As a child of the 80s and 90s, I grew up watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory—no, not the more eccentric remake with Johnny Depp, but the classic, heartwarming version with Gene Wilder. This book is written as an homage to that film and is a masterful work of nostalgia, a story within a story, full of riddles, games, and wishing with all your might.
Lucy Hart used to read Jack Masterson’s books when she was a young girl and became so enraptured with the magical, fictional world he created that she ran away to his mysterious home on the self-titled Clock Island, so she was devastated when he suddenly stopped writing. Now, years later, Lucy is a grade school teacher, and Jack announces a contest in which a select few adults can win the chance to receive the only copy of his forthcoming book.
Lucy is determined to be one of those lucky ones so that she can have enough money to adopt the little boy in her class who has stolen her heart. As Lucy returns to Clock Island, she meets the other players and discovers a series of enigmatic riddles and challenges in which they must compete. She also meets the irritating (and yet very alluring) book illustrator, Hugo.One by one the players are eliminated by the competitions and puzzles until just a few remain. Lucy has to face all her fears in the course of her time on Clock Island, but when her greatest fear is losing the one person she loves most, she will have to make difficult choices to win the ultimate reward.
This book was near-perfect for me; it was in my top 3 best books of 2023. The level of detail is unmatched—Shaffer wrote multiple excerpts for the fictitious books Jack Masterson authored, and many of the puzzles or challenges the contestants participate in are also ones the reader can play along with while you read. There are well-written relationship tensions on multiple fronts, and each pairing is developed and beautiful. The story mirrors the plot of Willy Wonka while still standing on its own merits, but the biggest praise I can give it is that is provides that undefinable emotion you get when you read a really terrific book—it just makes you feel the warm fuzzies all over. I think this one will stand the test of time for me, it truly is everything you could wish for.