When I was a kid, I read Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and then Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. I used to dream about getting a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I felt like I was a total shoo-in because I was a lot like Charlie. My family wasn’t very well off, and I was a good kid – shy, well-behaved and did what I was told. I wouldn’t make the mistake of being greedy like the bad kids in the book and I would stay as far away from the creepy oompa loompas as possible. Sadly, I never received a golden ticket, nor did I get a letter to Hogwarts or any other magical place, but damn, would I have loved one!

Needless to say, I could totally relate to our protagonist Lucy who, one day, receives a letter in the mail inviting her to spend a week on Clock Island for the chance to win the only copy of a book written by her favorite childhood author.

When she was growing up, Lucy spent a lot of time alone. Her sister had an illness that made her especially susceptible to disease, so Lucy had to live with her grandparents and her favorite escape was the Clock Island series of books. She loved them so much she even tried to run away to Clock Island.

At 26, Lucy’s life is still in shambles. She works as a teacher’s aide and lives with roommates. She’s riddled with debt, doesn’t own car, but desperately wants to adopt a foster child named Nicholas – in fact it’s the one thing she wants most in this world, so when she receives the letter telling her that if she wins the contest, she’ll win the only copy of the book and would then have the freedom to keep it or sell it as she pleases, she knows that selling the book would provide her the money she needs to get her own place, a car, get out of debt and finally adopt Nicholas.

Lucy packs her bags and sets off to the real live Clock Island where she and three other adults – all have a special connection to the author and the series – will compete over the next week to win the only copy, and all of them will be tested in ways that will push them past their limits.

I loved the premise of this book, and I was 100% rooting for Lucy. While I enjoyed the book very much, I went into it expecting a lot more surrounding the competition to win the manuscript. Instead, the book focused more on Lucy and her personal struggles and growth than the actual game itself. Once I realized that, I was able to settle in and enjoy the story, but I spent at least the first half or more waiting for the exciting, cut-throat shenanigans the 4 adults would endure as they fought to win. Honestly, the actual “game” called out in the title amounts to only a small percentage of the book.

While I was happy to get to know Lucy and Nicholas and was rooting for them 100% of the way, I kind of wished I had gotten to know more about the three other adults Lucy was competing against. I didn’t feel like I knew a whole lot about them, but then again, this was very much Lucy’s story and I can see why maybe the author made the choice to keep them as merely background players.

All in all, I still enjoyed the book and I thought it was based on a great idea. It’s a super quick read (I finished it in less than 5 hours), but again, I just wish we had gotten a little more of the competition aspect that the title implies.