Reviews

Game by Barry Lyga

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Man, the first book in this series really set me up for failure.

You were raised by a fucking serial killer, and these are the dumbass situations you literally walk your happy ass into?

Are you kiding?

And don't even get me started on the girlfriend, who makes decisions much like the person who sees

and says, "Hey, I like candy."

So fucking stupid.

I was so glad to be done with this, I pulled up the third book and read the last few chapters rather than battling through more piss poor decisions.

How fucking convoluted can you get?

No. I encourage reading of the first in the series, but leave it at that. JFC.

geekwayne's review against another edition

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3.0

'Game' by Barry Lyga is the second book in the Jasper Dent series. It is not a standalone book and leaves things in a pretty big cliffhanger.

Jasper Dent, son of famous serial killer Billy Dent, is just trying to live a normal life. After helping the local cops stop a serial killer in his his hometown, he finds a New York detective on his doorstep asking for help. He doesn't want to help them because he just wants to get back to being a teenager, but this would be a short book if that were the case. Before long, he finds himself helping to try to find a killer named the Hatdog killer because of the clues left behind.

The cast of characters are back from the first book, but maybe not enough for me. Especially missing is Jasper's surrogate father figure, G. William, the gentle Sheriff of Lobo's Nod. He's here, just not enough. Secrets from Jasper's past figure in, but nothing gets explained this time around.

And then, as the action builds, it just ends. I'm okay with cliffhangers but this kind of felt like half of a book. I enjoyed it, but pretty much everything is left wide open. I felt a bit cheated.

It's pretty gruesome, especially for something purporting to be YA, so readers beware that it's pretty graphic in places. I have book 3 to read, and maybe the best advice is to read this one and book 3 back to back. I liked it, but not quite as much as the first one.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

4saradouglas's review against another edition

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4.0

I really liked this book, but I am frustrated that it ended right in the middle of the action. I really liked how I Hunt Killers was a stand-alone book, but this one didn't follow suit. Another complaint was that the characters took SO LONG to realize the Monopoly connection which I thought was obvious early on. I do think Lyga does a great job, though, keeping the suspense up and adding just enough gory details to keep us on edge. My favorite part of the books are getting into Jazz's mind to see his inner struggle, and also seeing how much information he can draw from such tiny details. I'll definitely read the third.

hallie_34's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

chemwitch's review against another edition

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4.0

Okay so... despite the 4-star rating I have a lot of negative things to say about this book. Just keep in mind that I thought this book was tons of fun and I did enjoy it!

This was a wild ride. We follow Jazz as he's taken to New York to solve the case of the Dog-Hat Murderer. In the weirdest twist of all time, this turns out to be two separate killers. Playing a game of Monopoly. I shit you not. While I didn't see this twist coming (at all), which is a complaint I lodged about the first, this Monopoly thing felt like it came way out of left field. It was too weird.

Then there's the bit where Jazz's aunt is apparently a serial killer. Yep. Not only his dad, but his aunt. It's a family affair. The whole thing just went from "neat little dark murder mysteries" to "serial killer secret society conspiracy" in like 50 pages. It just felt very convenient for his dad AND his aunt to kill. And get away with it. I don't know.

And then thrown into all this is romance! Because what would a YA novel be without it. Even when it makes no sense. Connie and Jazz are literally in New York trying to catch a serial murderer. They're discussing rape and torture and disemboweling and then... the subject of if they'll have sex? It just didn't really fit.

AND then there's the text messages between Connie and mystery person. Allllll that shit with the Impressionist and she doesn't go to the police? She just walks in knowing it's gonna be a trap? What the actual fuck. Also, a birth certificate with the father part missing doesn't mean that Billy isn't Jazz's father. That leap was astonishing. It could just mean he didn't write his name on the birth certificate. I just... Ugh. This book.

It was way too much but also a lot of fun and a surprisingly quick read which is why it gets 4 stars despite my wall of text complaining.

1/14/19:This was so over-the-top ridiculous but also such a goddamn page-turner that it’d be criminal to rate it under 4 stars.

Rtc