For fans of The Hunger Games and Divergentcomes a story like no other…A toxic river divides nineteen-year-old Violet Bates’s world by gender.Women rule the East. Men rule the West.Welcome to the lands of Matrus and Patrus.Ever since the disappearance of her beloved younger brother, Violet’s life has been consumed by an anger she struggles to control. Already a prisoner to her own nation, now … struggles to control. Already a prisoner to her own nation, now she has been sentenced to death for her crimes.
But one decision could save her life.
Everything about the patriarchy is dangerous for a rebellious girl like Violet. She cannot break the rules if she wishes to stay alive.
But abiding by rules has never been Violet’s strong suit.
When she’s thrust into more danger than she could have ever predicted, Violet is forced to sacrifice many things in the forbidden kingdom … including forbidden love.
In a world divided by gender, only the strongest survive…
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What Early Readers are Saying:
READ THIS ASAP! You will not regret it.”
“You can never predict where Bella Forrest will take a story!”
“Intrigue, danger and mystery at every corner.”
“Once I started reading, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop. My heart raced along with Violet’s […] The twists and turns so far in this book have left my mouth hanging agape.”
“Intrigue, espionage, and a strong, smart female at the center of it all. Had me sucked in from the get go.”
This will be a ride you won’t want to miss.
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The Gender Game is about two societies, existing side by side, separated by a river. One side is a patriarchy in which women have few rights and essentially belong to men and the other side is a matriarchy in which men hold limited rights and aggressive males are removed from society. The story follows Violet, a convict from Matrus, who’s sent over the river on a mission to retrieve an item stolen by Patrus. The Gender Game has quite a few twists (including one humongous one at the end), is very easy to read (I read it in a day), has engaging characters you want to get to know, and a romance you’ll be interested to see grow. The book is the first in what is currently a five book series. While I would have liked to see more focus on the repercussions of matriarchy and patriarchy on politics, sociology, psychology etc., I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and have started the second which is equally as engaging.
Note: The dystopian aspect of the novel comes from the political systems that limit people’s rights. The two societies are quite modern as far as amenities, so if you prefer dystopian novels with loads of physical hardship where your protagonists have to struggle against their environment, The Gender Games may not be for you.
Verdict: An enjoyable dystopian novel and a great opening to a new series.
Great world building! It has just enough action, love and suspense.
This book series is not in the same category as “Hunger Games” or “Divergent”. The initial premise is unlikely, the plot is predictable, the characters are underdeveloped and shallow. I read the first two books in the series with high hopes, and will not be wasting any more time or money on the rest.
My first re-read of the year. I think I loved this book more the 2nd time around. There was action and adventure. Spies and double crosses Friendships and maybe a little something more. I found myself rooting for Violet throughout the whole book. Her strength and resolve to do the right thing only grows as we read the book. Family is something so important to her that she is willing to do just about anything. I loved the intensity and depth of character that Ms. Forest created in Viggo. And I was definitely sold with the cage fighting!
I am looking forward to re-reading the rest of the series!
The Gender Game is a full and colorful world where two worlds, one run by men and one run by women, walk a fine line between trading goods and keeping their people and ways of life separate.
Violet is stuck between these worlds. A troubled teen, she is used as a pawn by her matriarch government. In the process, she learns a lot about the other country and herself. There is lots of adventure and twists, and I’m already on to reading book 2!
I think this book definitely captured my attention to the very end wondering if violet and Lee’s plan would be carried out .
I also wonder what the true purpose of the egg is in the end. This book has me turning pages trying to solve the mystery. Great read for an introduction into dystopia books.
3.5 stars
I’m going to continue with the second book because I am curious to see where it’s going. Overall, this book held my attention and made me want to keep reading, and while the idea is unique and intriguing, there was just something about either the story or the characters that had me feeling like something was missing. For one, I found myself skimming in the middle because all the sparring scenes between Viggo and Violet got old really fast. I wasn’t quite sure why all the women took self defense classes since no one on their side of the river would dare defy them, and it was confusing and never really explained as to why Violet had family on the other side of the river or how she contacted them. The world building, while interesting, was lacking in that aspect. It gave some overall explanations of how these two nations interacted and why they existed, but didn’t get into the meat of things, and when all was said and done, I was left with a lot of questions concerning this world.
Fantastic first book in an amazing series! It was a little bit slow to start as you are getting to know the main character and the story gets stet up, however once you get to know Violet it will be hard to put this series down. I am reading it a second time.
Exactly the thriller I was looking for, Forrest never fails to amaze. Can’t wait to read next in series.
I absolutely LOVE this book and the rest of the series. It gets a lot of hate for being so similar to THG and Divergent but honestly, who cares? It doesn’t follow the same exact storyline and either way it’s still totally amazing
This one really surprised me! I feel like I’ve tried it a few times and I’m not sure why I stopped reading it then, because it’s pretty fast-paced from beginning to end. It’s a creative take on the dystopian genre in the sense that the male/female division is one I haven’t seen done elsewhere. I also appreciate that it was equal opportunity: on one side of the dividing river is Matrus, in which women are in charge and men are subjugated to their rule, and on the other is Patrus, in which the opposite is true. Violet finds herself caught in between in a sense, because while she is Matrian, she has a little brother whom she loves, and she knows he’d have no kind of life in Matrus. She tries to smuggle him to Patrus when he’s eight, but he gets captured and taken from her. She, in turn, finds herself a criminal delinquent as a teen, with a penchant for violence and an anger problem. But when she accidentally kills her second a female attacker–a crime which all but requires her death–she is offered an intriguing proposition: die for her crimes now, or cross over to Patrus, marry their contact, and with him attempt to steal a mysterious egg which Patrus originally stole from Matrus. The mission will mean almost certain death… but if she succeeds, Matrus promises her a reunion with her brother. It’s a no-brainer, of course, and Violet accepts.
I expected that Lee, her Patrian “husband,” would become the love interest–but I should have known from his name alone that he wouldn’t be. (No YA male lead would have a boring name like “Lee Bertrand.”) Enter Viggo Croft: handsome, disgruntled against Patrian society for his own reasons, and earning his living as a warden (essentially a police officer) by day and a prize fighter by night. He’s to be Lee and Violet’s scapegoat: they have to pin the theft of the egg on someone, and he’s the perfect choice. In order to accomplish this, they need to be able to control where he is and when–which will require gaining his trust. That’s Violet’s job, of course… but you can imagine how complicated that gets along the way.
Totally worth the read, even as a stand-alone!
Dystopian, YA, etc… but really quite good. In this instance a society of women vs a society of men. But once again, does power corrupt….? I read it first to see if it was ok for my daughter to read. It was (she is 13) and I enjoyed it enough that I plan to read the next in the series. Yes it is a series, so don’t expect a neat & clean ending 🙂
It was a page turner
really good series
a new twist on dystopian novels. This book is action packed and has kept me interest enough to read the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and now 5th book in the series within a week. I am sure I will finish them all before too long.
Loved the premise of the gender game, two very different societies based on gender.
We have Matrus governed by the woman and Patrus ruled over by men and where woman submit.
The very different storyline is what initially drew me to this book as its sometimes hard to find a fresh approach in what seems a sea of dystopian fiction.
A brief synopsis of the plot is that violet a resident of Matrus and when I say resident, I mean of her majesty’s pleasure, is recruited, for want of a better word, to travel to Patrus as a spy to retrieve a golden egg that has been stolen from them.
As part of Violets cover, she has to marry Lee a scientist working undercover in a high position of the government.
As a woman cannot travel around Patrus unescorted by a man and also as they need a scapegoat to pin the theft on Lee hires Viggo, head of security to accompany Violet and encourages her to befriend him.
Violet and Viggo have so much in common with their secrets and backgrounds that a friendship was bound to evolve.
These two are such strong individuals and I am so looking forward to seeing what the next instalment of this tale has in store for them.
The husband Lee, well I found him quite annoying getting Violet to take all the risks while he sat back I also didn’t like the way he kept violet in the dark all the time.
what a liked about the friendship between Viggo and Violet was that this didn’t seem forced or rushed and it was such a gradual process that it sort of crept up on the reader, it felt genuine.
The gender game itself has not got loads of hot sex to sell it, in fact, I think there is one kiss throughout.
So if your looking for that sort of action chose a different book.
what it does have is a first-rate author and some fantastically imagined world building to recommend it. which it does splendidly.
This book sells itself one you enter this landscape its hard to exit.
you just want to keep reading
There are secrets to be told and I’m zipping my mouth, so if you want to discover them well its simple read this I really don’t think you will be disappointed it’s a fab read.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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This book wasn’t bad. It very much had a hunger games/divergent feel to it. It’s not as good as those but it does keep you involved. Plus there is a romance that you have to root for.
I loved this book and all the characters. I couldn’t wait until the next book in the series was released.
It’s action packed and has a true love interest, but it’s so sweet that even your high school kids can read it
I love Bella Forest and every book she writes.
Soooo good. Couldn’t put down. I read the first 3 novels in this set in 5 days.
Cliff hanger at every chapter