Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Mhari is travelling north through Scotland for her survival. She meets a young mute boy and wants to protect him. Her travels are dangerous and survival is everything.

To be fair I am not a lover of YA Dystopian novels but I have it a go and I’m glad I did. It was a brilliant read and very well written!

Mhairi has left the Sudan while the world is in turmoil due to global climate change. She is trying to get back to Scotland, to the Isle of Arran where she was born and where her grandmother lives. She loses everything and sees death first hand. This book is terrifying. It asks such powerful questions like - what will the world be like when climate change makes everything different? What rules and laws will be put into place to prevent anarchy and will anarchy happen anyway? The book is about how a young person copes with severely traumatic events by divorcing herself from her feeling but how her human nature cannot be put aside. She knows that looking after the young boy she finds along the road is foolish but she can't help looking after him just as he can't help needing her. I would highly recommend this book for the older young adult reader and adults also. It is very well written and I couldn't put it down.

I read many YA books, but I am so glad I chose to read this and recommend this to anyone, young or old(er)
This is a story about the highly possible results of climate change and the destruction being caused our future.
Mhairi Bain is a fantastic main character, and we follow her story as she struggles to find her way home and the boy she meets on her journey.

Nicky Singer has written a beautiful and thought provoking story that will stay with me for a while.

Thank you NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication. A chilling tale of what might yet come to pass.
In our future climate change has reached what might be seen as an inevitable conclusion. Parts of the world are inhospitable. The world’s population is moving northwards and, inevitably, some react better to this than others.
We follow 14-year old Mhairie as she escapes the detention centre she’s placed in after travelling illegally from Cairo following the death of her parents. She is determined to walk to Arran, the home of her grandmother. Along the way she reveals snippets of her story which it might be easy to miss as they’re quite understated. These snippets build a truly terrifying picture of this new reality.
Once she - and a young boy she saves en route - make their way to Arran it would be lovely to think their story was over. Far from it. In fact, it’s once they arrive with Mhairie’s grandmother that the difficult questions start.
Some very difficult questions raised in this, and the ending of the novel rather took my breath away.

This book wasn't just enjoyable, it felt educational.

Everyone has heard about the plight of refugees but for many of us living a relatively cosy life in the West, myself included, it's very hard to imagine what those fleeing horrific situations at home might be facing.

Mhairi is Scottish but has spent the last few years of her young life in the Sudan, where her parents worked, until global warming forces her northwards. North means freedom and life. The reader is dropped into her situation, when she has almost reached the safety of Scotland.

We find out, as Mhairi remembers, about the horrors she has faced. What happened to her family and to her friend Mohammed. 

Seeing Mhairi come to care about a young boy she found alongside the way was beautiful.
Her character's journey was one that reminded me about the importance of being kind, of not judging others before walking a mile in their shoes, and ultimately is one that I would recommend book clubs and teachers to utilise. 

Mhairi's experience shows how difficult reaching safety can be and while her story is fictional it really does pull at the heart strings. 

By the heart-stopping ending, I was completely enthralled by the world that Singer has created. There were a few sections towards the end of the book, once it seemed like the immediate danger to Mhairi might be over, that felt a little slow but overall The Survival Game barely slows down for a moment.

A gripping and emotional read. 

Thank you to Netgalley, Hachette Children's Group and Hodder Children's Books for the opportunity to read.

Captivating, mesmerizing, and so so powerful! Its been a long time since a book has moved me like this. Mhairi lives in the near future, where climate change is changing the world and melting the ice caps. Deserts have become unlivable and the global population is trying to migrate north. She is 14 ,not yet deemed and adult and trying to find her way back to her family in Scotland. She has to grow up quickly, relying on her intelligence, resourcefulness, cunning and bravery in her attempt to get home.

The remarkable thing about this book is its power despite (or maybe because of) its lack of flowery prose. The writing is stark and simple yet paints vivid pictures and give the story authenticity. Primary themes are heavy hitting and thought provoking - migration, division of resources, what it means to be human. But there are so interesting philosophical elements too - concepts of time and sub-conscious. The story is so cleverly and subtly woven that I was hooked from the start and couldn't stop till the inevitable but unpredictable end. This author is clearly a master!

What is it about :

A grim dystopian tale, set in the near future after climate change has changed the planet and its politics.

Mhairi Bain is left alone after her parents are killed and she’s travelled back from Sudan to her home in Scotland. She has suffered severe hardship and trauma and comes across a young, mute boy she calls Mo and claims to authorities , that he’s her brother. But this is called into question and she is brought to court for bringing an ‘illegal’ into the country.

There are detention centres for people without documents and these are harsh, and there are deportations and punishments. To control the population people are given the needle when they reach 75, and in some circumstances you can gift your life years to others.

What did I like :

I liked Mhairi, a 14 year old that has seen and done too much already at such an age. She is clearly traumatised and uses the ‘castle’ to store bad memories. Much like Sherlock Holmes has a mind palace. .


What I didn’t like so much:

I would have liked a little more background into how the world climate had changed.

Would I recommend:

Absolutely, Nicky Singer has created a believable and awful world, which at times mirrors the current refugee crisis and the heartbreak this causes



I would like to thank the The author/the Publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

This maybe listed as a young adults read, however it does contain very grown up themes and I enjoyed the ease of the read.
Another first for me, as I have never read anything by this author before. recommend it.

In a world full of checkpoints and controls, can love and hope defy the borders? A searing, timely story, as arresting as it is beautiful.

Mhairi Anne Bain owns only two things: a gun with no bullets and her identity papers.

The world is a shell of what it once was. Now, you must prove yourself worthy of existence at every turn, at every border checkpoint. And if you are going to survive, your instincts will become your most valuable weapon.

Mhairi has learnt the importance of living her own story, of speaking to no one. But then she meets a young boy with no voice at all, and finds herself risking everything to take him to safety.

And so Mhairi and the silent boy travel the road north. But there are rumours that things in Scotland have changed since she has been away. What Mhairi finds there is shocking and heart-breaking, but might finally re-connect her to her sense of self and to the possibility of love.

An extraordinary story about survival and what it costs, about the power of small kindnesses to change everything.

I really enjoyed this book. It's refreshing (if that's the right word!) to read an apocalyptic story where the issues covered feel alarmingly and believably around the corner. Climate change renders the southern hemisphere unliveable and the resulting immigrants are now all moving north. Interestingly the main character Mhairi Bain tells this story of desperate and dangerous migration through the eyes of a 'western' child, trying to make her way home from Sudan to the Isle of Arran in Scotland. The story follows the extreme hardship faced, along with the development of her emotional and physical survival skills, as she makes her way through various border crossings pushing for home. As a YA novel, this is a wonderfully empathetic read where both sides of the immigration argument are laid bare. From the desperation, resourcefulness and humanity of the migrant, to the native communities determination to protect their resources in order to survive. Overall a very enjoyable read!

I read this in a week when the news was filled (as it still is) with the horrors of children snatched from their parents just because their parents seek to give them a chance of a better life, in a week where I read about a young Syrian girl in a refugee camp who had been walking on home made false limbs made out of trash. With such tragedies in the real world, a book about white, British refugees in a climate changed world seemed almost indulgent, but sometimes the horrors of the news can be too much and fiction can bridge the link between sympathy and empathy. I think this book achieved that, its harsh, uncompromising, uncomfortable truths very close to home.
It's first person present, like so many YA (and non YA) fantasy/dystopia. Despite its prevalence it's a tricky tense to get right and I've given up on many a book which might have worked better in a more traditional third person past format. Here though, the tense works perfectly, adding to the unease and sense that anything that can happen. Mhairi is near the Scottish border, trying to get back to her Grandmother on the Isle of Aron. She's alone and she's travelled all the way from the Sudan. This is all we know and the story of how she came to be alone is slowly revealed through the book. She's also fourteen and hard enough to give Ayra Stark a run for her money, so when she falls in with a small refugee boy, compassion is the last emotion she feels. But somehow he gets under her skin, changing her plans and putting in place a series of events with no simple way out.
This is not an easy read, it's uncomfortable, shocking at times, desperately sad and terrifyingly prescient. Highly recommended.

Not at all what I was expecting, it was slow, but still had intrigue. Parts weren't fully explained... I still don't fully understand the castle references?? I wasn't sure where it was headed, however the end was emotional and makes you think!! I liked it but didn't love it.

The Survival Game is one of the best YA books I’ve read, told from the point of view of Mhairi, a tough fourteen year old travelling home from Sudan.
Set some time in the future, this book couldn’t be more relevant to the current immigration issues and fears. Mhairi is travelling home to the island of Arran in Scotland, when she accounters a small mute boy without a guardian. In a overcrowded world where the luxury of crossing any border is no longer an option without endless security checks and papers, will Mhairi and the boy find the place they belong. This is a fantastic read, so often we are led by our own emotions and the views of the media, this is an example of what could happen if we stand for nothing and fall for everything.

The reason I love dystopian fiction is that it makes an excellent vehicle for telling a story, really exploring what character’s do when you shove their backs against a wall. Honour, pity, compassion and even morality become luxuries rather than essentials in those circumstances. I suppose that’s why I’m a sucker for ruthless protagonist who nevertheless manage to hold on to a certain level of humanity. I just didn’t feel like that about this book. It was pretty standard YA dystopian fare with a likeable enough MC. It was a swift read and asked some interesting questions. I did like the book. But it didn’t rock my world. I think those who have read less dystopian fiction will get more out of it – some may even find it revelatory. It had less effect on me because I’ve been asking myself the questions it propounds since Louise Lawrence’s Children of Dust. A good book but a bit samey for me. Recommend for the generation that missed out on the Hunger Games.

I loved this book so much. As a young adult dystopian novel, I didn't know what to expect when it came to The Survival Game, but what I got was so much more. Set in the not so distant future, the story follows 14-year-old Mhairi as she travels from Sudan back to her homeland Scotland after the collapse of the world due to climate change. We join her already in England when she comes across a small boy. Despite her best efforts to remain alone and unrestricted, they become travel companions. What blossoms is something so much more as Mhairi learns what love, family and friendship is in a new and broken world.

Told in both the present as these two companions make their way through England and across the border into Scotland, and also back into Mhairi's recent past over the previous 12 months as she made the thousands of miles from the Sudan to somehow make it home. Through doing so she learns that 'home' is more than just a place. It's the people you love and the people you refuse to lose.

The Survival Game is slow to start but once it grips you, you are unable to put it down. Beautifully written, it is a wonderful exploration of what it is to be human. Our fears, our distrustful nature, our exploitation of power but also our capacity to love. With echoes of current affairs - the climate and migration -The Survival Game provides snapshots of a possible future which are uncomfortable and hit a little close to home. Both Mhairi and the boy are wonderful characters and I became invested in their journey, wanting to know where it ended. And wow, what an ending. Emotional and moving, it left me in tears.

Although The Survival Game is a young adult novel, I would say it was 14+ at least due to the content and topics covered, however this is a story that adults would no doubt enjoy too.

This is an older MG, younger teen and YA book that every adult should read.

Nicky Singer perfectly captures the likely dilemmas we will be facing as climate change hits us harder, and refugees will not just be fleeing aggressive regimes but aggressive weather conditions.

We follow MAB - Mhairi Anne Bain, as she travels north, making her way through many and dubious ways from the encounter with Saharan border guards where her parents died, to the place she thinks of as home - where her Grandmother still lives - the Isle of Arran. There are plenty of triggers for me on her journey, not least a tour of Glasgow that is both vivid and frightening.

The story is gripping and relentless. The voice of Mhairi is clear, concise, and takes you through all the dangerous things in her past that she keep reliving until she consigns them to the 'Castle' to be locked safely away. It's a great coping mechanism. The voice of the boy she befriends is even clearer - amazingly, because he is mute.

This is a brilliant book, which I recommend to all. Not just because of the dangers, institutional barriers faced, and cruelty of people in charge of inhumane conditions, but also because of the moral dilemmas Mhairi's Grandmother expounds. We should all do to think on these things, and think deeply.

An immediate addition to my list for Book of the Year.

I had forgotten what this book would be about when I read it. I had no idea beyond the title which is misleading - survival is not a game in a baking hot world where north is safe and Scotland is safest - until it isn’t. The central character talks to people who have taught her things and we hear of her journey across the world to get to the aisle of Arran. And, in following her, we learn something about how teenagers can teach older folk what it is to be truly human, and six year olds know even more. Clever, moving book which I will be recommending to everyone.

For readers who enjoyed books such as Hunger Games, this is another 'future world' fiction with a strong female character. Mhairi has had what sounds like a strong moral and humane upbringing by loving parents but is now alone in a world falling apart, presumably due to climate change. Survival and belonging are the two key themes. This book has great potential and I will be recommending it. However the references to 'Castle' by Mhairi are not clear and are never really explained. It feels like the author had some clear thought process going on in her head but never really explained it to us reading the text so we are left guessing in rather an unsatisfactory way. Apart from that a great read, good for teens too. Will there be a follow up?

What a truly delightful book full of totally "real" characters. A brilliant concept, life in a too hot world with too many people, too little water, too little food and an interesting "solution" to the over-population. The main characters, although very young, are old beyond their years and their interaction with people whilst on their journey is extraordinary on many different levels.

Whilst this book is, I believe, written for young adults, its originality and thoughtfulness definitely has something for old adults, like me.

Have you ever read a book in one breath? Have you ever drawn a sharp intake of air in the opening pages and then held it right until the end, barely able to move or tear your eyes away from the devastation on the pages in front of you? This is what it felt like when I was reading Nicky Singer’s post-apocalyptic The Survival Game.

The Survival Game is one of those rare novels. Beautifully written, it is a book that will drag you along through every emotion possible as you try to fathom how devastatingly plausible the entire story is.

Our protagonist is 14-year-old Mhairi, a girl who has travelled alone from the Sudan and is making her way across Britain to her home in Scotland. Except that it might not be her home anymore; the world as we know it consists of closed borders and checkpoints, each country cutting itself off in the face of catastrophic environmental devastation and global human migration. This is our world a mere 30 years in the future and it is not pretty.

Mhairi owns nothing except the clothes on her back, a gun with no bullets and her papers that prove her right to be in Scotland. All she needs to do is to keep heading north and she will eventually get there, to her home.


“Today I wonder if this is what home is: walking somewhere where you don’t need a map. Where the landscape is laid in your heart”

Her position is precarious for this is a world in which crimes or misdemeanours result in years deducted from your predetermined time on this earth and the very last thing anyone should be doing is picking up an illegal ‘alien’ on their travels. Except that this is exactly what Mhairi does when she meets a mute child and puts her entire journey in jeopardy.

What follows is a battle between the will for survival and the basic human qualities of love and morality because what is the point of survival if we don’t live our lives right?

The Survival Game is an astonishing story of survival, meaningfulness and morality in a world pushed to the brink by global shortages. It is also a book about layers and details, so meticulously researched that you will find yourself appreciating every bite of food you take and every, single drop of water.

I give The Survival Game by Nicky Singer a superb five out of five stars and predict that this will be among my top five books of 2018.

The book follows fourteen-year-old Mhairi Anne Bain, originally from Scotland but relocated with her parents to Sudan at the time of the global collapse as her mother was a scientist and was working on harnessing the solar energy of the desert there. The story focus on the journey Mhairi takes to get back to the Scottish isle of Arran, where her grandmother lives.



At the start of the book, Mhairi is close to the Scottish border when she comes across an old man walking with a dark-skinned five-year-old boy, and the boy ends up travelling with her. Since the collapse, Scotland is now separate from the U.K. and has its own strict border controls. In order to cross borders in this world, you need papers, and these papers are considered quite valuable and you don't want others to get their hands on it.



The book has been written in such a way as to allow the story to slowly unravel, and with short, choppy chapters, this was a gripping and also worryingly plausible read. The book isn’t only beautifully written, it's raw and energetic, lyrical and beautiful, intense and passionate.