Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Single Player

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Single Player by Tara Tai

8 reviews

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I listened to the audiobook on Libro FM and thought this was a lovely, cozy romcom that spoke to my experience being an Asian woman in a cishet white male-dominated space, albeit a different industry. I am not a gamer (well, I want to stop saying this actually, because Tara Tai said anyone who plays any games is a gamer), but this was so fun and I feel like it paid homage to gamers, video games, and marginalized folks in these spaces really well. It actually really made me want to play more games!!

I loved the grumpy x sunshine dynamic between Cat (she/her) and Andi (she/they) as they developed a romance for the game Compass Hollow (and obviously one offline between themselves lol). The corny puns that used gamer-themed language felt sweet and goofy, and though I'm sure others will hate them or cringe, I thought they were fun! For example, "it was like mana was being regenerated," or something along those lines lol. I recognize it sounds cheesy, but you're reading a romcom. Accept the cheese!!!!

I related to Cat's awkwardness and treating every interaction like a video game dialogue option hahah. She was so hopeless, yet adorable and learned to speak up for herself and advocate for romance in the video game industry. Andi's commitment and reverence of video games prevented her from recognizing the value of adding romance to Compass Hollow's story and of Cat too. However, I appreciated their arc of getting out of their own way, and expanding their perspective.

The villainous characters in this story were as awful as you'd imagine privileged dudes in a video game company to be, but the ending was really satisfying heheheheehehe.

I think Tara Tai's extensive exposition (which was more in the beginning of the book) will lessen as they write more, but I'm really looking forward to what she writes next!

steam scale: 2 out of 5

Content Warnings

christinefitz's review

Go to review page

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Loved this one; light spice, lots of hate-yearning, very slow burn, workplace romance. Great enby she/they rep, I could relate to their dysphoria so much at points. Gaming references galore, and some TTG references too.

Content Warnings

giasbookhaven's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Single Player, drives readers into the lives of gaming industry characters as the deadline for their release quickly approaches. Cat, a shy, self-conscious and introverted romance writer is brought on as an intern to carve out a romance subplot for a game in development. Head of the team and lead writer is Andi, a nonbinary fiercely driven and serious person whom is actually very much against the idea of bringing romance into the game.

Cat and Andi are polar opposites and while I think enimes to lovers fit this pair, I couldn't help but think of them as a grumpy/sunshine pairing.

Cat and Andi's friendship starts off on the edge of a sharp cliff over their disagreement over romance in the game. But as we get to know them both, readers will realize that they have more in common than they know.

Cat's people pleasing and talkive personality masks her self-doubt and fear of being alone without ever having found someone to love who loves her back. She navigates her life going through ranked and situational responses and scenarios that players usually encounter in video games😆( Now I do something like this but not in like game form. What does that say about me?)

And Andi is focused on the bigger picture of things. Only pausing their focus to sleep and play DnD on the weekends. Having been burned badly by love and the industry in the past, their straight(not literally🙃)and narrow approach to life hides the pain, hurt and panic they carry.

There's something to be said about a story that delivers a slow-burn romance but also character developments that happen before

the main couple actually become official

In my opinion, Single Player will have all millennial game lovers praising and cheering this book. The game and character nods blended into the story always had be smiling.

And I loved all the characters in this bool but Cat and her one-off catch phases topped it off for me.

I don't know if there's a TW option for this but there's a lot of anti-nonbinary talk and anti DEI in this book. Even though I am not in the gaming industry, I could see a lot of the toxicity of the CiS white characters as being based off of reality.

Content Warnings

nerdybookqueen's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I received a copy of this audiobook from netgalley in exchange for feedback

Oh my goodness I love this book a ton!

Cat is so much fun and man it feels like I had my personality dragged into a character. She starting writing romance for an up and coming choice based game, encountering a game dev she idolizes...who hates her after their brief meeting, and because they don't want romance in their tale. Meanwhile, she starts dating Sally, who... isn't the best match. But they launch into a fake dating scheme to make Sally's ex jealous and please Cat's parents.

Meanwhile, the other dev, Andi, is diving into her own game after being used by an old company for "yay diversity" points while dealing with a creepy boss, which led to the world of the internet tearing them to shreds.

These two fall in love while trying to hash out the romance plot line for the game, get back at shitty dude-bros, and dealing with corporate shenanigans to come out on top. I loved all the little twists and turns to the story, watch Cat and Andi grow both together and on their own, and of course, the sheer amount of nerdy references throughout the book (I saw that Undertale ref!)

If you want a fun and nerdy queer romance, this is a great one, and I know its only 22 days into the year but it might already be on my list for favorite book.

Content Warnings

jennireadsmaybe's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I started and finished Single Player in one day. Between the hate to love tension between Cat and Andi and Natalie Naudus' narration, it was impossible for me to put it down! The tension between these two was off the charts from their disastrous meet cute to their first kiss. I actually got why they didn't like each other, and overcoming that dislike fit their separate character development. This is super slow burn!!! But the wait was so worth it for me. I just enjoyed these two together so much. Also, and it might be the bare minimum, I loved that Cat was constantly going to bat for Andi when they didn't like each other. Cat didn't take any of the transphobic, sexist, rhetoric from the higher ups.

I was really wrapped up in the gaming culture setting of this book. I've always been a casual gamer, but this made me want to play so many more games. I loved all the commentary on the gaming industry: how it doesn't prioritize diverse voices and how much the limited representation affects what different communities buy and play. I wish the game they were writing for was real so I could romance all the different characters. The game is obviously a huge part of the plot, but it never felt like it bogged down the romance (I would argue it moved it along because of their arguments).

Over all, Single Player is a stunning debut from Tara Tai (she/they)! I will definitely pick up anything they write from here on out. Pick this up if you like hate to love, work place romance, queer and trans representation (lesbian x enby), fat representation, navigating friends and family in your twenties, and video games of course!!!

This is me begging for a group of queer friends who will teach me how to play dnd!!!

Content Warnings

melissa_monte's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

It’s the slow burn of slow burns but I really enjoyed this read. Delightful dialogue and descriptions (bonus points for including the word “shmoopy” twice). It’s a heartfelt story romcom that took me on several emotional turns. As a non-gamer I felt still completely immersed in this story and never once felt out of place. Natalie Naudus is the perfect narration choice for this story. And it’s got fat rep (and fat Asian American rep which is rarely seen) and non-binary rep too.
Thanks Netgalley for the copy!!

Content Warnings

tehmichi's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

5.0

I genuinely loved this so much more than I initially thought I was going to.

Cringe moments aside, there was more about this to love than I expected. It's a **very** slow burn, with a lot of conflicting pining, 'will they/won't they' along the pages. It grabbed me early, kept me going and then at around 66% it grabbed my by the neck and kept me invested until I needed to finish it.

This was one of those instances were the interconnected plots paid off. It came off messy but in the way that I felt it emulated the chaos of real life and how small the world feels at times in communities like this. There was so much alive in this world, that I really didn't mind the slow burn. There was character development that both Cat and Andi needed to go through before they could get together. I really appreciated this different approach to their character arcs instead of giving us a third act breakup in the last 15 pages. Add a sprinkle of drama, because the gaming community totally lacks in that department(/s), and it gave me an ending that felt perfect for Cat and Andi.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

kalira's review

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

(I received a free ebook ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

So I read this book in one shot, and then I spent a little while sitting with it going I am shrieking internally and coherent review whomst??? I have too many feelings!

Just FYI.

I adore Andi and her . . . awkward or locking up moments were searingly relatable - so were her brief panic moments, and her wait fuck just a second too late times. (Note I mostly used she/her for Andi (stated enby in the book) in this review; she/they are used in the book, she a bit more often.) Cat was delightful as well, though at times (especially early on) her determination to fake her personality, and thus simplifying it into game choices, made me want to shake her. The game/dialogue choices became charming as she unfurled a little more from that level and type, however! And I was more frustrated with her determination to hide everything about herself/present the Right Options To Progress The Narrative, than the device used. (I loved Andi seeing through that - even if they didn't know what they were seeing, exactly. Also? Love how Cat can't help but be herself around Andi, failing miserably when she did try, briefly, to put up that Proper Mask sort of interaction - which put Andi off/unsettled them even before Cat failed out of it.)

(Also, while I am a huge geek and perennially online person, I'm not necessarily that kind of video game geek; there are plenty of references, some familiar to me and some not, but while they add to the narrative for sure, nothing vital is missing if you miss a reference, either.)

They had good friends! (Friends, exes, fake girlfriend, friends with benefits. . .) Good as characters and good for them. (Parents maybe a little less so; good characters, perhaps, but - long distance as they were - a bit less than great for their kids.) I appreciated that (for Cat, for Andi, and for their friends) the characters' reactions when misunderstandings, lies, and stupid decisions (when hey came out) were largely at a reasonable level. Not brushing it off but not blowing into huge misunderstandings and separation, either. Sometimes people let awkward interactions or weird messages go without asking or getting upset, because, you know, things happen. Sometimes people blew up overthinking about simple things that didn't need that much focus or were very much not meant in that way, because, you know, sometimes it's like that.

The antagonist(s) were hackle-prickling and unfortunately a familiar Type. Seeing them get

at least a little comeuppance? Delicious. The biggest jackass sailing off pretty much scot-free? *sighs* Unfortunately - as Andi notes - hardly surprising.

Not to spoil anything, but. . . Their first kiss was cute - and then awkward, oop - their second was lovely - and their first time together was great! (Very nice especially after all the tasty leadup, emotionally and with physical attraction; I'm just clinging to her because I don't want to fall off the back of her motorcycle and die indeed, Cat, I'm sure. And nothing to do with her collarbones, or cheekbones, or forearms. >.> Not to mention she's so small and cute she would fit right under my chin and she always- Not that there's anything but irritation there, either, Andi. Totally. Nothing about too-bright smiles for example.)

It was so sweet and so great to see them growing to like one another - and stand up for one another, in different ways - but especially to see them understand one another, first without any underlying knowledge and feeling out more intuitive grasps - and not sure they wanted to go there; after all, they don't like each other - to working to help each other and sharing important things and broadening those points of understanding. Every time I braced myself for a misunderstanding that would Blow Up . . . it failed to materialise - not in a foreshadowed poorly way, in a thank goodness, they reacted reasonably! way. Anxieties and all!

Cat knowing where to find Andi when she

might have felt the need to disappear and drop off the grid? (Or at least 'where' as a category and how to find her.)

Absolutely fabulous. Andi's reaction to her being there? Awesome!

The alternating POVs (not strictly alternating; sometimes we stuck with one or the other for two in a row, where it was needed) were used to excellent effect, and allowed us to see both their perspectives on their developing relationship (and the things hidden from one another), as well as the moments of understanding, appreciation, dawning with full background to appreciate it ourselves.

By the time I got to the ending I was definitely fidgeting with anticipation and delight, and . . . well, as said - I have a lot of feelings. They're still vibrating in my chest now as I round out this review.

I also have to tack on - contemporary/mundane settings are not generally my favourite, and boss/employee romances can be fun (fiction) or they can easily squick me. This one was awesome - and the boss/employee dynamic is far less than the description might make one assume. (Andi didn't hire Cat, doesn't have the power to fire her, and while Andi assigns her work, is not really a typical office boss in dynamic or time together.)

Content Warnings

More...