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 distractedly 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.
Comment: This book was published only a few months ago but long before I saw the gorgeous cover, read the blurb and agreed with a friend to buddy read it. Usually a book stays in my pile for much longer but this time something about this seduced pretty quickly.
In this story we meet Lucy Hart, a kindergarten aid who is struggling to save money so she can finally adopt Christopher, an orphan in her class with whom she bonded. Her prospects seem dire when, suddenly, the incredible writer of children's books Jack Masterson announces a new book in the series that made him famous after years of wait. There will be a contest and only a few will get an invite to participate in a game in the island where Jack lives, so they can win the book. Lucy happens to be one of the lucky ones but will she be able to win the game, will she finally have the means to give happiness and security to Christopher?
It's true beautiful covers don't mean good books. But it also true appealing covers generate expectations and help selling books. I admit it was the first thing that made me pay attention to this book, the cover is amazing, bold and bright colors with some darker ones and with books and landscape? Heaven! I'm also glad the content, in this case, matched and the story was sweet and adorable for the most part. At first I wasn't as impressed, the pace seemed slow and I wasn't certain what the purpose was, but after a few chapters, everything became more interesting.
The story is, at its core, about hope and wishes. We hope for a lot, we wish for a lot and sometimes there are things that help us, such as books and dreams, and for the lover of books I am, this idea was very, very appealing. Lucy is the main character, we learn she has had a frustrating childhood because despite the love of her grandparents, her parents were narcissist people who only cared about her ill other daughter, which always put them in the center of attention. Lucy and her sister Angela never had a good relationship and once Lucy grew up and realized some things, she let go of her family. She also had a carefree youth, doing the things everyone else did and I admit I wasn't too fond of the idea she decided to behave this way.
Now, Lucy is an adult, she struggles to make ends meet and she also wants to adopt Christopher which is hard, for she doesn't have the stability nor the money to make it happen. When things start to look impossible, the wishing game is announced. The thing is, when Lucy was a child and, along with so many other kids, she wrote to the author of the famous books everyone was loving, he replied back and promised she could be his sidekick. Lucy decided to run home when things were bad and instead of turning her immediately away, Jack welcomed her and didn't ruin her dreams. Now, years later, Lucy and three other people who also had run at some point and met Jack as children, are the only invited to the island and to play the game.
Just reading my summary can be indicative of how special the characters truly are, Jack the author of the children's books was an incredible character, as was Hugo, the illustrator of his books. There's much more complexity to this and to their personalities than a simple story of happy and adorable scenes where people talk about their childhood adventures reading books, but I think Meg Shaffer did a good job putting everything together and giving it importance, especially int he things one can read between the lines.
As one can imagine, the story is not only about a fictional game in an island to win a book. As the plot moves on, and the four participants try to solve enigmas and get points to win, their lives are changed somehow, and we get to learn a lot, especially about Lucy and Hugo, who is still at the island and becomes a key player in the novel, although not in the game. There is a hint of romance too, which I loved, but the central issues are precisely the ones related to the characters' personal issues, their pasts and how somehow Jack is truly the mastermind publicity made him to be.
Oh I'm so glad you liked it too! (and our grades are pretty close)
ReplyDeleteIt was very heartwarming for certain :) Sometimes the average rating is understandable, then!
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