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A review by thestarman
The Game by Monica Hughes
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]