2.5/5

*Thanks to NetGalley, and the publisher, for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book. The thoughts contained in the following review are all my own, however, and are honest (as always).*

I'll attempt to keep this review spoiler-free, but please be warned nonetheless.

I try to browse NetGalley daily, but rarely end up requesting books anymore. The reason isn't disinterest; it's the result of taking too much on when I first joined the site part-way into last year. I ended up with too many books to read, and am trying my best to make amends for that and produce the reviews I owe. I'm saying this here, because it's the reason I didn't get to God Game by Danny Tobey until now. That, and life getting in the way. I apologize for this review being somewhat late.

When I first saw the cover and title of Danny Tobey's The God Game, my interest was immediately piqued. Then I read the description and knew it was something I had to request. Thankfully, I was approved, but didn't get to the book until it was out, which made me decide to go to the library and borrow a finished print copy, so that I could read the fully edited and finished version. Might as well, right?

I want to say that, after waiting a while to read it, this book was exactly what I'd hoped it would be. However, if I said that I'd be lying. I wanted to like The God Game more than ended up happening, which disappointed me. That isn't to say it's a bad book. It's not. It's just not an incredible, standout book, or even a really good one. It's in-between just okay and good in my eyes.

The God Game is the story of several seniors at a Texas high school, who end up being invited into -- and becoming a part of -- a game called the G.O.D. Game. It's said that the experience, which is partly real and partly digital, is run by the actual creator of this world. However, it's made clear early on that what actually controls everything is an artificial intelligence that has been fed our laws, philosophies, morals, religions and more, and has come to believe that it is God.

At first the G.O.D. Game seems like a really cool thing, and something that the group (which calls itself the Vindicators, and is made up of Charlie, Vanhi, Peter, Alex and Kenny, all of whom come from different ethnic backgrounds and classes) is privileged to be a part of. It first asks them to pull a funny prank, by broadcasting that Donald Trump is a shape-shifting lizard, but then spirals downward from there. To the point where bullying, loose morals, danger, physical confrontations and other terrible things become commonplace.

You see, the G.O.D. Game is different (and much bigger) than expected.

Part thriller, part coming of age story, part religious exercise and part character study, Danny Tobey's latest has a lot to say about the state of the world, the Internet that has become a big part of our day-to-day lives and world, and religion as a whole. It starts off in a very interesting way, and seems like it'll be a really fun mix between Stranger Things or the Goonies and Ready, Player One, but it doesn't maintain this steam throughout its 450 page length. It sputters, regains steam and then sputters again, and isn't as good as it could've been. Perhaps it's because the author tried to go too deep with his messages and get a bit too philosophical. Perhaps it's also because the book is too long for its own good, and isn't a very fun read. It tackles some really dark subjects, some better than others, and isn't afraid to go places. I didn't really mind this, but the themes may bother some.

Charlie -- who is technically our main character -- has recently lost his mother, thrown in the hat when it comes to school and doesn't care about himself or his future. He loves Vanhi, but she plays for the other team and isn't interested in him. Both plan to go to Harvard together, and that impending application plays a big role in this book, which was written by an obviously very proud Harvard graduate, who sometimes seems like he's showing off his intelligence within this narrative.

Alex, on the other hand, is an Asian boy who's feeling the brunt of his father's wishes for his success. He deals with abuse at home, and it's made him anxious, depressed and worrisome. That's unlike, but slightly similar to Kenny, whose parents are very religious and force him to go to church. He's the group philosopher, who also happens to be a master cellist and is the necessary black character here. That said, the author does a good job of not making him stereotypical.

Last, but not least, is Peter. Having been expelled from his last private school, Peter is a troubled boy with little to no parental supervision. His father is often away, leaving him a big and pricey house at his disposal. Peter was there for Charlie, but can Peter be trusted?

While I liked Charlie and most of the other characters, including the girl he loves, I never truly got invested in any of them. I wanted to, but the book jumped around a lot, and some of the decisions these characters make both surprised and disappointed me. The ending was especially disappointing, with a last chapter than felt dumb and unnecessary.

As for the writing: Well, it's okay. There are times where it's pretty good, but also areas where more editing could've been helpful. The print version of this book contains some errors, but it's not uncommon to see those in first editions. That said, there are more than a couple run on sentences, including one that is the length of a regular paragraph. It just keeps going and going, and going, and going...

Overall, I'm going to give this book a 2.5/5. On GoodReads' scale that means it's between 'It's okay' and 'I liked it,' which seems fair to me after reading it. I wanted to like The God Game more than I did, and wish I had liked it more, but I didn't dislike it either. It just wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, and wasn't as much of a game as expected. More of a character study, really. I also struggled to read it in long spurts, so it took longer than usual.

To be quite honest, I am not the target audience for this book.  I picked it up from the available advanced copies due to its comparisons to Blake Crouch, whom I adore, in some of my fellow reviewer's feeds.  It is an intriguing concept and one that I think my boys (aged 10 and 15) would truly enjoy.  When I explained the premise to them they parroted back to me that it sounded kind of like a Jumanji type story where the game takes over reality.  I can't say I disagree with that assessment but the author takes the base story down some much darker roads.  

Tobey sends us on an exploration of human empathy, jealousy and selfishness that was very intriguing.  The group name of The Vindicators, takes on a whole new meaning when "the game" encourages the kids to be vindictive against others and even each other.  It felt like each of the characters did have a genuine motivation for their actions and their internal struggles all made sense in terms of the story.  That is, until it got to the ending 'twists', they didn't feel quite genuine and maybe a little rushed.

What I had a hard time within the believability spectrum was the ability of "the GOD game" itself to exert its influence on the real world.  I understand that the world has made technology into a type of false god, and that is one of the themes that the author is trying to explore, I would have just liked a thicker layer of believability surrounding the game itself and its motivations to make things happen while controlling our main characters.  Again, the ending didn't really help clarify things either.  As you can imagine, there was some deity related imagery that I wasn't very comfortable with either.

The dialogue in the book made me think that it would work better marketed as a YA novel than as a mass-market release but the story is intriguing and readable.  Pick it up for a casual read this summer.

Thanks to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for my copy of this book. The God Game is a crazy ride from beginning to end with non-stop excitement. I had no idea where this story was going AT ALL. I was on my toes until the last page. ⁣ What do you do when an AI invites you to play a game where the winner gets money, amazing tech and revenge but to lose means death? This Sci-Fi thriller is heart-pounding fun and is perfect for fans of Ready Player One.  
⁣

I felt luke this was a pretty good story but it wasn't anything I was expecting or use to. I thought t was well written but read like a campy teenage flick which isn't really my favorite. I'm sure lovers of YA will really like this.

***Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.  All reviews posted to this site are my own, honest thoughts on the subject matter.***

My Thoughts:

I typically go through a few types of genre binges in the course of a year.  I noticed that the last few months I have been pretty interested in Sci-Fi, Techy type things.  I've even been watching shows on TV that fall in these categories a lot lately.  I read the description of this book and was so intrigued that I had to get my hands on a copy.  I really enjoyed this book despite my 3 star rating.   Why only 3 stars?  This is why:

1. I found the main characters, collectively known as "The Vindicators" to be pretty interesting but sometimes a little too much.  All the kids have some pretty heavy stuff happening in their home lives and being super into coding and computer tech is their main source of bonding and escape. I just found the language is a little heavy on the technical terms for me.  I know next to nothing about coding or computer programming so the references in different spots lost me.

2. Each chapter has it's own title but sometimes I felt like it was more distracting trying to figure out the relevance to the chapter than helpful.

3. I actually didn't like the ending.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad one but it was not what I was expecting.  Although, I think a lot of readers may find the ending to be perfect.  I am used to reading some of these books where the characters go on this journey to Hell and back and then everything works out to a sort of HEA ending.  This did not.  The individual endings for each character was a pretty realistic one.  They learned from their experience playing "The Game"and were living with their consequences.  This part was absolutely fine for me with the exception that it leaves it open for the possibility of a series.  This makes me mad because in order for the story to continue it will mess with more unsuspecting people and Charlie in particular. 

I do think overall that the writing was pretty solid and the story line was unique. 

My Rating: 3/5🌟

I tried to get into this book so many times, but i just was not for me. The premise sounded so intriguing, but I could not get past the first 50 pages and inevitably did not finish the book. Hopefully The God Game sat better with other readers!

This one didn’t work for me. I found the characters super unlovable and I just couldn’t get into it.

A terrifying look at AI and our obsession with the internet, our virtual lives, and instant gratification. I'd describe it as Ready Player One meets Dare with some philosophy thrown in to keep you on your toes. Scary as hell and fascinating, you'll start to question every pop-up and game request after reading it.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!
This fast-paced, engaging, suspenseful, theologically and morally recondite tale centers on The Vindicators. This multicultural group of teens, cleverly representing the five fundamental elements of the Vedas, started playing a mysterious AI game. Then, like a roller coaster, there were peaks and valleys for each of them. 

Tobey created a well-developed world, and the action was heart-pounding and effortless to visualize and feel.

Highly recommended to readers who enjoy teetering on the literary edge of religion and artificial intelligence.

Charlie and his four friends, all into computer games, are “invited” to join in the GOD Game, an online experience where they’re promised everything they could ever want, though the game comes with full disclosure – “Lose, you die!” Not truly believing that die meant an actual, physical death, they jump in, happily gathering Goldz to level up and to purchase artifacts to assist with missions, and avoiding Blaxx, they follow the instructions that GOD provides no matter how strange they might seem. At first, the game is an interesting diversion from the pain and drama of real life, but things quickly take a darker turn, where they are called upon to do what seems impossible.

I’m not sure what I expected from The GOD Game, but I was completely captivated by the intense imagery and compelling storyline. I appreciated that Charlie and his friends didn’t exist only in a bubble bordered by the walls of the tech lab, but that they interacted with other students in what were realistic encounters. You never know who is watching you, and the book definitely drove that point home.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC to review.

I found The God Game intriguing and entertaining. This is a different kind of read for me so it took me a while to get into. I ended up enjoying it. If you like science fiction then this ones for you.

[ BOOK REVIEW ] *not spoiling*

- Welcome to The God Game. Do you want to start playing? Y/N -

This special experience when you are deeply immersed in your current read, fully aware that you have picked up exactly the right book at the uttermost perfect moment. Danny Tobey’s The God Game is one wonderfully entertaining novel about five high-school kids coming from different family settings – but being extremely tech-savvy, knowledgeable on programming and codes, they have named themselves The Vindicators, having each other’s backs, no matter what.

When Charlie and Peter receive the opportunity to join a secretive underground Game called: The God Game, they feel special on one hand but it does bother Charlie what consequences they will be met with, in case they “Lose”. It won’t take long for them to have the whole group joining in and as a Team, they are now on the journey to tackle one challenge after the other. What they don’t know yet is how powerful this game is & that their choice to enter and play, will effect their real lives in a much stronger way than they could have imagined.

I had such fun reading this book – it was one of those books I could pick up anytime, at 7am on my way to work, during lunch break with noise in the background, on my way home squeezed in-between people in the tramway … and I would find myself being pulled right back into the story immediately.
The background stories of each one of the kids was what added extra spice to the story & I cheered for amazing, courageous Vanhi all the way! It’s not a book for every reader and if Black Mirror, Minority Report and Ready Player One appear boring to you, you might better stay away.

The God Game by Danny Tobey
My Rating: 4 1/4 stars out of 5
Recommended if you enjoy reading novels dealing with the digital world & its moral challenges. And, you don’t mind that the protagonists in this novel are five teenage kids.

I want to thank the Marketing Department at St. Martin's Press #partner for kindly sending me the Netgalley widget link – in the meantime, I have seen a print edition at my local bookstore and #becausethiscover had to buy one for my shelves. This was my kinda read 100%!

I did not enjoy this book. I felt like this book was trying to be the next Ready Player One (without succeeding in my opinion). I also just was uncomfortable with all the connections to Christianity it was trying to portray (sometimes it seemed as if it was jesting at the religion).

What I Loved:
Danny Tobey has created this amazing and scary AI world and made it come to life. I loved how he built the world up, layer by layer, starting with only the computer and then moving to the phones, then the glasses, and so on. He really designed this horrifying game and wrote about it in a way that made me feel like I was right there.

How I Felt:
The God Game is a nightmare! I was terrified at the thought of this being a real thing and I loved that. The author was able to pull emotions out of me that made me terrified and worried and obsessed!

The Writing: The story was easy to get absorbed in because the writing was so good! I felt like there was zero down-time as we just flew from action-packed scene to action-packed scene. I was completely lost when there was a reference to coding. The writer chose to use the coding language at times, showing a “0101011” kind of language to show the reader the coding. This was completely meaningless to me, but I read past it and found that it did not affect my love of this story one bit!

The Characters: Each character had such backstory and depth. There was heartbreak for each of them, but hope too. They were easy to connect to and I was so worried for them throughout this story!

The Plot: AHHH! This plot! The idea of a game taking control of everything in your life. Do you love you dad? Y/N? And not being able to move on without answering the question, and then what happens once you answer? It was terrifying to think about! I couldn’t put the book down because I needed to know if they were going to be ok or not!

Overall: I fully enjoyed this book! The action and excitement in the story, along with the well-built characters and great writing made this a wonderful book!

To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend The God Game for readers that enjoy action-packed thrillers. The book blurb states that it is a little like Stranger Things, and I would agree. It’s mixing reality with a game. So, if you enjoyed Stranger Things, or Jumanji for that matter, you would enjoy this!

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

I really loved the concept of this book, but it was a bit too long for my liking. I think Tobey is a very talented writer and I would love to read more from him, but I did want a little more from The God Game. Or....a little less actually. There seemed to be a lot of filler around the middle that messed up the pacing of the novel for me.

All in all, I liked the book. Thanks for the chance to read it!

Book Review: The God Game by Danny Tobey
(Published by St. Martin's Press)

3 Stars

The description and premises of this "sci-fi thriller" whet high expectations, but sadly the delivery settles at the dead-end of a slow-paced, wordy 465-page R-rated YA fantasy novel, replete with foul language and an endless barrage of banal puerile pranks.

It's the year 2020, and quite painful to digest the author's low-tech offering of a screen and keyboard interface, so dated it reminds readers of a young Matthew Broderick in the 1983 movie WarGames and the AI Joshua - "Shall we play a nice game of chess" on-screen with that blinking cathode-ray tube (CRT) cursor. Where is the dark web's Alexa or Siri or even circa 1968 HAL 9000 when needed.

"God's" power misdirected. The book's hacker-concocted AI cum pseudo "god", opts to use its "omniscient and omnipotent" resources not to win a thermonuclear conflict as Joshua tried to do or mulct Fort Knox or solve climate change, but stoops to utter pettiness - harass a bunch of young Xbox gamers called the "Vindicators" to violence and death.

Neither is it all all fair and square based on juvenile video game fantasies, detached from the here and now.

The author connects the book to the real world as he bashes a sitting United States president, an ill-disguised opacity of the author's TDS. It is amazing how some great authors of late have succumbed to the temporary derangement, and here we have a fledgeling writer who not only links the relevance of his novel to term limits, but preemptively derails the commercial success of his work by alienating half of his potential market.

As for pace and excitement, the book simply pales in comparison with, for example, the cutting-edge tech in Blake Crouch's "Summer Frost", wherein in all of 75 pages he develops a non-player character (NPC) in a video game to an AI in God-mode, and creates three parallel worlds.

Review based on an Advance Reading Copy from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

I am sorry to say that I had to DNF this title at 40% due to not connecting with characters and side stories.

Charlie, a high school senior, is searching for meaning in the world after his mom passes away. Being a skilled coder and avid gamer, the G.O.D. Game piques his interest. The game seems simple; accomplish goals while playing on your phones and receive all sorts of rewards but if you lose, you die. Charlie and his four friends embark on a VR adventure but soon find they may have gotten in over their heads. Surely if you die in the game you don’t die in real life…right?

This book has been getting a lot of hype lately and I think it is absolutely well deserved. I found it to be fast paced, and full of surprises. I loved that I could just keep guessing where the story was going to go but in reality, I had no clue what was going to happen next. I think the author did an excellent job at keeping the reader on their toes. 

Part of me wishes that the book had gone even darker, although don’t get me wrong it was plenty dark. At certain points I was almost rooting for the game to take out Charlie and his friends for their foolishness in starting the game… Although whose to say I wouldn’t also be tempted by a game like this (or more likely, whose to say that my gamer husband wouldn’t be), so I shouldn’t fault the characters on their natural curiosity. In the end, I’m glad the author didn’t go down that path because it probably would have changed the tone of the book from an interesting look at technology to a lecture about internet safety. 

In general, I thought the characterization was very good with each character having their own distinct voice. I think they fell into a few different tropes, but it’s hard not to with friend group stories. I also love whenever books reference ancient history so I loved all the ruins and hydras and mythical gods. 

Finally, some of the coding specific information went over my head, because I’m not a coder, but I still loved that it was included in the book. I think someone who has an interest in that sort of thing might find it really adds another layer to the story and I’m glad the author didn’t shy away from showing these kids coding skills in action. I don’t know specifically how realistic, or how complex what they were doing was, but I still thought it was interesting to include. 

If you’re looking for a somewhat outlandish adventure, that’s fast-paced I think this is for you. This book is also great to use when reflecting on the power of technology and how it really could be used in the future.

The God Game by Danny Tobey is an amazing story! Great plot and characters. Very high paced and fascinating plot.

*The following title was a free copies provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own and do not reflect the views of the publishers or authors.

Quick Take: An AI has been created programmed with all of the religious texts of the world. Personality traits are prioritized based on social relevance and number of adherents to a particular faith. Welcome to the G.O.D game, where the AI thinks it’s God and underground hackers are very serious about providing players with an immersive, rewarding experience.

What I Loved: If you read only one thriller this year this should be it. It takes a fascinating look at the morality of artificial intelligence, who is qualified to program it, and how far you will go to get what you think the world owes you. Every character’s motivations were compelling and I found myself empathizing with each of them in some way. This book got so dark and violent in ways not expecting but that I thoroughly enjoyed. God Game is a page turner that live to all the hype. You definitely don’t want to miss this one.

What I Didn’t Love: Honestly, I loved every aspect of this book and I think it will be one of my favorite thrillers of the year. Some people might be bothered by the political bent of the novel but that didn’t bother me and all. It was a roller coaster ride from start to finish.