7 reviews for:

The Girlfriend Game

Nick Antosca

3.85 AVERAGE

faustian_bargain's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

persypie's review

5.0

---

The magnifying glass that Antosca holds up to humanity is startling in its clarity. This collection of short stories gave me chills, and not all of them from terror. It was chilling to look at our society and humanity’s perceptions of ourselves and others—which Antosca captured beautifully.

I think I have a new favorite author, folks.

zgonzale's review

5.0

---

I have been a fan of Nick Antosca's clever, darkly whimsical writing since watching Teen Wolf (in high school) & Hannibal (in college). In The Girlfriend Game, Antosca fuses frank emotional displays with startling & disturbing settings. The result is a series of fun, fresh, and scary short stories that address love, family, sexuality, and (most prominently) the elusive and illusory nature of morality. My favorites included "Soon You Will Be Gone and Possibly Eaten," "Carnal Quartet," and "Migrations."

tricapra's review

3.0

---

A mixed bag for me, honestly. Some definite misses, enjoyed the title story though.

rogergeis's review

4.5

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

5elementknitr's review

4.0

---

The writing is delightfully dark and disturbing.

glorifiedloveletters's review against another edition

4.0

---

When the stories “Predator Bait” and “Soon You Will Be Gone and Possibly Eaten” distracted me from my current Netflix obsessions, I knew I was once again in good literary hands. Yes, yes, the old guard intellectual hope is that a love of books trumps television, but television has writers too. Nick Antosca is one of them (Teen Wolf, Last Resort). Perhaps it is that innate sense of urgency, the need to fit all the necessary information into a smaller 22 or 48 minute package, that makes The Girlfriend Game so enjoyable. These aren’t happy tales, but the confusion, loneliness, and yearning for change feels so authentic to each individual world.

(My full review appears at Persephone Magazine.)