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bookish_brooklyn's review against another edition
5.0
I have just finished 'Contest' and have chills all over my body! To say this was an unreal journey, a thrill of a ride, with terrifying twists and turns would not even be an understatement! The premise of the book - a modern day fight to the death, inspired by the Gladiator-esque type Contests (pun intended, but no, genius really, the simplicity of the title, laying everything out in front of us) - but still, my socks were well and truly knocked off throughout and there was no way you could predict what might come next! Like, Stephen is told that he can only escape from the Contest itself if all his other opponents are dead, and he still would have to face one final opponent even then, a beast of all beasts! And so, I was scared for him, and his daughter (as Stephen Swain was holding onto young Holly at the time he was teleported into the State Library of New York), I realised, it's not just himself that Stephen has to protect, but even more so, Holly. Stephen is such a brilliant main character, he's just so....human! He's a man who lost his beloved wife a few years back, and has just been doing his best with his work as a prestigious Doctor, whilst being a doting Father to Holly - then to find them projected into this 'fight to the death' - it's like, 'please let them be safe!'
I was honestly so scared for them both, they found themselves (along with Selexin, Swains' guide for the Contest), who tells him of the frankly, inhumane (as expected really), guidelines for the Contest, such as, "if you step out of the Library, your contestant armband will detonate" (so there's me thinking "okay, well that's not scary (it is), how will they get out of this one?!" I was so fearful! And then the creatures, oh my word! And okay the Librarian in me just needs to *quietly* express her joy at the fact that...THE CONTEST WAS SET IN THE STATE LIBRARY OF NEW YORK!! *calms down*. No, but in all earnest, Matthew Reilly is a genius! And this is his very first book! But the setting of this insane, bloodthirsty (I am absolutely not even making that up), battle, just fitted so perfectly in the huge, labyrinth type building that is the State Library of New York! The seemingly infinite floors, the elevators, the shelves, books and desks, paired with the nail biting fighting, and the crazy (again, not kidding) alien species that Swain finds himself up against, (Bellos, just woah. I shudder as I type), and just the complete primal instinct that is the fight for complete survival, just, ahh, Matthew Reilly is brilliance personified! I cannot fault anything about this book - it was all so brilliantly written! I was constantly engaged throughout the story, I couldn't put the book down for most part when I was reading it, and could no way predict what might happen next! A wholly memorable journey of highly epic proportions! Cannot recommend enough!
I was honestly so scared for them both, they found themselves (along with Selexin, Swains' guide for the Contest), who tells him of the frankly, inhumane (as expected really), guidelines for the Contest, such as, "if you step out of the Library, your contestant armband will detonate" (so there's me thinking "okay, well that's not scary (it is), how will they get out of this one?!" I was so fearful! And then the creatures, oh my word! And okay the Librarian in me just needs to *quietly* express her joy at the fact that...THE CONTEST WAS SET IN THE STATE LIBRARY OF NEW YORK!! *calms down*. No, but in all earnest, Matthew Reilly is a genius! And this is his very first book! But the setting of this insane, bloodthirsty (I am absolutely not even making that up), battle, just fitted so perfectly in the huge, labyrinth type building that is the State Library of New York! The seemingly infinite floors, the elevators, the shelves, books and desks, paired with the nail biting fighting, and the crazy (again, not kidding) alien species that Swain finds himself up against, (Bellos, just woah. I shudder as I type), and just the complete primal instinct that is the fight for complete survival, just, ahh, Matthew Reilly is brilliance personified! I cannot fault anything about this book - it was all so brilliantly written! I was constantly engaged throughout the story, I couldn't put the book down for most part when I was reading it, and could no way predict what might happen next! A wholly memorable journey of highly epic proportions! Cannot recommend enough!
swagkermit's review against another edition
4.0
Great for people who enjoyed S4E17 ("The Box") of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
This book was easy to read and action-packed though a bit clichéd. I listened to the audiobook which I think was a good move, as many other reviewers have pointed out that this would make a great sci-fi action movie.
I think the descriptions of the aliens in this book could have been a bit more detailed, as they usually were a bit vague in some respects.
This book was easy to read and action-packed though a bit clichéd. I listened to the audiobook which I think was a good move, as many other reviewers have pointed out that this would make a great sci-fi action movie.
I think the descriptions of the aliens in this book could have been a bit more detailed, as they usually were a bit vague in some respects.
stephee's review against another edition
1.0
I read this on the recommendation from one of my students. Not really my kind of thing but I can see why he enjoyed it.
alice2000's review against another edition
1.0
I'm glad I didn't read this novel first or I wouldn't have read anymore of his work. Ugh.
miaruppenthal's review against another edition
5.0
The reason I picked up this book is that the premise reminded me of The Hunger Games which I was so obsessed with at the time. This book does follow the same idea of a fight to the death contest, however, it was so different because it was sci-fi based. There were aliens and awesome fight scenes, really likeable characters which I was rooting for the entire time.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat, my heart was pumping at some parts and I just couldn't put it down. This book deserves more hype because it was so freaking good I could not recommend it enough.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat, my heart was pumping at some parts and I just couldn't put it down. This book deserves more hype because it was so freaking good I could not recommend it enough.
allonsythornraxx's review against another edition
3.0
09/08/2022
3 ⭐
Oh boy, I really didn't see aliens coming after I read the blurb but, okay Matthew Reilly I'll read anything you write at this point. Honestly, this was probably me least favourite MR book that I've read so far, just because you could really tell it was his debut novel. But, other than that this very much felt like a Matthew Reilly action adventure and I loved the idea of using the New York State Library as a labyrinth! And once again, I'm genuinely surprised that none of his works have been adapted to the screen yet.
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3 ⭐
Oh boy, I really didn't see aliens coming after I read the blurb but, okay Matthew Reilly I'll read anything you write at this point. Honestly, this was probably me least favourite MR book that I've read so far, just because you could really tell it was his debut novel. But, other than that this very much felt like a Matthew Reilly action adventure and I loved the idea of using the New York State Library as a labyrinth! And once again, I'm genuinely surprised that none of his works have been adapted to the screen yet.
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lewis_fishman's review against another edition
5.0
So begins the journey to The One Impossible Labyrinth with this, the first ever Matthew Reilly book that was published. Matthew is most probably my biggest inspiration of terms of authors, and if I can be half as successful as he, then it will be a good life.