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augustar14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book has a lot of pain, and heartache, and characters who don't know how to communicate and don't ever really figure out how. It's important, I think, to be prepared for that going in. It's not a feel good book. It has some fantastic quotes about life, play, and relating to other humans. It is very clever at times. But I can't say I fully loved it. Or that it was exactly what I needed or was looking for. Despite that, I don't regret reading it. I don't think there will be a reread, though.
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Mental illness, Abortion, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Racism, Ableism, and Classism
Minor: Racial slurs
imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Abortion, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Chronic illness, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Minor: Antisemitism
lara_r's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Pregnancy, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This novel tells the story of the relationships between Sadie Green, Sam Masur, and Marx Watanabe in an occasionally non-linear and experimental way over the course of about three decades. I've seen a lot of people describe this book as just the story of Sadie and Sam's friendship, but I don't think that's wholly true. Marx--and Sam and Sadie's relationships with him--is just as important as they are.
We meet Sam and Sadie as long-lost friends reunited and quickly learn why their initial tween friendship ended. Marx is at first Sam's roommate and then becomes generally the backbone of everything when Sam and Sadie start creating videogames with each other.
The games in this book--Solution, Ichigo, Both Sides, Mapletown, Master of the Revels, and others--are intriguing and add a lot to the story in the way that they use literary and pop culture references, show changes in tech and cultural norms over time, and help to show us things about the characters. This is not, however, a book about videogames, so I'm not mad at all that none of the games are particularly original in the grand scheme of things. Of course they're not. If Gabrielle Zevin came up with a fully original videogame, she'd probably use that concept outside of the confines of her novel. However, I do know that there is controversy around the resemblances of certain games in this book to certain games in real life, and I don't want to invalidate the feelings of anyone for whom that is a significant issue here.
Sadie is, I think, who I would have become if I'd grown up with more privilege and gone into STEM in college. I see a lot of myself in her, in her flaws and her literary interests as well as in her struggles with misogyny and her relationship with Dov.
Sam is in many ways a classic quirky character, a nerd who struggles to express his feelings and doesn't always know how to do interpersonal relationships. He's not explicitly autistic in the text, but he reads as autistic to me in a lot of ways, and I also resonated with him a lot.
Marx is the producer, the mom friend, the glue. He is a lover of Shakespeare and Homer, a man with expert social skills who struggles with romantic relationships and is doomed to forever be a side character because he is an Asian man living in America in the 90s and early 2000s. I love him just as much as Sadie and Sam do.
The book is named for Marx (it's a Shakespeare quote, Macbeth to be precise, and it is in Marx's honor), and anyone who thinks the title should have been Unfair Games was focused on a VERY different part of the story than I was. Unfair Games the company is a supporting character at best. Marx IS the story.
There are some very harrowing depictions of domestic abuse and gun violence here that could be triggering to a lot of readership, and I think it's important to note that so that you know what you're getting. This is not a trauma novel. It does not follow the trauma plot. It does not revel in its characters' pain, and I love it for that. It is also a novel filled with a lot of pain because the characters, especially Sam, are filled with so much pain of so many kinds.
Also, definitely the queerest book I've read this year that was not explicitly marketed as queer. Everyone is very bi, and the relationship between the three main characters certainly does not resemble any cishet friend group I've ever known. And the most central couple that is actually a couple for the entire time we know them is two men.
Anyway, I loved it.
Graphic: Car accident, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Gun violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Misogyny, Cancer, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, and Ableism
Minor: Abortion and Cultural appropriation
laurataylor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Car accident, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
ienbdri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Grief, Car accident, Cancer, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Medical content, and Hate crime
Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Abortion, Vomit, and Body horror
krisroll's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Vomit, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, Abortion, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
waterbear0821's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Pros:
-just good storytelling. I like the narrative structure of jumping across time, the omniscient narration is used to great effect
-the device of video games is also very clever. It allows for layered storytelling. It allows for nostalgic pop culture references
-there are beautiful brushes with human nature. Lots of extremely quotable bits. I cried a lot
Cons:
-sometimes it dips past richness and into cliche. It’s over-dramatic in an unnecessary way at times. The writing sometimes seems a bit too self-aware and it takes me out of the story
-a lot of CW content. More than was needed for the story in my opinion
Graphic: Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Moderate: Abortion and Cancer
Minor: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Gaslighting, Antisemitism, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Racism
nathaliereading's review against another edition
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Car accident, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Eating disorder
olivia119's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual violence, Ableism, Body horror, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Mass/school shootings