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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book from the start. The characters are deep and diverse. The world is woven together so thoughtfully. I already want to read this book again to dive deeper into the plot and the theological web that it weaves. I love the way it portrays a multitude of characters, exposing the imperfections in each. It devolves into chaos as the AI struggles pull the intangibility of religion into the real world.
It is tense and dark and hopeful and beautiful.
It is tense and dark and hopeful and beautiful.
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book started out a little slow, establishing the dynamics of this complicated group of high school misfits (aka a group that ticks all the boxes for potential high school kid problems: religious parents, abusive parents, dead parents, aloof parents, drug dealing, being bullied, being smart but not smart enough, being in love with the popular girl, being gay... The list goes on). Then from about 20%-60% the plot took off, taking on the mantle of a modern Ready Player One with thriller tendencies and few-to-no obscure nerdy references.
But then everything just got very... melodramatic. There's a crazy car chase scene where they're driving at 100mph and swerving around while the car is being hacked and they can't see anything. The side characters were caricatures (the broken girl who becomes HBIC, the nice popular girl who's in over her head, the football player who's a bully and doesn't see anything wrong with it, the other football player who's a bully to hide/reject his own gayness, etc) and as they took on some of the narrative, distracted from the more complex and interesting main three: Charlie, Vanhi, and Kenny.
Alex and Peter I struggled with. Peter was pretty much a caricature from the start and his role in the ending just added to the melodrama, thus souring my view of the story. Alex... Alex was more complicated. His feelings of inadequacy and his hard-and-fast desire to kill himself (TW: attempted suicide) was a disproportionately HUGE part of the story. As someone who went to a high school with a frighteningly high suicide rate, that was really hard to read about over and over and over again.
Then there's the game itself. What started out as an interesting theological experiment (essentially) turned into this mess of conflicting religious dogma as the whole plot devolves into chaos. I grew tired of the game's contrived machinations early on but they only got more convoluted as time passed.
I will say: this one is absolutely a binge-worthy read. If I'd had the time, I probably would have read it very quickly.
*Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy! All opinions are my own
But then everything just got very... melodramatic. There's a crazy car chase scene where they're driving at 100mph and swerving around while the car is being hacked and they can't see anything. The side characters were caricatures (the broken girl who becomes HBIC, the nice popular girl who's in over her head, the football player who's a bully and doesn't see anything wrong with it, the other football player who's a bully to hide/reject his own gayness, etc) and as they took on some of the narrative, distracted from the more complex and interesting main three: Charlie, Vanhi, and Kenny.
Alex and Peter I struggled with. Peter was pretty much a caricature from the start and his role in the ending just added to the melodrama, thus souring my view of the story. Alex... Alex was more complicated. His feelings of inadequacy and his hard-and-fast desire to kill himself (TW: attempted suicide) was a disproportionately HUGE part of the story. As someone who went to a high school with a frighteningly high suicide rate, that was really hard to read about over and over and over again.
Then there's the game itself. What started out as an interesting theological experiment (essentially) turned into this mess of conflicting religious dogma as the whole plot devolves into chaos. I grew tired of the game's contrived machinations early on but they only got more convoluted as time passed.
I will say: this one is absolutely a binge-worthy read. If I'd had the time, I probably would have read it very quickly.
*Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy! All opinions are my own
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fun idea…and by fun I mean inTENSE. You can tell that the author did their research. In my book club we have a therapist and a hacker— both said that the descriptions of the trauma and actions due to mental stress and/or illness and the technical details of the game were well researched and accurate. In fact the thing that really bugged me about the book (and was the least believable and accurate) was the concentrated level of…crap. *Every* character had Trauma with a capital T and the drama (especially for all of the crappy parents) was dialed to 11 which just got ridiculous.
That, plus the dumb teenager choices throughout (cause…that’s what the whole book is) made it seem like one of those teenager slasher flicks. But, like those movies, once you accept the premise and ridiculous level of drama, it can be somewhat enjoyable.
That, plus the dumb teenager choices throughout (cause…that’s what the whole book is) made it seem like one of those teenager slasher flicks. But, like those movies, once you accept the premise and ridiculous level of drama, it can be somewhat enjoyable.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In retrospect, The God Game felt a little YA for my usual genre of choice, but I enjoyed the ways in which the spontaneity and chaos of the AI kept me on edge.
Really compelling story that kept going in unforseen directions. Great incorporation of coding/game play with life.
It's based in a high school so may not be as appealing to older readers who prefer to identify with their character group/age
It's based in a high school so may not be as appealing to older readers who prefer to identify with their character group/age
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was brutally brilliant and quite a mindfuck. I'd highly encourage its reading.