Review: The Wishing Game

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

Published By: Ballentine Books
Publication Date: May 30, 2023
Date Read: May 26. 2025
Genre: Adult – Contemporary / Magical Realism
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 304

Add to Goodreads | Add to Storygraph

Make a wish. . . .

Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it’s like to grow up without parents who loved her. In a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy found her solace in books, namely the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher’s aide, she is able to share her love of reading with bright, young students, especially seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, who was left orphaned after the tragic death of his parents. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.

But be careful what you wish for. . . .

Just when Lucy is about to give up, Jack Masterson announces he’s finally written a new book. Even better, he’s holding a contest at his home on the real Clock Island, and Lucy is one of the four lucky contestants chosen to compete to win the one and only copy.

For Lucy, the chance of winning the most sought-after book in the world means everything to her and Christopher. But first she must contend with ruthless book collectors, wily opponents, and the distractingly handsome (and grumpy) Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island books. Meanwhile, Jack “the Mastermind” Masterson is plotting the ultimate twist ending that could change all their lives forever.

. . . You might just get it.

“Jack was whatever you called the opposite of a social butterfly – an introverted moth, maybe.”

The Wishing Game is a book that has been on my bookshelf for such a long time. I was really drawn in by the cover, and was really excited to finally dive into this book. I’ve been in a really funny reading mood lately, with my usual genres just not hitting like they used to. I’ve been in reading slump, after reading slump, and thought that this one sounded a little bit different from my usual read. I am so, so glad that I picked this one up as I absolutely loved this book. Right from the first chapter, I fell in love with the writing and the world, and I immediately knew this was going to be rated very high.

The Wishing Game follows the story of Lucy. Lucy had a really troubled childhood, and has no contact with any of her family. The best day of her childhood was the day she ran away for Clock Island, the island that was owned and inhabitated by Jack, her favourite author. Now as an adult, Lucy is a teaching aide who is struggling to get by. Living in a house share with students, she is saving everything she can to get her life together so she can adopt a child with a troubled past. Then she get an invitation from Jack to go back to Clock Island, and compete with other previous runaways to win the only manuscript of his brand new book. If Lucy wins it, and sells it this could be all she could ever wish for.

I really loved this whimsical and magical tale. One thing I really appreciated about Meg’s writing is that while this book is definitely considered a magical realism book… there’s actually not a spot of magic in it. Other than the magic of books. It’s one of the things I love the most about whimsical books… they’re usually wrote as a love letter to books and writing, and that’s exactly what this is. It tells the tale of Lucy and her potential adoptive son Christopher. Both had troubled childhoods and both found solace in fiction. I just love that whole theme of this book. This book felt very ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory‘ eske and I was absolutely here for it. Imagining Willy Wonka as a children’s author, and the chocolate factory as a mystical fictional island that the author has made real. I just loved everything about the premise and the writing. I absolutely sped through this book as I couldn’t put it down.

The Wishing Game was a fantastic book, and could easily be given 5 stars. For me, there were just a couple of things that felt a little controversial for me that affected my overall love of the book. Firstly, even though the romance in this book is very backseat to the plot, there is quite an age gap between the characters. Now, that might not bother you. I know a lot of people don’t mind an age gap romance, and honestly the age gap wasn’t even that much. Hugo, Lucy’s love interest is 8 years older that her. My issue was that they originally met when Lucy was 13 years old, and Hugo 21. While nothing happened while they were this age, and their meeting was brief, it was mentioned multiple times in the book about how they’d met years ago and how much she had grown, and it just felt a bit… icky to me.

The second thing that bothered me, and this was by far the biggest issue for me, was how Lucy acted towards Christopher. I’m sure people will see this as a super adorable and loving relationship, but Lucy is currently a member of staff at Christopher’s school. They are no relation and despite her wishing to adopt him, he is currently living with a different foster family. Despite this, she very much acts as if she is his mother. Hugging him, kissing him, buying him gifts. As a teacher myself, I just had safeguarding alarm bells ringing in my head. It took me out of the magic of the book, as my sensible brain wouldn’t turn off. This would definitely not be okay to do in real life, and would probably end up with an arrest being made. I unfortunately, just couldn’t look past it, and it ended up affecting my enjoyment.

Overall, The Wishing Game is a fantastic and gorgeous whimsical read. I really did love it and I read it so fast. Despite there being a few things that I didn’t love about the relationships in the book, they are such small ‘backseat’ things, that I would still definitely re-read this book. It’s going on my ‘for when you’re in a slump’ list as this really did bring me out of my slump. I loved every moment of the plot, and I will definitely be looking out for more magical realism books by Meg Shaffer in the future. If you love magical realism, and cosy whimsical reads, definitely pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.

“Sometimes the thing we want most in the world is the thing we’re most afraid of. And the thing we’re most afraid of is often the thing we want most.”