A review by leahbrarian
Dangerous Play by Emma Kress

3.0

I thought that there were definite strong elements to this title, a readalike to Exit Pursued by Bear and We Are the Wildcats, particularly the main character, Zoe, who is fierce and flawed and whose perspective was extremely readable. The portrayal of her relationships with her parents, and her father’s disability were also really strongly portrayed, and I enjoyed the inclusion of her mother’s friend group, the Rebels. However, the large cast wasn’t particularly differentiated and even characters who were intended to stand out didn’t seem to have much personality. The pacing and transitions also seemed off, as if the story was too strict in following an outline and moving from one event to another, and the tone seemed to shift to be extremely dark without much warning or follow-through. Also, other readers might enjoy the game play-by-play, but I ended up skimming over quite a bit.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.