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sparesoprano's review
4.0
Full of twists and turns
It took me a while to get into this book - but not so much that I didn’t want to keep pecking away at it ... I was intrigued. Then about 1/4 in I was hooked! Couldn’t put it down until the very last page. So many twists and turns - and manages to be quite dark without being unnecessarily gory. When I first started it reminded me of 1984 ... then didn’t ... and then did again but without ever being a copycat. Definitely recommend!
It took me a while to get into this book - but not so much that I didn’t want to keep pecking away at it ... I was intrigued. Then about 1/4 in I was hooked! Couldn’t put it down until the very last page. So many twists and turns - and manages to be quite dark without being unnecessarily gory. When I first started it reminded me of 1984 ... then didn’t ... and then did again but without ever being a copycat. Definitely recommend!
katekoda's review
3.0
Yeah, I don't know. I was a bit bored in the beginning, then it picked up the pace, but I wasn't 100% sold on totalitarian dystopia — possibly due to overexposure to the Soviet memoirs & documentaries of the real thing. The author put everything there: the party, the intimidating Chairman, food and clothes deficit, overall bleakness, secrecy, bohemian dissident mum etc, but it felt too much like an imitation, too theatrical, no other dimension to it.
The final twist was good, but again, I expected more of I don't know what. It felt unfinished and rather like an episode of a movie that I never got to see in its entirety. I'm still unclear exactly what made Anna such a hero and Henry's part remains a bit foggy too.
The book seems well-written though, and the translation appears to be good.
The final twist was good, but again, I expected more of I don't know what. It felt unfinished and rather like an episode of a movie that I never got to see in its entirety. I'm still unclear exactly what made Anna such a hero and Henry's part remains a bit foggy too.
The book seems well-written though, and the translation appears to be good.
jessa_yes's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
rexpostfacto's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this! It did remind me a lot of “And Then There Were None” but the twist of it all wasn’t quite as sinister. This was a page turner for me in more ways than one — I had to turn back and re-read stuff a couple of times because I felt like I had missed something.
The foundation is a bit shaky because while I was intrigued by Anna, and Henry for that matter, I wasn’t particularly invested in them. I was more curious than anything. I feel like maybe a bit more background on them or even just more insight into Anna’s psyche leading up to and after her trip abroad would’ve helped patch things together a bit more.
I also feel like a little more info on the futuristic regime would’ve helped me get a better handle on things. Probably because I’m from the US, but I didn’t quite understand the nuance of the politics involved.
HOWEVER - all that to say I liked this book a lot and would recommend it. It’s a quick read!
The foundation is a bit shaky because while I was intrigued by Anna, and Henry for that matter, I wasn’t particularly invested in them. I was more curious than anything. I feel like maybe a bit more background on them or even just more insight into Anna’s psyche leading up to and after her trip abroad would’ve helped patch things together a bit more.
I also feel like a little more info on the futuristic regime would’ve helped me get a better handle on things. Probably because I’m from the US, but I didn’t quite understand the nuance of the politics involved.
HOWEVER - all that to say I liked this book a lot and would recommend it. It’s a quick read!
melbsreads's review against another edition
3.0
Trigger warnings: death, murder, psychological manipulation??, war, drug addiction.
Sooooooooo let's start with my big problem here: the blurb for the English edition totally bills this as a thriller, kind of a Scandinavian noir version of And Then There Were None. But that's not even close to what this book is.
Instead, it's a futuristic dystopian semi-thriller set in a Sweden that's now part of some kind of Communist-esque conglomerate of countries following a second Cold War. There's almost no world building, and I honestly made it the whole way through without understanding what the point was with it being set in Sweden. Like, you could easily have made it Russia or East Germany during the original Cold War and it would have worked just as effectively without the need to world build.
It's less than 300 pages, so there's barely any time to develop the characters and I wasn't keen on the writing either. So I went in with really high hopes for this one and came out the other side pretty disappointed. It certainly wasn't what it's being marketed as, that's for sure.
Sooooooooo let's start with my big problem here: the blurb for the English edition totally bills this as a thriller, kind of a Scandinavian noir version of And Then There Were None. But that's not even close to what this book is.
Instead, it's a futuristic dystopian semi-thriller set in a Sweden that's now part of some kind of Communist-esque conglomerate of countries following a second Cold War. There's almost no world building, and I honestly made it the whole way through without understanding what the point was with it being set in Sweden. Like, you could easily have made it Russia or East Germany during the original Cold War and it would have worked just as effectively without the need to world build.
It's less than 300 pages, so there's barely any time to develop the characters and I wasn't keen on the writing either. So I went in with really high hopes for this one and came out the other side pretty disappointed. It certainly wasn't what it's being marketed as, that's for sure.
ashleighbeanxo's review
4.0
Set in the year 2037, The Dying Game imagines a world when Europe is ruled by Russia in the Union of Friendship. Anna Francis is living and working in Sweden, when she is asked in participate in a recruitment exercise for a man known only as 'The Chairman'. Anna's role in the exercise is simple: she will go to a remote island along with a select number of candidates, then fake her own murder, and watch the other candidates to see how they react.
But quickly Anna realises all is not what it seems. Can she make it off the island alive?
This book had very heavy And Then There Were None vibes and I kinda loved it. Isolated mysteries are becoming one of my favourite things and I liked how this book played with that trope and the reader's expectations. It was certainly an interesting take on that trope.
Really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from this author!
But quickly Anna realises all is not what it seems. Can she make it off the island alive?
This book had very heavy And Then There Were None vibes and I kinda loved it. Isolated mysteries are becoming one of my favourite things and I liked how this book played with that trope and the reader's expectations. It was certainly an interesting take on that trope.
Really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from this author!
camaellia's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
hoodbookishside's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
humanmessofaperson's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75