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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
very interesting and unique premise. the only thing i took issue with was that the teenage characters were written unconvincingly... at times, they spoke/thought like they were 40 years old.
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway! A group of super-smart misfit high school kids gets in over their heads when they accept an invitation to a game controlled by an AI that has supposedly been loaded up with every religious text known to man. The stakes end up much higher than any of them could have predicted and the results are quite disturbing. While I read this I kept feeling like I needed to get far away from my electronic devices for a while! I was so creeped out! I thought the premise of this book was interesting and I would like to see more books or maybe even a TV series with other characters who play the game!
*Thanks to St. Martin's Press and MacMillan for an advance reader's edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Published January 7, 2020
The God Game can be described as Ready Player One meets American Horror Story. A group of nerdy teens calling themselves the Vindicators, led by best friends Charlie and Peter, discover a disturbingly realistic online game called The God Game, in which a bizarrely programmed AI (artificial intelligence) sends them messages reading: You are invited! Come inside and play with G.O.D. Bring your friends! It's fun! But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. Lose, you die!
Against their better judgement, Charlie and his friends begin to play The Game, and are suddenly caught up in a real life game of threats, violence, and life or death decisions.
Two criticisms:
The first is that Charlie and his fellow Vindicators were a bit too stereotypical characters--nerdy, weak, etc. Interestingly enough, the few fellow classmates (generally popular jocks, rich girls, and bullies) who were named were NOT completely one-dimensional characters and one, Mary, was given a captivating backstory.
My second criticism is that the author described a child with a disability (the younger brother of one of Charlie's friends) as a "Down's kid," which is outdated and dehumanizing wording, and made a comment about all "Down's people" being happy, sunny people--as a former special educator, I disagree with this. People with Down Syndrome are people like the rest of us, complicated and interesting, with varying degrees of happiness and sadness in their personalities.
As a middle aged woman not too interested in video games, I am definitely NOT the target audience for this book. I was unfamiliar with some of the language about coding and artificial intelligence. However, I thought it was a solid, fast-moving, and entertaining read, and the murky ending left...the possibility of a future Game...?! (which I definitely WON'T be playing!)
Published January 7, 2020
The God Game can be described as Ready Player One meets American Horror Story. A group of nerdy teens calling themselves the Vindicators, led by best friends Charlie and Peter, discover a disturbingly realistic online game called The God Game, in which a bizarrely programmed AI (artificial intelligence) sends them messages reading: You are invited! Come inside and play with G.O.D. Bring your friends! It's fun! But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. Lose, you die!
Against their better judgement, Charlie and his friends begin to play The Game, and are suddenly caught up in a real life game of threats, violence, and life or death decisions.
Two criticisms:
The first is that Charlie and his fellow Vindicators were a bit too stereotypical characters--nerdy, weak, etc. Interestingly enough, the few fellow classmates (generally popular jocks, rich girls, and bullies) who were named were NOT completely one-dimensional characters and one, Mary, was given a captivating backstory.
My second criticism is that the author described a child with a disability (the younger brother of one of Charlie's friends) as a "Down's kid," which is outdated and dehumanizing wording, and made a comment about all "Down's people" being happy, sunny people--as a former special educator, I disagree with this. People with Down Syndrome are people like the rest of us, complicated and interesting, with varying degrees of happiness and sadness in their personalities.
As a middle aged woman not too interested in video games, I am definitely NOT the target audience for this book. I was unfamiliar with some of the language about coding and artificial intelligence. However, I thought it was a solid, fast-moving, and entertaining read, and the murky ending left...the possibility of a future Game...?! (which I definitely WON'T be playing!)
You are invited!
COme inside and play with G.O.D.
Bring your friends!
It's fun!
But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. Lose, you die!
Umm...wow. I am not sure what to say. This is not a book I would typically read, but yet I could not put it down. The chapters were short enough to continue saying "one more. Just one more."
I am not sure if this is YA or adult, but is it set in high school, with morality dilemmas and philosophical problems, all tied in to computer programming and coding (which is not my thing and way over my head). It is for sure fantasy. It is a bit "Stranger Things" and "Ready Player One". I think this will become a movie at some point in time.
This was an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
COme inside and play with G.O.D.
Bring your friends!
It's fun!
But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. Lose, you die!
Umm...wow. I am not sure what to say. This is not a book I would typically read, but yet I could not put it down. The chapters were short enough to continue saying "one more. Just one more."
I am not sure if this is YA or adult, but is it set in high school, with morality dilemmas and philosophical problems, all tied in to computer programming and coding (which is not my thing and way over my head). It is for sure fantasy. It is a bit "Stranger Things" and "Ready Player One". I think this will become a movie at some point in time.
This was an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
NetGalley provided ARC.
Slow going but interesting premise. Liked most of until the ending.
Slow going but interesting premise. Liked most of until the ending.
High school senior Charlie, and his small circle of friends are known as The Vindicators. They are invited to play The G.O.D. game. A highly intelligent AI game on the web. What starts out as simple pranks eventually turns dark and dangerous, as The Vindicators' lives spin out of control. Although, what do you expect from a game that says "if you win, your dreams come true. Lose, and you die!"
This book hooks you and becomes an addictive read. The tension and suspense keeps mounting and the chapters are so short, you'll find yourself staying up deep into the night thinking, "just one more chapter." The author does a fantastic job of getting the reader to feel sympathy for some characters and dislike for the others. The technological descriptions can be confusing if you're not in the IT field, but that can easily be overlooked because of how good the story is.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and author Danny Tobey for gifting me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book hooks you and becomes an addictive read. The tension and suspense keeps mounting and the chapters are so short, you'll find yourself staying up deep into the night thinking, "just one more chapter." The author does a fantastic job of getting the reader to feel sympathy for some characters and dislike for the others. The technological descriptions can be confusing if you're not in the IT field, but that can easily be overlooked because of how good the story is.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and author Danny Tobey for gifting me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
THE GOD GAME is a coming-of-age SciFi mixed with light fantasy that reads kinda like a YA novel.
Basically, a group of nerdy teenagers in high school who are in computer club start playing this video game (on their phones and computers) with an artificial intelligence that claims to be God. It's a role-playing style game where there's mythical creatures and challenges and you can play as a team with your friends.
If you play well, you're rewarded with cash money, power over your friends and enemies and more control in the game. If you play poorly, you lose the ability to find your friends and are embarrassed. Oh, and it's said if you die in the God Game you die IRL too!
Who doesn't want money, power and mysterious gifts?!
I would definitely be playing this game if it existed...for about two weeks and then I'd get bored and delete it like I do with every other game
Basically, a group of nerdy teenagers in high school who are in computer club start playing this video game (on their phones and computers) with an artificial intelligence that claims to be God. It's a role-playing style game where there's mythical creatures and challenges and you can play as a team with your friends.
If you play well, you're rewarded with cash money, power over your friends and enemies and more control in the game. If you play poorly, you lose the ability to find your friends and are embarrassed. Oh, and it's said if you die in the God Game you die IRL too!
Who doesn't want money, power and mysterious gifts?!
I would definitely be playing this game if it existed...for about two weeks and then I'd get bored and delete it like I do with every other game
Overall, I enjoyed more of this book than I didn't, but I still didn't love it. Some chapters just felt like they were unnecessary.
The plot involving a computer game that thinks it is God was unique and raised a ton of questions surrounding morality and what is right and what is wrong.
The plot involving a computer game that thinks it is God was unique and raised a ton of questions surrounding morality and what is right and what is wrong.
The concept was very interesting and had a Black Mirror feel but it was just stretched too long in this book. It could have been 100 pages shorter and got the same point across and not felt like it was stuffed with filler content. I didn't have much attachment to the characters so their individual stories weren't all that captivating. I love the philosophical questioning of "Is there a god" being applied in real life scenarios, I think I would liked this more if that was a more prominent theme over the characters' stories.