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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I wish that I enjoyed this book more than I did, friends. Reading this book was a wild ride of emotions for me because I was interested in the story but also was disengaged from it. The book felt really long while reading it. By the time I was at 85%, I wanted to DNF the book but forced myself to finish since I was so close to the end. Part of me wanted to know. I wish I hadn't. This book has no discernable meaning or purpose; it is just chaotic neutral.
Which leads to my next complaint: I didn't really care about the characters by the end of the book. I was just kinda tired of them. But I liked them at first, before they bled into one another. I think that Charlie is meant to be the main character because he has the most page-time and a lot of the story centers on his grief. But honestly, there was so much going on that I wound up not caring about much of anything.
This is a messed up book. Everyone in the book winds up basically being terrible, and each of the Vindicators have their own personal traumas that lead them to play the game. The game itself is messed up, which you can expect from a tagline Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.™ Lose, you die!. But in addition to the plot itself being a messed up nightmare, there's a character in an abusive and toxic relationship, as well as one with abusive parents. There are things that happen in the book that go Too Far in my opinion. Please be sure to read my content warnings at the end of the review and make sure you are in the right headspace. (Thank you to Lauren for giving me a head's up - I would have been PISSED had I gone in blind.)
I got my degree in Religious Studies and one of my honors theses delved into the theory of religion. At first, I really enjoyed the religious allusions and how the AI presented itself after being fed all of World Religion. But there is this part near the end of the book where various philosophical theory is debated and explained in excruciating detail by the characters. It kind of read like That Guy in your undergrad philosophy class trying to sound smart with all the things he can recite. As a person who loves philosophy, it wasn't enjoyable to read - but this may be due to the fact that I was so done with the book by this point.
I don't feel that anything wrapped up and am pretty unsatisfied with the ending. If you are the kind of person who will want to learn the origins of the game and the nitty-gritty on how the tech works, you will be disappointed. There is no greater message or purpose to this other than veering into nihilism, only without the freedom associated with it. It also gets very heavy on philosophy and theory of religion in the last quarter of the book, which should have been my jam since that is what I studied in university.Also what the fuck happened with Charlie and his chessboard?! I forgot all about that until going through my notes for this review, but this "ability" was seemingly dropped into oblivion while the narrative focused more on the power-ups Peter was buying.
Ultimately, I found The God Game to be a promising premise but an uneven reading experience. While I absolutely adored the first 30% of the book, the longer the book went on the more I disliked it. Due to the number of characters and perspectives, I had a difficult time connecting to anyone or the story at all because I didn't care what happened to anyone. It is worth noting that my experience is an anomaly among some of my SFF reviewing friends; please check out Alana's and/or Paul's review before writing this one completely off. For the right reader, this will be an amazing read. I just wasn't that reader.
Content warnings: abusive romantic relationship, animal death, attempted suicide, blackmail, bullying, death, drug use, grief, incest (inferred), loss of a loved one, parental abuse (off-page but referenced a lot), suicidal thoughts, violence
Representation: lgbtqiap+ (Vanhi is lesbian), Indian rep (Vanhi), Asian rep (Alex)
eARC sent by St. Martin's Press in exchange for my honest review. This does not impact the content of my review or rating. Quotations are from an unfinished proof and subject to change upon final publication.
"'What you want, gentlemen and lady, is to play God! Turn social order upside down. Claim what should be yours. Go from duds to studs! And so I give you ... the God Game!'"This started as a very exciting read for me that slowly devolved into something that by the end I had come to almost hate. A big part of this is a Me Thing: I often struggle with mutiple POV narratives. The narrative style felt disjointed and jarring to read, the "perspectives" bled into each other and veered almost into an omniscient narrator but wasn't written to be that way. The perspective shifts happen randomly and many times within a chapter, noted solely with a double line break. There are so many characters, too. It's not only from the 5 Vindicators, either. Randomly perspectives from other characters are thrown in which to me detracted from the plot and muddied the water as to who we are supposed to care about.
Which leads to my next complaint: I didn't really care about the characters by the end of the book. I was just kinda tired of them. But I liked them at first, before they bled into one another. I think that Charlie is meant to be the main character because he has the most page-time and a lot of the story centers on his grief. But honestly, there was so much going on that I wound up not caring about much of anything.
This is a messed up book. Everyone in the book winds up basically being terrible, and each of the Vindicators have their own personal traumas that lead them to play the game. The game itself is messed up, which you can expect from a tagline Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.™ Lose, you die!. But in addition to the plot itself being a messed up nightmare, there's a character in an abusive and toxic relationship, as well as one with abusive parents. There are things that happen in the book that go Too Far in my opinion. Please be sure to read my content warnings at the end of the review and make sure you are in the right headspace. (Thank you to Lauren for giving me a head's up - I would have been PISSED had I gone in blind.)
I got my degree in Religious Studies and one of my honors theses delved into the theory of religion. At first, I really enjoyed the religious allusions and how the AI presented itself after being fed all of World Religion. But there is this part near the end of the book where various philosophical theory is debated and explained in excruciating detail by the characters. It kind of read like That Guy in your undergrad philosophy class trying to sound smart with all the things he can recite. As a person who loves philosophy, it wasn't enjoyable to read - but this may be due to the fact that I was so done with the book by this point.
I don't feel that anything wrapped up and am pretty unsatisfied with the ending. If you are the kind of person who will want to learn the origins of the game and the nitty-gritty on how the tech works, you will be disappointed. There is no greater message or purpose to this other than veering into nihilism, only without the freedom associated with it. It also gets very heavy on philosophy and theory of religion in the last quarter of the book, which should have been my jam since that is what I studied in university.
Ultimately, I found The God Game to be a promising premise but an uneven reading experience. While I absolutely adored the first 30% of the book, the longer the book went on the more I disliked it. Due to the number of characters and perspectives, I had a difficult time connecting to anyone or the story at all because I didn't care what happened to anyone. It is worth noting that my experience is an anomaly among some of my SFF reviewing friends; please check out Alana's and/or Paul's review before writing this one completely off. For the right reader, this will be an amazing read. I just wasn't that reader.
Content warnings: abusive romantic relationship, animal death, attempted suicide, blackmail, bullying, death, drug use, grief, incest (inferred), loss of a loved one, parental abuse (off-page but referenced a lot), suicidal thoughts, violence
Representation: lgbtqiap+ (Vanhi is lesbian), Indian rep (Vanhi), Asian rep (Alex)
eARC sent by St. Martin's Press in exchange for my honest review. This does not impact the content of my review or rating. Quotations are from an unfinished proof and subject to change upon final publication.
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Every so often a story falls into your lap that has all the elements you’re looking for, one that compels you to keep reading far into the night and causes you regret when you realize you will complete the book when you really want is for it to continue. “The God Game” by Danny Tobey is one of those stories.
The story begins with an innocence, introducing five friends who discover a game that seems like it might be fun even though there are veiled warnings about what may happen. It doesn’t take long for the group to discover that evil lurks just below the surface as they confront situations that push against their willpower and strain their personal ethical boundaries.
The story quickly becomes dark as every action causes a reaction. The author introduces numerous twists and turns, most of them unexpected. The pacing of the story is excellent, as once the game is introduced, the consequences introduce more challenges and it feels like nothing ever slows down as the book accelerates to the climax. I did mention that the story turns dark, and that includes the language. If you are bothered by vulgarities and f-bombs, as the characters become more entangled in the game the wording increases in coarseness. While an excess amount of vulgarities has bothered me in other books, I felt Mr. Tobey used them to ratchet up the tension and thus added to rather than detracted from the essence of the story.
The author has mixed a sci-fi horror story with a full dose of fear of artificial intelligence and what it could do, given the opportunity. The POV changes and allows the reader to experience the characters’ personal debates as they each question the ethics and morality of the choices presented by the game. In this era of AI getting smarter all the time, it raises the specter of something like “The God Game” actually happening. Highly recommended. Five stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance electronic copy of this book.
The story begins with an innocence, introducing five friends who discover a game that seems like it might be fun even though there are veiled warnings about what may happen. It doesn’t take long for the group to discover that evil lurks just below the surface as they confront situations that push against their willpower and strain their personal ethical boundaries.
The story quickly becomes dark as every action causes a reaction. The author introduces numerous twists and turns, most of them unexpected. The pacing of the story is excellent, as once the game is introduced, the consequences introduce more challenges and it feels like nothing ever slows down as the book accelerates to the climax. I did mention that the story turns dark, and that includes the language. If you are bothered by vulgarities and f-bombs, as the characters become more entangled in the game the wording increases in coarseness. While an excess amount of vulgarities has bothered me in other books, I felt Mr. Tobey used them to ratchet up the tension and thus added to rather than detracted from the essence of the story.
The author has mixed a sci-fi horror story with a full dose of fear of artificial intelligence and what it could do, given the opportunity. The POV changes and allows the reader to experience the characters’ personal debates as they each question the ethics and morality of the choices presented by the game. In this era of AI getting smarter all the time, it raises the specter of something like “The God Game” actually happening. Highly recommended. Five stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance electronic copy of this book.
I'm not going to rate this book because I'm an adult and after a few chapters turned out the characters were just too young for me.
I'll pass it on to a teenager and let them read it.
I'll pass it on to a teenager and let them read it.
The God Game was created by feeding all the moral philosophy and sacred texts of the world into an artificial intelligence chatbot. People can only join by invitation, its exclusivity adding to its allure. Imagine your own reaction to this invitiation.
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!
The Vindicators are a group of high school students, brilliant but estranged from the social center of gravity, always on the outside and wanting to be part of the main. Joining the game, they enjoy getting some of their own back against the bullies who make their lives miserable, but as the Augmented Reality that turns their school and community into the game arena becomes more demanding and the moral quandaries more difficult and dismaying, some of them think about quitting the game. However, no one can just quit.
I loved The God Game. What would the aggregatore morality of all beliefs systems look like? What kind of morality would it inhabit? More than one person has argued that God is a sociopath. I think some might think that is so after trying to understand the moral values of the G.O.D. game. I was puzzled at times by the Game’s values, but when we learn the process of moral decision-making it makes sense. Some players are playing harder than others and the role people play in the game is clear and fair. The “surprises” have a solid foundation so there is nothing unfair about the resolution and game play.
The God Game is fast-moving and the kind of book that will keep people reading late into the night. I passed my ARC to my best friend to read on Sunday afternoon and she had finished it by Monday morning. I don’t think she was happy about that, but she said she could not stop reading. That was my experiene, too.
The God Game will be released on January 7th. I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley and Shelf Awareness.
The God Game at St. Martin’s Press | Macmillan
Danny Tobey on Facebook
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/12/11/9781250306159/
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!
The Vindicators are a group of high school students, brilliant but estranged from the social center of gravity, always on the outside and wanting to be part of the main. Joining the game, they enjoy getting some of their own back against the bullies who make their lives miserable, but as the Augmented Reality that turns their school and community into the game arena becomes more demanding and the moral quandaries more difficult and dismaying, some of them think about quitting the game. However, no one can just quit.
I loved The God Game. What would the aggregatore morality of all beliefs systems look like? What kind of morality would it inhabit? More than one person has argued that God is a sociopath. I think some might think that is so after trying to understand the moral values of the G.O.D. game. I was puzzled at times by the Game’s values, but when we learn the process of moral decision-making it makes sense. Some players are playing harder than others and the role people play in the game is clear and fair. The “surprises” have a solid foundation so there is nothing unfair about the resolution and game play.
The God Game is fast-moving and the kind of book that will keep people reading late into the night. I passed my ARC to my best friend to read on Sunday afternoon and she had finished it by Monday morning. I don’t think she was happy about that, but she said she could not stop reading. That was my experiene, too.
The God Game will be released on January 7th. I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley and Shelf Awareness.
The God Game at St. Martin’s Press | Macmillan
Danny Tobey on Facebook
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/12/11/9781250306159/
Instantly suspicious of a book that announces its set of main characters' ethnicity in the first ten pages, for no narrative reason, it was drearily predictable that the chaste lesbian character has unrequited crushes, and is nevertheless hospitalised and excluded from the crescendo, while the only gay male character is closeted and his shame is a plot point. Get in the bin, Danny.
Liked this book a lot. Starts off like a young adult novel with the primary characters in high school. Quickly evolves into a treatise on psychological manipulation via electronic communications. Fascinating topic.
REVIEW: 3 stars
The God Game is a very dark thriller that focuses on an augmented reality game and how the virtual choices we make can affect reality. "Win and all your dreams come true. Lose, you die!" Truthfully, this game has a lot of issues. There aren't many people who would truly play this game. It isn't fun , and it has real life consequences. People don't play games to change their real lives they play to escape, and that I think is one of the fundamental flaws for me. The characters weren't fully rounded and the only one I connected with was Alex. The plot was ok I wanted to see how it would end, and the imagery was super cool it reminded me of DND, but the kind of game they played really killed the story for me. It wasn't for me, but I do think it will have an audience. If you really enjoy auguemented reality, life and death choices, and ready player one pick this up! Thank you St. Martin's Press for sending this to me in exchange for an honest review. This book is available January 7th.
The God Game is a very dark thriller that focuses on an augmented reality game and how the virtual choices we make can affect reality. "Win and all your dreams come true. Lose, you die!" Truthfully, this game has a lot of issues. There aren't many people who would truly play this game. It isn't fun , and it has real life consequences. People don't play games to change their real lives they play to escape, and that I think is one of the fundamental flaws for me. The characters weren't fully rounded and the only one I connected with was Alex. The plot was ok I wanted to see how it would end, and the imagery was super cool it reminded me of DND, but the kind of game they played really killed the story for me. It wasn't for me, but I do think it will have an audience. If you really enjoy auguemented reality, life and death choices, and ready player one pick this up! Thank you St. Martin's Press for sending this to me in exchange for an honest review. This book is available January 7th.
I was offered an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A few months ago this book was popping up constantly on a bookish Facebook group I'm on, and everyone was raving about it so when I saw it on NetGalley I snapped it up. I ended up wildly disappointed. I didn't like the characters, I found it really hard imagining what was happening, and the code talk made me want to fall asleep.
That being said there was something that compelled me to keep reading on to the end, and I wanted to know how it all ended. I also really grew to like Alex in the end, although I still strongly disliked the other characters.
A few months ago this book was popping up constantly on a bookish Facebook group I'm on, and everyone was raving about it so when I saw it on NetGalley I snapped it up. I ended up wildly disappointed. I didn't like the characters, I found it really hard imagining what was happening, and the code talk made me want to fall asleep.
That being said there was something that compelled me to keep reading on to the end, and I wanted to know how it all ended. I also really grew to like Alex in the end, although I still strongly disliked the other characters.
Charlie and his friends, The Vindicators, are launched into a virtual game where the stakes are high and the line between right and wrong blur into the morally grey.
So full disclosure I am a huge “Black Mirror” fan. This book gave me so many Black Mirror vibes. It felt like one of those sci fi, never could happen scenarios... or could it? Maybe I need to dust off the tinfoil hat cause this book gave me chills. The constant life or death decisions being made by people who have to raise their hands to use the bathroom made me so nervous.
“
So full disclosure I am a huge “Black Mirror” fan. This book gave me so many Black Mirror vibes. It felt like one of those sci fi, never could happen scenarios... or could it? Maybe I need to dust off the tinfoil hat cause this book gave me chills. The constant life or death decisions being made by people who have to raise their hands to use the bathroom made me so nervous.
“