A solid scifi novella with good pacing and ending. Nicely done. I hope she continues to write.

Thanks for the free review copy!!

The description seemed very promising but when I read the novella I was a bit disappointed? The ex and his new girlfriend being mentioned all the time was really annoying, I also didn't like the constant mentioning of high-fashion brands, makes the main character seem shallow and vain, especially in such a short story. A longer version of this book without all of the aforementioned details would have been much more interesting.

his was so good! I'm so disappointed that it is merely a short story.

The Game is a futuristic dating app, Ready Player One meets The Inception kinda stimulation.
Leigh is a successful lawyer, she starts using The Game after her boyfriend left her. She meets Alexei, who felt like her soul mate. But then she founds herself in the middle of some sort of a killing club.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A short futuristic sci-fi fast paced thriller in a virtuel dating game. That was amazing with such an ending that leaves you asking for more. It should have been a novel and with such an idea as a plot this book would have been a bestseller thriller. I think that the author should rewrite it as a much more developed novel, really that would be fantastic because she is an amazing writer of sci-fi.

Leigh is a successful lawyer who has been dumped by her boyfriend that she "follows" on Instagram with his new girlfriend while drinking a lot and keeps having first dates in this virtual reality dating app called “The Game” where she meets Alexei and everything changes from fun to really dangerous.

I really liked it and I'm looking forward to reading more this kind of books by this author or in other genres if they will be as good as this one.

Loved this. Didn't realise it was a novella and was shocked when it ended!
Didn't expect the events that happen
Really liked this and will be watching out for this author

Holy shit I didn't expect that.

This is a futuristic sci-fi novella. At first I thought it was about romance, but NOOOO i was wrong.

It tells a story about Leigh who tried to cope with her break up by roaming in a dating app VR... until something thrilling happened. The writing is good and the setting was not confusing at all even though it's a sci-fi. Overall, I enjoyed it✨

Thank you so much to NetGalley and BookBuzz.net for this ARC!

THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is how you write a novella.

Endgame sucked me in from the first page with its distinct voice. The world-building is so well done—it gives you just what you need for a novella, but you can tell there’s so, so much more under the surface. The pacing is fast and the story is TIGHT, every scene serving its purpose. This was a delight to read.

My only sadness is that it’s so short—it definitely left me wanting more.

If you’re into fast-paced sci-fi thrillers, Endgame is for you.

Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc un exchange for an honest review!

-Ande

Endgame is short and sweet! This novella isn't super long and is about 65 pages but it really is a blending of genres. It's really fast paced and engaging all set around a virtual dating game. It's full of twisty turny wonderfulness.

This was a perfectly entertaining novella. I enjoyed the premise of the story - a dating app VR game thing. I would have loved to see this developed further, along with the overall, slightly futuristic world - despite not being that far into the future.

The main character was the worst thing about the novella. I would hope with a full length novel thst we could see some redeeming qualities to her, but overall, she's self-absorbed and whingey. She's highly annoying throughout. She reminds of the characters you see in the cheap romance novels.

This short SF-novella tells the story of Leigh who's left by her boyfriend of two years.
To get over him she starts to date through the virtual reality dating app "The Game".
But soon she discovers that this app isn't as harmless as it seems.

"I strut down the street, new Louboutins clacking on the pavement, carefully coiffed hair flowing in the hazy wind."

The first sentence of a book says a lot.
What immediately catches the attention is that the phrase starts with 'I' (just like many other sentences in this book). So probably Leigh's a pretty self-centered woman.
Let's continue reading:

"I think that man in the tailored D&G suit with the cheekbones that could cut glass just checked me out …"

Not only self-centered, but a fashionista as well.
This will be shown throughout the entire story by mentioning J. Crew, Tom Ford, Balenciaga, …

"But I'm not sure.
I try to meet his gaze, it doesn't work. He walks by.
Fuck."

And this is the first in a series of fuck(ing)s.
In the swearing sense. Not in the sexual one.

Even though I'm not at all rooting for the main character, this isn't a strict requirement to enjoy a good story. A bad villain f.e. can be entertaining too.
A minimum of credibility is required though. And that's missing here.

There's nothing that convinces me of the fact that Leigh is a successful lawyer, as is stated at the beginning of the story.
She's more like an empty-headed, self-centered and above all superficial woman.
Here's her reaction to a picture of a date proposed by the app:

"Brody is … Brody? Jeeze. He's hot, but you'd think the artificial intelligence in this thing would've figured out by now that I'm very picky about names. I dated a Brody when I was thirteen and it ended poorly. It's on one of my connected social profiles, for chrissake. You'd think it would know better."

For someone who's not over her ex yet, following reasoning is not credible either:

"I nod, because I can't trust myself to open my mouth. Would "I love you" slip out already? Why haven't I learned my lesson? It's barely been ten minutes and I'm already thinking of this guy as endgame."

Immediate physical attraction is something believable. Insta-love isn't. Certainly not if one is as obsessed by her ex-boyfriend as Leigh.

The premise sounded very appealing and it's true that you read this rather short story in one go.
But the lack of credibility of the obnoxious protagonist's behaviour distracted me too much from the rest of the story to enjoy it fully.
There's a lot of potential as the game-part was more entertaining, even though the twist at the end was quite predictable (no details to avoid any spoiler).
But overall this story doesn't leave a lasting impression.

Seeing all the raving reviews, it's probably just a matter of me not being the right reader for this book.
So decide for yourself if, just like in the dating-app, you swipe this one to the left or to the right.
Or to stay in the title's vein: you can choose between 'game over' or 'endgame'.


*Thanks to NetGalley and Kyanite Publishing LLC for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are some books I wish were shorter, and there are some books (like this one) that I wish were longer.

I have received this book in exchange of an honest review, thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity.

I have my own blog now (Daysinotherworlds.com), so please do give it a visit if you're interested in my other reviews :)

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It's been a long while since I read a sci-fi book, and even though I'm not as big on the genre as I used to be, I do think that this novella was an interesting read. I was actually shocked when I learned that this is a novella, since reading the synopsis implies that it's going to be a complicated one to get through and having lesser amounts of pages isn't exactly going to help that.

Technically, it didn't. I say this because the author decided to focus on a single part of the plot and fast forward the progression to the conclusion which makes it a fun read, but also leaves quite a few things to be desired. For instance, knowing about Leigh herself. I only know what I was told about her without getting any time to spend around her to build up a bigger image, which I think is a bit of a bummer considering my interest in knowing how being a lawyer actually is in her world, as it seems way more advanced than implied despite, supposedly, only being set in 2029.

One more thing that I really wanted to see in bigger details was The Game itself, as what I got to see here is extremely limited to the plot in the book, which was once again a bummer. I don't mean the focus of the game, not quite, but having something that takes simulation and makes it so life like, is bound to be able to create so many other things within those bounds as well, in the same space and focus which made me very interesting in see.

Despite me saying the above however, the novella was extremely engaging for me and I finished it in a sitting quite easily, while more importantly having a lot of fun in the process. The above issues, or at least one of them could have been easily fixed with a longer novel to further explain the world and get me more attached to Leigh and her troubles. Before the mystery began, and I can see its progressions being made in earnest instead of just being thrown into the mix alongside the protagonist who is asked to go along with it.

All in all, in this small package of a novella, the author ended up creating a fun and engaging story for me to read which is actually pretty interesting in its own right and something I only experienced previously with A Dead Djinn in Cairo which was another extremely short novella that ended up being insanely entertaining to read.

Final rating: 3.5/5

Book received for free through NetGalley

Wow. Just wow. A quick read that grabs you quickly and doesn’t let you go.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This short story was simply amazing. I’m the roughy 60 pages that make up the story there were so many twists and turns that leave you wanting more. The amount of detail achieved was impressive. And I loved the storyline itself.
I am seriously so sad this wasn’t longer. Definitely has the makings of a full length novel. Fell in love with the plot and characters in six short chapters. I need to know what happened after the final page.
Well written and intriguing from the first chapter through the end, there was more substance written into this short story then some 200+ page books I’ve read.

This is a great short read just under 60 pages. Leigh a young Lawyer, who was just dumped by her boyfriend decides she is going to trying virtual dating but something goes not quite as expected. I was not expecting the twist at the end and I wish this novella had been a full length book.

OH MY GOD. The plot twist at the end was so shocking, it was so unexpected!!

This book is about Leigh who got into a date with Alexei in The Game, a virtual reality where you can alter your avatar to be more attractive and choose your dates. Leigh met Alexei in The Game and she found out a secret in The Game from Alexei and they will borh try to fix it.

This is was such a good read! Everything was so amazing and the concept of the book is incredible! I loved the writing style and the characters. This is one of the shortest but greatest books I have ever read.

Holy crap I just got taken on a wild ride by a less than fifty page short story. Short stories general are not my thing but I was pleasantly surprised by Endgame.

This futuristic sci-fi thriller follows Leigh, a seemingly successful lawyer as she navigates recent heartbreak by throwing herself into a virtual reality game that seems like futuristic Tinder.

And now, for my new favorite pastime of being a snotty, drunken, half-naked mess.

I mean if that is just not a mood all by itself, I don’t know what is.

The story starts off with a bang and ***TRIGGER WARNING*** a mention of suicide with literally no lead up to it at all.

Good ol’ Jamie. She warned me against Peter when I first started seeing him, but she threw herself out the window of her high-rise apartment before she could really nail into my brain how bad he was.

Oh okay we are going to a dark place right off the bat, but it will make sense in the end so just hold on.

The action kicks off fast and this Is a real page-turner with a HUGE surprise ending. It does exactly what a short story should do and draws you in at the start and keeps you hooked until the very last page.

I am not a short story reader so I was very surprised by how much I liked this. There was good world building and character description/development in such a short read, which I found to be really impressive. Overall I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to check out more from this author.

Despite only measuring in at just over 50 pages, I was entirely captivated with this short, futuristic tale. It focused on protagonist, Leigh's, sadness after her recent separation with her boyfriend of two years. She falls down into a rabbit hole of alcohol abuse and virtual reality dates, as a way to cope with the strains of reality.

One evening begins in the same fashion as all the others, but ends with a virtual meeting that leaves her unable to think about anything, or anyone, else. She longs to reconnect with this special someone without yet realising that a killer twist is waiting for both her and the reader as she does...

I couldn't predict where the story was going to take the reader and enjoyed being entirely immersed in the tale, as multiple twists and a cliff-hanger ending kept me longing for more. I wished more details about the virtual world that Leigh entered were included but understood the necessity of painting it in brief strokes, given the short page length. I thought Tritle artfully delivered all the need-to-know facts and crafted an easily navigated world for the reader to dive into.

Something I couldn't understand, however, was Leigh's immediate adoration for the figure she meets at the beginning of the book. She seemed instantly smitten and content to believe his every word. It marred by enjoyment a little as I struggled to feel the same way.

I wish this novella was longer. I was hooked from the very start and was swept away by this fast paced futuristic thriller. There was some insta love and the twist was predictable but the exaction was top tier. I love reading stories about the advancement of tech, especially VR and this checked all the boxes for me. 10/10