4.5 Stars

'The God Game' is an exhilarating science fiction thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. I was immediately intrigued by the description and premise of the novel and I have to say that it lived up to any hopes I might have had. What really drew me to this book was that the science fiction aspect isn't that futuristic. I feel like this could actually happen in our society today - which is both exciting and scary. I loved reading about all of the tech stuff throughout the book and it made me wish that I knew more about the topics the characters talk about and do.

The plot was intriguing and well written with great attention to detail and vivid imagery that brought this world to life in front of my eyes. The author plays devil's advocate throughout the story in the characters' own smaller story lines and I loved watching them weigh the advantages and disadvantages to each action. As the story progresses and the tasks become more intense and serious, the stakes get higher and you can feel the fear and tension throughout the pages. I really enjoyed how the author was able to put all of these aspects together to create a really fascinating look at how our culture is obsessed with technology and the philosophical questions that come with it.

There were a ton of major characters throughout the story so we don't get to know many of them on a deep level. Many of them are pretty stereotypical and flat but it didn't bother me because they weren't really important to the story line. The main characters - namely Charlie and the rest of the Vindicators - are well rounded and complex. We get to know them pretty well throughout the story and we see them each face difficult tasks and decisions, which changes them whether they know it or not. All of the main characters felt realistic to me, mainly because they have distinct personalities and voices, and their flaws are out there for the reader to see. It allowed me to connect with each of them on a personal level and made me more invested in the story and the outcome. The only issue I personally had with the book was the writing style - mainly the author's choice to use the third person point of view to tell the story. I completely understand why they chose to write it this way - with all of the characters it would've been chaotic and confusing to attempt writing the story in the first person. But I almost always prefer the first person point of view because it allows me to really create a deep connection with the main character and I can easily get lost inside their world. Again, this is just a personal opinion of mine and other readers aren't going to feel the same. Like I said, I understand why the author chose the third person point of view and it makes sense for the story. I did like seeing the story unfold from multiple perspectives and watch how each of the characters go off on their own little quests. It gives the reader a fuller and more detailed story to follow because of the different perspectives and seeing how they develop on their own and intertwined into the major plot.

Overall, this was a fun and exciting book that I really enjoyed. I definitely recommend it to fans of science fiction, thrillers, mysteries, contemporary fiction, and even young adult fiction.

What a great idea for a book. Especially in todays world of tech everything to think this could happen. It was a well written fast paced novel. Thank you for my advanced copy in exchange for a fair review.

Charlie and his friends are basically nerds and not very popular at school. They get invited to play a virtual game called G.O.D, which promises them if they win, all their dreams come true, but if they lose, they die! Of course, they accept and soon find themselves winning when they accomplish their missions. Getting real rewards as expensive tech, cash, and other prizes. The missions start getting dangerous, and soon they are over their heads! The game starts threatening them and their families if they don’t do what the game wants. They must find a way out of the game before it’s too late!
I struggled with the book a little. It had a slow start, but then towards the middle it got really good! The characters were a bit cliche, and I wish there was more character development. I will say I was surprised by the ending, I did not see it coming. Overall the book was good and I enjoyed it!

Wonderful book! 
Really liked reading this fresh and outstanding book.  It was a real pleasure to read it.  
Thanks for the publisher for the opportunity to read this in advance

The God Game, implying that someone is manipulating others and playing at being God. This is true through the use of AI. Charlie and his friends, all teens in high school, get wrapped up in a virtual reality game they have never heard of called The G.O.D. Game. They do what this game instructs them to do, dealing with the consequences later because they give no thought to their actions at the time. At first, it's all new virtual reality cool and awesome-until it's not. When the game starts to turn dark and sinister, it might be too late for Charlie and company, a.k.a. The Vindicators. They don't know where, how or why this game started or how to stop it. So, who's really in control-AI or human beings? That's a question I ask about the future of humanity. How long until robots take control of the world? This story presents the dilemma in a unique and engaging manner. If you obey a game, you are not in charge anymore. I never would have played in the first place, but these are inquisitive teens with a different mindset. If you're tech savvy, you'll probably love it!

This question is only for those who enjoy video games  :-)  What if you could live a video game, life became a video game? Charlie and his tech group, the Vindicators, join The G.O.D. Game that is run by an AI that has been programmed to believe it is God. They wear high tech glasses that change give the real world a creepy and ever changing interface. The game is able to take over their phones, their computers, and they soon learn, every aspect of their lives and the lives of those around them. Nothing is safe from the AI's interference and they are asked or told to do things that they would never do if they didn't feel coerced or blackmailed into doing them. It doesn't take long until some of the group want out but there is no leaving the game without death. 

For me, this was a very immersive story and I could feel the desperation, elation, and fear of the group members as the game pitted them against each other, behind the scenes, while encouraging them to work together, on the surface. Bad things happen and more bad things happen and there seems to be no way out of the game, except death, although even that could cause more bad things to happen. I know I'll never join a game like this, with promises too good to be true, risks too great, mysteries as deep as a bottomless pit. 

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

You win, ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE but if you lose, you die. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

In Danny Tobey's The God Game, I think I fell in love with the characters first. I think I represent the intended audience for the Young Adult fantasy. As a gamer, web designer (who loves/hates code) it felt like the moment in Ready Player One when everything was an inside joke and I knew all the punch lines. I adored the parts that talked about computer code because of it, the book took on a whole new level of understanding and complexity. 
And when the AI started going, I was so hooked. 

It's so deliciously clever and smart, and witty and dark. And I started rooting for the main characters because of how well rounded- and solid they seemed. I would want to know them, want to talk to them. I needed to know how it ended and read it again after.

Let’s start with this – I’m not a computer gamer or a computer whiz of any sort.  Despite this, and despite the fact that I’m not sure I totally understood all the ins and outs of this book, I enjoyed it.  For a book that is focused on computers and technology, it’s quite character-driven.  The personalities of the five main characters are well developed – I had a feel for each of them, and why they acted in the ways they did.  Even the characters who were primarily in opposition to them had understandable motives for what they did.  It’s been a long time since I was in high school, but the characters all made a grim sort of sense.

This book is action filled, and carries you right along.  I was never sure how things would wind up, so I read avidly, to see what would happen next.  Well worth the time to read it.

It was... fine? I feel like a lot of the tropes of this book have been done to death before, and I didn't feel that anything was particularly inventive here. That being said, for what it was, I enjoyed it. But I don't think I would've picked this one up on my own.

Thank you St. Martins for an advanced copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own. 

The God Game 
By: Danny Tobey 


*REVIEW* ☆☆☆
The God Game, implying that someone is manipulating others and playing at being God. This is true through the use of AI. Charlie and his friends, teens in high school, get wrapped up in the G.O.D. game, and, at first, it's all virtual reality cool and awesome-until it's not. When the game starts to look dark and sinister, it might be too late for Charlie and company. They don't know where or how this game started, and they can't stop it.  So, who's in control-AI or human beings? That's a question I ask about the future of humanity. How long until robots take control of the world? This story presents this dilemma in a unique and engaging manner. I read this book slowly because I was frequently lost in the technological terminology and explanations. It's a bit much for those of us who aren't as tech savvy. Laymen's terms please! I also found the characters kind of Breakfast Club cliche, if that makes any sense. Here's the brain, the jock, the pretty one, the loner, whatever, with secrets etc. The point is that I've seen them before-many times. I wouldn't classify the book as general adult fiction either because it's more befitting to young adult fiction. The book was also long, and while I appreciate a lengthy read, I started to resent it here because I was bogged down in it. So, in the end, there are some good and some bad aspects in The God Game, thus putting me in the middle on this one. Read it if you think you can. The story is good once you get past a few obstacles. If you're tech savvy, you'll probably love it!

Solid YA "fantasy"! Similar to Ready Player One except this is set in our current time. I enjoyed the characters and their individual struggles. Although they wanted to be a team, calling themselves The Vindicators, they each had unique problems. I felt this was a fairly unique twist to gaming, alternate reality, visions. The religion and philosophy brought interesting discussion that is not often seen in YA books.

It was close to a 5 star read for me until around the 75% point when things got a little confusing. Overall I do recommend this book, ages 13+ for language. Even for it's length, it's quite the page turner. And the conclusion is fantastic! I would definitely read a sequel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the set up for this novel, but the follow through wasn't able to hold my attention as much as I thought it would. I thought, after about a quarter through, that maybe I had accidentally gotten a young adult novel. Probably would make a great movie or TV show.

Now this one took me awhile to get into... I did enjoy it but not as much as the other novels I have read before. I think it was a little more Sci Fi for my liking which there’s nothing wrong with that; just not up my alley! But excellent writing and characters.

I don't read a lot of either science fiction or tech thrillers, and this one felt a bit like both to me. However, every once in a while, a book's synopsis will catch my attention, which is what happened with The God Game. With so many RPG games and the like, it's easy to imagine a handful of impressionable teens falling prey to someone or something sinister. As I read, I felt like the story was very reminiscent of a couple of pretty big movies, except that it didn't quite make it to that level. Basically, the story just didn't quite do it for me. It is very fast-paced, and there is pretty much always something happening, so in that, I suppose you could say that this one is action-driven. The problem with that is it left little time for character development, and the teens here could've used some of that. As it stands, they aren't particularly likable. That's not to say that more development would've made them more likable. It's entirely possible that the author didn't want us to like them. If that's the case, he succeeded. It just didn't help me become really invested in the book. I will say that the author does a fair job with inclusivity with the characters even if they are a bit clichéd. To sum it up, the premise for this story drew me in, the action was just enough to keep me reading, but I guess you could say that the overall story didn't live up to expectations. Maybe I expected something different than what it was, and I suppose that's on me, but it is what it is. The story was just left of okay, and not something I'll remember fondly later on.

This has been a slow read for me since I received it, hence the late feedback. I haven't finished the book yet because I'm honestly not sure I'm going too. 

When I first read the synopsis of this book, I was really intrigued. I play video games and I liked the movie Ready Player One so I figured this book kind of aligned on a similar plane to that. However, the book seemed to taper off the more I read it. The beginning was great and hooked you in but as I kept reading, the wording was getting more techy and the characters were becoming whiny. I also felt the characters were a little too stereotypical for my taste. 

I'm desperately hoping that I can pick this book back up before the end of the year and see if I can get a renewed perspective on it so that I may have a better opinion on it. The cover alone gave me high hopes that it would be a fabulous story but maybe this book isn't meant to be read by me quite yet. 

I shall try again at a later date! But for now, it has been so-so.

Following a group of high school teens as they get entwined in an all know AI game, this book had some great tech aspects that I really enjoyed as well as a wonderful message running throughout about good vs evil and doing the right thing.
However, I have come to the conclusion that personally I do not like reading books about high school students - although this was one of the books that I felt did it really well, with realistic dialogue and actions at times of big decisions.

Brilliant for fans of Mark Lawrence Impossible Kill series and Brandon Sanderson's Skyward.

Charlie and his friends are playing the G.O.D. game which is run by hackers and controlled by an AI who believe that it is God. They enter a virtual reality that eerily intertwines with real life. Perfect for fans of Ready Player One and Nerve.

Mix of sci-fi, fantasy and morality tale. 4* b
Could become a cult classic.

The premise is fascinating. Charlie and his five geeky, intelligent, computer-hacking high school friends hit upon the G.O.D. Game, an interactive program/ website. It turns out it's run by the darker side of the worldwide web, WWW, hackers and an AI that's programmed to think it’s God, or G.O.D.

The G.O.D. game comes equipped with some geeky tools that any normal teenager would love, like glasses that show them a virtual reality, and virtual, read real, super powers.

Charlie and his friends call themselves the Vindicators, doing magical, hi tech stuff in the school's computer lab. They're fairly stereotypical teenagers in the nerd spectrum, racially diverse, each with their own parental, family and personality problems.

The protagonist, Charlie, has been mired in grief since his mother died from cancer 16 months ago. His father has not coped well either, having failed to notice Charlie's once high, 4.0 grade average plummet. Vanhi is a bass-playing Indian girl planning to go to Harvard, and carrying a secret that she thinks could break her parents' hearts.

Peter is the handsome, cool guy, who could have joined the jocks. But by virtue of his brilliant coding ability, is a quintessential Vindicator, which he's chosen as his true calling. Part of a well-off family, Peter has a dark side, one that's dealt in drugs.

Cello-playing Kenny is African American, an arts and the philosophy student, who looks laterally to solve problems. His Christian parents hold him to high standards. Alex is Korean, sad and becoming darker in mood and actions by the day. He’s the emo of the group, along with Charlie. Charlie suspects Alex is being beaten up by his father but feels powerless to get help.

There are the stereotypical bullies, the sports stars, the jocks - and their beautiful girlfriends.

Despite the teens’ genius, their parents put immense pressure on them to get better grades to get in the best colleges/ universities.

The G.O.D. game offers them the chance for all their dreams to come true, or death. They don't really believe the death part, do they? If they follow the G.O.D. game's instructions it rewards them with Goldz, which are like the rewards in most phone games, but differ in that they do convert to money. Where this money comes from is never clarified, which creates the fantasy element. If the Vindicators fall foul of the G.O.D. game, they get Blaxx, which are bad, we’re told.

Right from the start, Charlie has qualms about the G.O.D. game. Soon, sinister elements emerge. Charlie wonders where Peter got the game from. Are there connections with the satanist cult-like group of years ago that led to prison sentences for the teenagers and a suicide?

For the reader, Danny Tobey does an amazing job of raising philosophical and moral dilemmas. As the stakes go up, violence ensues and criminal boundaries are crossed. The teens question whether a dark, malevolent presence is behind the G.O.D. game. Is it too late to leave the G.O.D. game? They find that they are increasingly powerless as they challenge the game.

Danny Tobey portrays powerfully intelligent questions. Of that there's no doubt. The philosophical conundrums were fascinating. However, the computer mumbo jumbo and so-called solution 75 percent through were a lost opportunity. Not only did it all eventually misfire, but all it did was leave unimpressed readers, rather than the reverse aim of the author.

On such an epic journey, once wants major payoffs for all 5 actors. The reader wants the their time and emotional investment to have been well spent.

Unfortunately, the ending of the G.O.D. game was a major let-down. Danny Tobey lost his way. If he'd let his protagonists solve the game, it may have been more satisfying than the actual ending. If the Hollywood treatment wasn't applied at the very end, it would have been far more satisfying. The only ending the author could conjure for Alex was that! Really! Not cool at all. Emotionally very awkward. I'm not even sure how each of them ended up, in which college, which relationship, etc. A messy end.

Still it was worth reading for 80 percent of the book.

Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC, advance reader's copy.

This book review also appears in Amazon.com, Goodreads  Readersvault and Netgalley.com.

The “Vindicators” is a group of students who are outcasts in their high school.  The group consists of Charlie, who has lost his mom to cancer, Indian American Vanhi, Kenny, Alex, and Peter.  They are into computer coding and playing games and tinker.  They have taken over the tech lab in school.  Most of the students consider them to be a loser group.  Peter introduces Charlie to a new game call G.O.D. which appears to be all-knowing,  omniscient artificial intelligence.   Charlie tells the others in their group about the new game he has been introduced to.   The G.O.D. game thinks of itself as God.  He gives out goldz for what is what is considered good by it and if you do bad he gives blaxx.  If the player gets enough blaxx he is killed while  goldz can be used for privileges and powers.  As time passes, Charlie is the first to realize that the G.O.D. game is not good.  It has too much control over them.  Will his friends believe him?  Will they stop playing?

Much more goes on in this novel, such as bullying,  romance, complicated relationships between parents and teenagers, and looking the other way.  The author has written great characters in scary settings.  It fascinated me how the “Vindicators” went along with what the game told them to do.

Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are completely my own. All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog tacklingtbr.home.blog  { #partner } 

TW : attempted suicide, strongly implied abuse, manipulation, death, bullying.

I just want to start by saying that this was a WILD read. This book was action packed, and smart, and a really intriguing cross between a number of different genres - young adult, sci-fi, suspense/thriller, and even moments of fantasy. What a way to start out my 2020 reading, by getting a little bit of everything in one of my first new reads! It was incredibly enjoyable, and it drew me in from the very beginning. 

Jumping off of that point, I read this book in three sittings. It was a very quick read. And yes, part of that comes from the fact that it is YA, but (cough cough, no shade to any specific books) I have read some YA books that took me almost a month to read because I was having trouble getting through them. This book was the exact opposite experience for me. I had to know what was going to happen next with these kids, and what the next "level" of the game would look like, and I practically tore through this book in order to get those answers. Which made it a perfect addition to my TBR list this month, and to help me get out of a slight reading slump that I've been in. Highly recommend it if you're needing a quick read for any of those reasons too! (Or just if you need to get your numbers on your Goodreads reading challenge back on track for the year. No judgement. Same, girl.) 

Now I don't think that we could talk about this book without talking about the characters and the different character development that we see throughout the book, as this game affects each of these high schoolers in very different ways. This book follows a group of high school seniors who are very close friends and call themselves "The Vindicators," who are very smart and computer savvy, and who also perform yearly pranks. At the beginning of this novel they are planning their big, senior year prank, and in doing so they get themselves invited to be a part of this super exclusive online game, The God Game. But, while it seems so attractive to them in the beginning, and it doesn't seem to be hurting anyone, soon everyone who is now playing The God Game have to follow every rule - and as the rules get more insane and more dangerous, so do the consequences for not following them. 
Without going into any spoilers, we get to see each character in this group go through their own independent transformations (as well as the transformation that the group and their friendships themselves go through) as they start to struggle with really hard real life issues - things like having to determine right and wrong on levels that greatly impact the people around them, and even things like having to figure out what is real and what is only virtual. 

I am going to stop myself before I go too far in talking in this circle, since I want to make sure to avoid spoilers - which can be very difficult in these types of stories! Over all I will say that I really, thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you enjoy sci-fi and you are looking for a really quick read that will drag you in from the very first page, then this is the next book for you. I would even recommend it to friends that sci-fi may not be their favorite genre, just because it is a really interesting and inherently terrifying story - what happens if AI and technology get so smart that they can be in control of the situation? And how do we know when we are on the path when it's gone too far?