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harleyrae's review against another edition
3.0
This book was certainly interesting, review to come soon.
kayteeem's review against another edition
Recommended by my daughter, so I had to read it. I didn't quite expect the twist. But I've read enough science fiction that I've read that plot before. I felt that the characterization was light and situations resolved too neatly - but this was a short book not aimed at me, and I can see why A. thought I'd like it.
bak8382's review against another edition
3.0
In a society where robots have taken over most of the world's jobs students from schools around the world are dumped in government funded unemployment settlements. Lisse and her friends are recent additions who are frustrated by their lack of options and the boredom of having no occupation. Then they are invited to join The Game, and are re-energized by their new goal of winning it. The more they play, though, the less game-like and the more life-like it feels until they're unsure exactly what reality is.
I really liked the concept and world at the beginning of this novel, and I was looking forward to them joining The Game, but that's when the story began to fall apart for me. It didn't seem like they accomplished much each time they played, and even knowing the end of the story it still fairly purposeless although it did make them start to train. I never really connected with any of the female characters besides Lisse, and all the male characters seemed to run together, especially the ones who never wanted to participate. Also the ending seemed rushed and a bit far-fetched for both Lisse's group and the game designers.
I really liked the concept and world at the beginning of this novel, and I was looking forward to them joining The Game, but that's when the story began to fall apart for me. It didn't seem like they accomplished much each time they played, and even knowing the end of the story it still fairly purposeless although it did make them start to train. I never really connected with any of the female characters besides Lisse, and all the male characters seemed to run together, especially the ones who never wanted to participate. Also the ending seemed rushed and a bit far-fetched for both Lisse's group and the game designers.
susanbarto's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed reading The Game. It had enough twists and turns to keep me interested and guessing at how the game was played. The ten central characters were woven well to represent a tribe of people that would work well together to form a new life.
The book does make you think what our world would be like and how we can make changes now so that we don't have to have such drastic changes. Excellent book.
The book does make you think what our world would be like and how we can make changes now so that we don't have to have such drastic changes. Excellent book.
rigel's review against another edition
2.0
The ending was better than the first 75% of the book, so it gets 2 stars. There are some unresolved plot holes (like if you're going to drop a bunch of children onto an alien planet, why not leave them with basic supplies to get them started), but nothing that'll keep me up at night.
thestarman's review against another edition
3.0
VERDICT: 3 YA/juvenile stars. Adult rating: under 3 stars.
FIRST LINE: It was the last day of school and the terror of the previous weeks had crept up on me again.
PLOT: High school grads in a future dystopia... with rumors of a mysterious Game.
IN SHORT: A more juvenile, uber-lite Hunger Games* -- minus the details and depth. And romance. And weapons. And most everything else. BUT... with a plot twist you will NOT find in The Hunger Games books.
* Hunger Games was first published in 2008. [INVITATION TO] THE GAME was published 17 years earlier (1991).
A FEW DETAILS (no big spoilers):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1993 1991, and it has won a couple of awards. It still holds up pretty well today. It's a short read at around 180 pages, and probably is best suited for the younger end of the YA spectrum -- maybe ages 11-15 or so.
As long as you don't expect much plot or character depth, and can get past some logic flaws, this stand-alone YA/juvenile SF dystopia adventure is a pretty good way to pass a few hours. It's also family-friendly: no cursing, religion, insta-love, extreme violence, or sex. And there's a twist that may catch young readers by surprise.
In the end, THE GAME feels like a good draft of what could be a more exciting, emotional, and fleshed-out novel. On the plus side, it stands alone without a life-or-death cliffhanger, and there's no objectionable content to offend parents or prudes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: my copy of THE Game (paperback ISBN 1442409398) included at the end a preview of a book by Robin Wasserman:
[b:Skinned|2791536|Skinned (Cold Awakening, #1)|Robin Wasserman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327949389s/2791536.jpg|2817307] [bc:Skinned|2791536|Skinned (Cold Awakening, #1)|Robin Wasserman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327949389s/2791536.jpg|2817307] ,
also published under the title [b:Frozen|9918093|Frozen (Cold Awakening, #1)|Robin Wasserman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390359266s/9918093.jpg|2817307]
FIRST LINE: It was the last day of school and the terror of the previous weeks had crept up on me again.
PLOT: High school grads in a future dystopia... with rumors of a mysterious Game.
IN SHORT: A more juvenile, uber-lite Hunger Games* -- minus the details and depth. And romance. And weapons. And most everything else. BUT... with a plot twist you will NOT find in The Hunger Games books.
* Hunger Games was first published in 2008. [INVITATION TO] THE GAME was published 17 years earlier (1991).
A FEW DETAILS (no big spoilers):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spoiler
THE GAME was originally titled [b:Invitation to the Game|146499|Invitation to the Game|Monica Hughes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348606412s/146499.jpg|2527702] when first published inAs long as you don't expect much plot or character depth, and can get past some logic flaws, this stand-alone YA/juvenile SF dystopia adventure is a pretty good way to pass a few hours. It's also family-friendly: no cursing, religion, insta-love, extreme violence, or sex. And there's a twist that may catch young readers by surprise.
In the end, THE GAME feels like a good draft of what could be a more exciting, emotional, and fleshed-out novel. On the plus side, it stands alone without a life-or-death cliffhanger, and there's no objectionable content to offend parents or prudes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: my copy of THE Game (paperback ISBN 1442409398) included at the end a preview of a book by Robin Wasserman:
[b:Skinned|2791536|Skinned (Cold Awakening, #1)|Robin Wasserman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327949389s/2791536.jpg|2817307] [bc:Skinned|2791536|Skinned (Cold Awakening, #1)|Robin Wasserman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327949389s/2791536.jpg|2817307] ,
also published under the title [b:Frozen|9918093|Frozen (Cold Awakening, #1)|Robin Wasserman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390359266s/9918093.jpg|2817307]
kate71929's review against another edition
3.0
Though the premise was relatively different, this book reminded me a lot of The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh. The Game was quite a good book!
declaired's review against another edition
4.0
I read "Invitation to the Game" in the 6th grade with it's super cheese scifi headset cover, and it has stuck with me for years as a smart middle grade/ya science fiction book (with a female protag!) that packs a lot of story into a short amount of pages.
Reading now, as a young 20-something, I can see how flat the characters are (there are 10, and I can remember about 5 reliably) and how..well..straight it is, with literally everyone married in the epilogue. In some ways it's not a very radical book at all.
It's one of those science fiction books that is itself a little afraid of technology and what it will do to the world, but it produces a lot of lovely images and scenes, and some meaningful social commentary. and it is well written, and paced well, and the character motivations (while usually simple) are sensible, as is the world. (At least, not enough to question it in the book). it's smart and fun.
also the motherly artsy character's name is Scylla and that's beautiful.
Reading now, as a young 20-something, I can see how flat the characters are (there are 10, and I can remember about 5 reliably) and how..well..straight it is, with literally everyone married in the epilogue. In some ways it's not a very radical book at all.
It's one of those science fiction books that is itself a little afraid of technology and what it will do to the world, but it produces a lot of lovely images and scenes, and some meaningful social commentary. and it is well written, and paced well, and the character motivations (while usually simple) are sensible, as is the world. (At least, not enough to question it in the book). it's smart and fun.
also the motherly artsy character's name is Scylla and that's beautiful.
marathonofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
http://amysmarathonofbooks.ca/invitation-to-the-game/
odhtate's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is a middle school/young teen dystopian. I read it as a tween and loved it so I recently picked it up to reread, and while I am no longer the target demographic I still find it to be a solid middle school/young teen novel.