The God Game

I know I start 99.9% of my reviews off like this, but the blurb caught my attention. I have read plenty of books that use gaming a part of their main plotline. I have also read plenty of books where a game is using people for its agenda. So, what was different about this blurb that caught my eye? It was the shiver of suspense that I got from reading it. I needed to know what the GOD game was and how it was played. I will say that this book did deliver on that shiver of suspense, and it added a massive dollop of thriller also.

The God Game’s plotline is super fast. The whole book takes place within a couple of weeks of Charlie and Peter starting the game. It was so fast that I did end up having to reread some chapters because I missed things. Usually, I would be annoyed by that. But in this case, I wasn’t.

The plot for The God Game centers around Charlie and his group of coding friends, “The Vindicators.” Charlie and Peter discover The G.O.D. Game on the dark web. Charlie initially didn’t want to play the game, but Peter talked him into doing it. The G.O.D. Game is augmented reality and to play, The Vindicators got special glasses to play. The game was fun at first. Well, if you call breaking into the school and painting bloody pentagrams first. Since this was a morality based game, each good action was rewarded to Goldz or different prizes. But, each adverse action was rewarded with Blaxx. Get enough Blaxx and terrible things happen. The Vindicators soon find out that there is no getting out of The G.O.D. Game. But Charlie isn’t deterred. He and his friends (well minus Peter) are determined to quit the game. Even if that means someone dies.

There is so much that I want to say about this book. But doing so will end up with me giving away major spoilers. And it’s driving me nuts!! I will say that the author did a fantastic job of keeping me glued to my Kindle. I started reading this at breakfast (after dropping my six-year-old at school), and I was finished by 11 am. It was that good.

“The God Game” has set the bar high for all other books in 2020!”-Green Gables Book Reviews

“WOW! Wow! Wow! This book may be the book of the year for 2020! Hard to put down. Unmatched storyline! Like nothing else I have seen on the market!”-Green Gables Book Reviews

High school isn’t easy for anyone. The cool kids will always be the cool kids and the ones to get the girls. Every high school has its groups. And, so often kids are left on the outside looking in.

A group in this school calls themselves The Vindicators. They are a unique group, each with something interesting about them. They watch out for each other. All for one and…

They know computers, they know code, a couple of them could be Harvard bound, if…

Each one has something they don’t want the others to know. Maybe it’s about their parents, or drugs, or their grades, or their past, or maybe they don’t even want to think about it themselves anymore. Maybe, if only….

So when a prompt mysteriously shows up on their phones and computers, they aren’t sure what to do. They meet to make the decision together to join “The God Game.”

At first, the game is fun, fairly innocent. But when it starts to shift, things become too real. Is there any way out? Is it possible to stop playing? The rules are clear. “You are invited! Come inside and play with G.O.D. Bring your friends! It’s Fun! But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS WILL COME TRUE. Lose, You DIE!”

Soon they are doing things they are not proud of and don’t want the other to know about. They realize this game is about cause and effect. Is there a way out?

“Honestly, this could be THE book of 2020. So well done. Like nothing I have read before. Very imaginative. Great format. Draws you in-kind of like “The God Game!’-Green Gables Book Reviews

“Run your errands and do your laundry before you start this book-once you start it, you won’t be able to stop!”-Green Gables Book Reviews

File Size: 3420 KB
Print Length: 464 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (January 7, 2020)
Publication Date: January 7, 2020
Sold by: Macmillan
Language: English
ASIN: B07S8K7PHQ

If you liked Ready Player One and have an appreciation for dark thrillers, then The God Game should be right up your alley.

Filled with moral conundrums, a diverse list of teenage characters, and an AI that truly believes it’s God, this thought-provoking story looks at internet culture, evangelicalism, and the often harsh, black and white thinking that has divided so much of the United States.

The God Game also asks readers to consider many moral scenarios that are much more complicated than they appear on the surface. For example, if a white male teen is offered something that he hasn’t earned at the expense of a much harder working female teen of color, should the female take the opportunity to level the playing field through unfair means?

There were a few concepts brought up that sadly weren’t given a chance to be fully explored. Aside from that, this was a solid and entertaining read.

I have never been a “gamer” per se, and the science fiction genre is not one I’ve delved into very often but a friend was raving about this book so I requested an ARC through Netgalley and gave it a shot.

The concept of this story fascinated me, an AI who thinks it is God? That’s a terrifying thought right off the bat. It made me think of Hal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Charlie and his friends gave me a Nerds meets Stranger Things vibe with them not being very popular in school. But they get invited to play the God Game and at first it’s awesome and cool and they are doing tasks that are a little questionable and starts this whole moral dilemma because some people end up getting hurt, but it’s their “time” to shine so is it really that bad?

Then things start getting more serious and now they’re questioning their consciences and moral upbringing. Maybe they should stop playing the game, the consequences are getting too high. But can they get out of the game?

As I said, I’m not a science fiction reader or gamer, and I am a very visual person so I need to “see” things play out, and sometimes it was hard for me to wrap my head around the things I was reading, and don’t get me started on understanding virtual reality. But I was really glued to this story and how it was going to play out. I am a psychology geek so everything the kids go through in the book was really fascinating to me. Their reactions to things happening in their lives and ultimately what it does to their group had me glued to the pages.

Fans of the sci-fi and fantasy genre will really enjoy this story. For me, it was more about the group’s friendships and the moral dilemmas they end up facing and how they reacted to all of it. It was a great book for me to read as an introduction to these genres.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced review paperback in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This is described as a cross between Player One and Black Mirror and this is probably an accurate overall description of this book.

Enter five teens that have various issues but have formed a tight-knit group and their own club in school. They all have issues of some sort (what teen doesn’t?) but this game will either bring them together or tear them apart forever. The G.O.D. Game is one of morality but who decides what is right or wrong? And to what lengths will the group go to achieve Goldz and avoid Blaxx?

Charlie, Vanhi, Peter, Alex, and Kenny and the five Vindicators. Charlie is the main character and is dealing with the loss of his mother. Peter has an absent father and claims to have lost his mother. Kenny is a talented musician and has some big shoes to fill after the death of his older brother. Alex is trying to make it through life but has a father that expects a lot from him and punishes him when he doesn’t perform adequately. Vanhi is the lone female in the group and knows what she wants from life. The strengths and weaknesses of this group will be used against them in the game as they directed to perform various tasks that could go against their beliefs but if they don’t complete the tasks, their lives could be in danger.

This YA suspense/thriller kept me on the edge of my seat. I wondered if there was anyone behind this game, or had AI actually evolved enough to do everything that happened in the game. As the book progresses we find that there are many more than just these five playing the game, but for how long? There are hints that this game has been around for decades which might make sense for the AI to have gained all of the knowledge that it had about people and decision making. There are many twists and turns with the characters that I did not see coming, especially one near the end. I won’t say what or who is involved, but it was quite surprising but not at the same time. I hope that makes sense!

Besides the game aspect, there are the normal high school issues that arise with who is popular or not, young relationships, manipulation, abuse, and so much more. There are also familial issues that shape these young characters to be who they are by their senior year. They are tempted by the game and at times do not want to do what the game is telling them, but to go against the game could mean death.

I am not a computer programmer so some of the text went over my head, but I could understand the gist of the meaning even if I didn’t understand the finer details. I found the religious aspects intriguing and considering the AI is claiming to be G.O.D., I would expect bible quotes or references to other religions and the beliefs they follow.

There were just a few things that could have been left out of this book and it would have been just as good or perhaps even better in my mind. I didn’t appreciate the political aspects. I see enough bashing of our president in real life, I really don’t want to read about it in a book. I also think there could have been fewer f* bombs. Yes, I know many people use that word in their daily language, but what are we teaching our youth when we permit such crass language?

Overall, I enjoyed this book thoroughly and will be checking out other books by this author. We give this 5 paws up.

The GOD Game reads as a YA Fantasy book centered around a group of high school kids who call themselves the Vindicators, because they are known outcasts. The main character Charlie and his 4 friends (3 boys, 1 girl) are invited to play the G.O.D Game, which is an AI game that focuses on morality and making life choices. The game can grant all the things you want, but it all comes as a price. If you complete a challenge the game poses to you, you will get something you are wishing for. If you go against the game you will be punished, and punishment could be death for yourself or someone you love. The deeper you get into the game the higher the stakes are, and the kids quickly realize they may be in over their heads. Friendships are put to the test, and the kids realize some players may be more power hungry than they anticipated. The kids soon find out quitting the game may not be as easy as they thought.

This book is not a genre a usually read, especially because it focuses more on fantasy, AI, and gaming. So with that in mind I enjoyed the book as much as I could for being out of my norm. I think this book will resonate with YA who enjoy gaming, and fantasy books. I do have to mention though, that this book focuses on religion, physical abuse, suicide, and a school terrorism attempt. It may be triggering for some readers.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for this book in exchange for an honest review. #THEGODGAME #St.MartinsPress @stmartinspress @thegodgame @dannytobey

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

With this book, when I first started seeing the advertisements for the book, I was intrigued and a little leery (due to the name of the book and the program trying to be GOD).

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was a little reminiscent of Nerve (by Jeanne Ryan and the movie), but to the next level. Mr. Tobey did a good job making the characters relatable with what I remember some of my friends going through. The kids were not perfect, not living the perfect life. They had issues, problems, struggles and had so many choices to make.

I like how the author took the time to go into detail and really develop the characters – what they were going through – past and present and how their lives interconnected. I could really feel the turmoil and anxiety that the characters were dealing with when it came time to make a choice – do what the game said, or suffer the consequences. The characters had a lot of choices to make as the tasks started to increase and they began to question themselves and the game.

Thank you in advance to St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary Advanced Reader’s/Reading Copy (ARC). A positive review was not requested or required. All words within are my own.

Since there were other books I had to read and review (and some were far too good to wait) – this got pushed down on the list.

I decided that since I had a quick “lull” in between books – I’d read this one. The cover was attention grabbing and the premise was kind of interesting. I also wanted to get it out of the way before the holidays. It’s not a “holly jolly” read if you catch my meaning.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had to add “trigger” warnings to a book review. This is one such book though.

* Foul and/or Questionable Language (the “f” word is used quite a bit)
* Nazi Reference
* Sex Acts & Violence
* Drug Addiction & Usage
* Domestic Violence (some might even see “child abuse” in certain areas)
* Political References
* Religious References (the book is called “The God Game”)
* Potential Anti-Religious Sentiments (depending on your point of view)
* Blood Sacrifice

While I like to challenge myself outside of my “favorite/comfortable reading genre”. This was a bit too FAR out of my comfort zone. And, this is a review I sat on until after the holidays.

Prior to requesting this through the publisher’s social media campaign, I didn’t read any reviews and was actually looking forward to this book, especially based on the back cover blurb.

“When they accomplish a mission, the game rewards them with expensive tech, revenge on high-school tormentors, and cash flowing from ATMs …

But then the threatening messages start. Worship me. Obey me. Complete a mission, however cruel, or the game reveals their secrets and crushes their dreams.”

It sounded like a terrific read. After all, who wouldn’t want tech gadgets and revenge on high school tormentors? It sounded interesting.

I try not to let reviews truly influence me, and at the time of the request – I was a bit busy with something else.

As I was drafting this review, I decided to go over to Goodreads to see what everyone was saying. I wanted to compare what I was feeling to what others had experienced. Some readers noted that they thought the novel didn’t know what it was trying to be as it was more of a compilation of genres:

* Young Adult (16+)
* Suspense/Thriller
* Sci-Fi (Science Fiction)
* Fantasy

This high-tech thriller is very much computer oriented and some technical language is present. Some people might have issues with the terminology used in this story. I had some difficulty but read on. I’m not exactly computer illiterate, but definitely not part of the “coding” guild either.

It’s hard to review a book like this, so I’m going to go for “GOOD” vs “BAD” highlights.

What is the book about?

From the “blurb” of the book, I was intrigued. An invitation to play a video game with G.O.D – or an A.I (artificial intelligence) that thinks it is GOD. Winning means that dreams come true; losing means you die.

Charlie and his friends are rewarded for their loyalty and their game play. Goldz is “good” currency, BLAXX are bad. But, there are no real rules to play by. Good deeds are often left up to moral ambiguity. The players must WORSHIP the game, do the task – cruel or not – or pay a consequence.

GOOD PARTS:

* The cover stands out. At least the ARC did. It looks like a scene from a video game, circa mid-1980’s. It has an over-powering presence on its own and draws attention to it. It definitely cannot be missed.

* Chapter lengths are very short. No more than 15 pages, some are one (1) page in length. This makes for easy reading.

* Chapter length also makes for moving the story along quite rapidly, almost at a break-neck pace.

* For the length (the ARC is 449 pages), I read 358 pages in one sitting, finished it in a second sitting

* The story did keep me interested with its non-stop pace

* An interesting and alternate take on the internet, social media, and virtual reality

* The lack of a person behind the whole “GOD” game. This is also one of the bad parts.

* The ending was a shocking surprise and fiendishly clever (this again, is both good and bad)

BAD PARTS:

* The major issue: the characters! I couldn’t stand any of them. There was borderline cruelty, back-handed bullying, selfishness – the list can be exhaustingly endless. It shouldn’t have been surprising since it involved high school kids.

I honestly didn’t have much sympathy for them and only read to see what was going to happen to them and what the “reveal” was for the story. They were cliché 1980’s teenagers in a technological horror movie. I expected some depth, but each one was almost like a caricature of a bad cliché.

1.) Charlie Lake – he was too “wishy-washy”. He alternately wanted to leave the game, but kept running back to it. While he did a few “good” deeds, one regarding Alex; most of the time; it seemed Charlie just wanted to benefit himself, even when it came to a girl. An extremely bright young man; now troubled after his mother’s death. Has a rocky relationship with his father who is trying to reinvent his life. Charlie is almost past the point of redemption.

2.) Peter Quine – his smugness and almost narcissistic attitude made him the least likeable, which is probably what the author had intended. After his mother abandoned him and his father – the stereotypical, former “fat” kid transformed himself, but was distant from everyone.

3.) Alex Dinh – abused by his father and had deeper mental issues. And, while he should’ve been a sympathetic character, the delivery was wrong. Played into the typical “stereo-type” bad kid (but uses the mental illness more as an excuse), uses scenes of violence to escape his own, wants to harm others.

4.) Vanhi Patel (only girl in the group) – focused on getting into Harvard and thinks nothing of climbing into the game despite Charlie’s own warning to her. Couldn’t own up to her mistakes, and tried to change things to make herself look better.

5.) Kenny Baker – the only “sort of” likeable character. He had more of a religious upbringing amongst his peers. But, despite his background – he was just as unlikeable.

Their parents and the other adults, although minor, didn’t elicit much sympathy either. I don’t know if I should’ve been cheering for someone or detesting everyone.

* The book itself. It just didn’t work. Delivery/execution or writing pace – I don’t know. It’s hard to blame the writing pace when you read over 350+ pages in one sitting. I’m leaning more to delivery/execution. There was too much going on, and too many characters to keep track of. It was hard to place them and their relation to the story.

* The money flowing from the ATM was actually done in a 1984 Knight Rider episode – K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R by way of KARR rewarding a character (John) for assisting him and promising to make all of John’s “dreams come true” for John’s assistance. This was either a nod to that or bit of a rip-off of it. I haven’t quite narrowed it down.

* What was the purpose of the story? What is this book trying to tell us, give us, or make us feel? I know that I felt rather disappointed in the book and myself for even requesting it. It seemed like there was absolutely no point or message from it.

* Who was controlling this game? What did they want? What was the “endgame”? Someone had to have created it, programmed it, and had a purpose behind it.

* The political undertones. After reading some of the reviews, I feel like I’m not the only one who didn’t understand the purpose of them. I don’t know if the writer was trying to slip in their own political preferences or what. While the election was a divisible event, the political tones didn’t seem to mesh with the story.

* The religion aspect. Was this an anti-religion book? Was this trying to denigrate religion? Is this supposed to be a religious book about trying to draw people closer to God who doesn’t necessarily give us what we want, but what we need. Being there to comfort and guide us, rather than to remove the issue? This is one situation that I guess is left up to each reader.

* It portrays social media and the internet as negative in treating them as a social standing and entitlement rather than a communicative tool.

* The ending was as unrealistic as the execution of the story. It seemed almost cliché.

Overall Take:

This novel can leave the reader with feelings of hopelessness and despair as there is nothing redeeming about this book. There was little to no redemption for the characters just more or less coming to terms with the consequences of their actions.

It was hard not to DNF it because it was so fast-paced. But, at the same time that was a problem – it just kept going with seemingly no end in sight.

Had I not gotten the complimentary ARC, I would’ve likely borrowed it from the library if I had nothing else to read. Otherwise, this isn’t something I’d prefer to read again.

As far as recommending it – I’ll leave that up to the person reading the review.

This is a long book. It wasn’t that it didn’t hold my attention. It has lots of issues, questions, sci-fi interest, well a little of everything. Between AI, religion and what I’ll call subtle political comments, it really covered the gamut.

I don’t know if I felt this was of the YA genre because of the characters or it was that the dialect used seemed that way. It seemed young to me.

Having said the above, I think this is a book you should dive into and see what you think. It just has some elements for everyone and is interesting enough to hear what everyone thinks. It definitely could evoke conversation.

The God Game. Curious title. Charlie and his friends love to play video games. When he receives an online invite to play a new video game he and his friends start to play. At first it’s fun completing the missions and winning incredible prizes but then the threatening messages start appearing and the game takes a sinister turn. Can Charlie and his friends stop playing? Will the game allow them to stop? And what will happen if they do? Very well written book that will have you turning the pages! I had a hard time putting it down! Highly recommend!