Hello hello, and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m sharing my review of The Game, a YA thriller where you can’t trust anyone.
Synopsis
If you loved American Horror Story 1984, you’ll die for this paperback original thriller mashup of Agatha Christie’s The A.B.C. Murders and Riverdale in which a game turns deadly with a killer who picks his victims one by one, letter by letter.
Every year the senior class at Lincoln High plays Assassin. Lia Prince has been planning her strategy for years and she’s psyched that not only does she finally get to play, she’s on a team with Devon Diaz. But this year, the game isn’t any fun–it’s real. Abby Ascher, Ben Barnard, and Cassidy Clarke have all turned up . . . dead. Can Lia stop the ABC killer before he reaches D?
Review
Rating: 3 stars
This was an easy to read, speedy young adult thriller, based around a game called Assassin. Played with water pistols and traps aplenty, the students are grouped into small teams and given another student to ‘kill’. Lia has been planning for years for this; it’s her moment to shine. But someone is taking the idea of killing others a little too literally…
I always love it when a book catches me by surprise a bit, and the idea of a game like this being at the heart of the thriller isn’t something I’ve read much of before. It really did keep you guessing as to who could be responsible for all the nasty goings on, especially as the evidence against Lia keeps building up. We might know she’s innocent, but she’s certainly taking things seriously.
There was a clear divide between the grown ups and the teenagers in this book, in regards to both parents and teachers. All the adults were very keen to shut things down as the bodies start piling up, but this just encourages the secrecy that the seniors are operating in. School might be the only safe zone, but that doesn’t mean it’s a safe place at the heart of things.
One of the things that knocked the rating down for me was actually the lack of victims. That might sound crass, but the build up suggested that people were going to be dropping left, right and center, when really there were only a couple of deaths. When I go into a thriller or slasher, I want to be outnumbered vastly! That said, this book was on the shorter side of average, so I do understand logically. It just felt like there was a lot of filler at times.
Lia was a singularly-focused character, and at times this made her hard to relate to. As above, when the teachers and parents started pushing for the game to be shut down, Lia was part of the strongest voices advocating for it to continue, which then led to her being seen in a suspicious light. And more than that, it just didn’t feel realistic. I understand needing passionate characters, and having passionate human beings even – I’m one of them! – but this was a level of obsessive that really would have only made sense for the killer.
All of that said, a book is rarely perfect, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with reading a book that you find flaws in but still enjoy. So while this wouldn’t go to the top of my list for thriller recommendations, that doesn’t mean it’s not on the list at all. There were twists and turns, emotional tugs on heart strings, and drama throughout – all the good things. Oh, and bodies. Obviously.
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And On She Reads 