a fun read, and I’m sure it’ll spark a lively conversation for book club. It had a lot of charming elements, and I liked some of the characters, especially Hugo. However, a lot of it fell flat for me. It's not one of my top recommendations, but I think a lot of people will enjoy it. ⅗ stars! ⭐⭐⭐