hollyk 's review for:

The Traitor's Game by Jennifer A. Nielsen

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

I think this is more of a middle-of-the-road book. It's not unique by any means and is definitely clunky in some areas, but it's not the worst book I've ever read. There was an attempt at subverting common tropes, but failed to do so by making the trope true in the end (I'm being intentionally vague, but just when you think there's something interesting/new-ish being done it reverts back to classic ya fantasy). I also found the characterization of Trina very inconsistent. The middle chunk is the best part, with the beginning probably being the worst (I almost dnfed it but I kept to my fifty page rule). I know this seems like an overwhelmingly negative review, but with such an underwhelming book, the flaws are more visible.