The Rumor Game is a book about cyberbullying, rumors, and the way that things spiral out of control, and I think the premise has a lot of potential, but I also think it missed the mark a little bit.
The characters are complex, which I liked, and utterly unlikeable, which I also kind of liked, but I couldn't tell if I was supposed to like them or not (especially Bryn, who was one of the narrators but did a lot of unbelievably and irredeemably bad things). It felt like I was supposed to forgive them, but they were just doing so many bad things and not even remotely understanding how their actions had consequences. There were a lot of characters and they were all very diverse, which is a definite plus. I will say that the characters were painted as incredibly intelligent (since they all attend a very elite private school), but some of the things they did were incredibly dumb. But overall, I thought that the three main characters were interesting and complex and I liked the way the story skipped between the three different perspectives.
This book had a lot of potential, and I think it hits on a lot of important and poignant issues, but a lot of the portrayal just felt unrealistic. Especially with the way some of the teenagers were talking - a lot of it read like adults trying to sound like teenagers, which took me out of the story. It felt a little directionless for the first third of the book, and the whole book ran a little long, but it definitely picked up by the end and I was on the edge of my seat.
I was a little wary of the audiobook form, since I had heard that this book had a lot of multimedia elements to it, but I think that the way that the social media posts were integrated into audio form was done incredibly well. The narrators also did a really good job, and I think I probably liked Georgie and Cora more because I liked the narrators that read their parts (I liked Bryn's narrator as well, I just think her actions were just so bad that I couldn't forgive her).
Overall, this book was entertaining and I think it handled a lot of important issues really well, but it was just a little unrealistic and ran a little long. Definitely worth the read, though!

Teen drama! Rich people doing absurd rich people things! Gossip and intrigue! Washington DC setting! All the things that make a sought after book on my classroom shelf, so I thought this might be a good possibility for my classroom library … and it still might, but it’ll take a lot more effort than I expected. Besides the obvious discussions about bullying and the dangers of social media, there are a whole lot more content warnings that I’d have to worry about and either warn students about, or plan a discussion to debrief.
The drama will be appealing to my high school students, but I just wish there was a more nuanced message.
The story has no subtlety… the characters are all stereotypes - almost caricatures- and the consequences are all the same (all the rich kids switch to new rich kid schools) make it a bit over dramatic.
All that said, I still would consider it for my classroom library. I do think it would make good fodder for discussion- not just the obvious ones, but even about things like the casting of the voices and the stereotyping of the characters.

I listened to the audiobook and although I didn’t mind the voice actor for Bryn, the rest were horrible. I almost DNF because I couldn’t stand the Georgie or Cora voices. Sooo overacted and annoyingly stereotyped. Again, no subtlety.
I was excited for the story, excited for the DC setting, excited for the racially and ethnically diverse characters.. but ultimately disappointed by the package as a whole.

Thank you to Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra, Disney Audiobooks, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Everything about the book on the site made me think it would be a slam dunk for me. Unfortunately, I did not connect to this story. It was very frustrating to listen to this book because of the content. I appreciate the content warning and I proceeded because it normally doesn't bother me but this hit differently for some reason.

I think this story will be very divisive. While it was not for me, it will definitely be a slam dunk for others.

This book relays a moral message with a 90201-style glamorous cast.. As the parent of a teenager (and someone who used to be one), I that was a good choice.

I listened to the audiobook, and I appreciated that the way it used the notifications sound when relating social media messages. That felt very authentic, to the point that I had to remind myself it wasn't my phone beeping. I liked the narrator for Cora, but the narrator for Georgie overacted. She was definitely written as a naive character, but also smart, and the narrator made her sound like a simpleton.

I appreciated the diversity of.the student body and the fact that race and ethnicity was acknowledged in a natural way. It felt authentic to today's teenage experience in diverse communities.

I really like the character of Georgie's counselor, and the way that she gave Georgie permission to try to recover from some of the negative lessons her parents taught her, while also keeping her on a path of integrity.

This could have been pared down by 15 chapters or so, but with a little more time spent on the ending and aftermath.

Had to DNF because of cw. The weight theme was too much for me. Also, the audiobook was difficult without chapter headings.

I think I have read several books from this duo and have loved most of them. This book was a hard hitter for me. I absolutely love anything that has to do with drama and school vibes. This book had it all for me. The drama between the teenagers was great. I liked how this book touched on sensitive subjects. I think it was done really well. Not just your normal young adult drama with no resolution to anything. Great read!

Whew. This has ALL the drama.

I really appreciated the authors note at the end with resources.

The story centers around a trio of high school girls a fallen queen bee, a current queen bee and a nobody turned somebody.

Baseless rumors are spread, lives are ruined and secrets eventually uncovered.

I almost wish we didn’t find out before Cora and Georgie about Brenn (brynn?). It would’ve been a bigger punch in the gut.

Audiobook review - I really enjoyed this audiobook. The storyline was full of timely topics that can lead to lots of discussion if used in a classroom or book club setting. I think many of my teen patrons will be able to relate to this book. I recommend purchasing this title for all teen collections where audiobooks circulate well.

This book had a lot of potential, but I think it tried to take on too much, which, pacing /plot issues aside, led to some pretty glaring oversights in terms of the mental illness representation. I don’t think mental illness was considered (or researched??) much at all, actually, except as a set of tired stereotypes in service to the narrative. I understand if the teenage protagonists lack a nuanced understanding of this disability issue/identity (as, for instance, they did at times around issues of consent - because they are teenagers and still learning) but I kept waiting for some corrective to that perspective and it never came. The book/authors themselves seemed to objectify the mentally ill and it really left me feeling icky. It was a missed opportunity and I think these otherwise talented authors can do better.

I listened to an audiobook ARC from NetGalley and the narrators gave an excellent performance that fit the characters very well.

My twins and I listened to it. We had long talks about rumors and the girls could not relate being in a small school. It was eye opening to us. Words and actions hurts! It was a good teaching moment for our house.

There is no synopsis included in this review... :)

I enjoyed this book; it conveys an essential message about how rumors spread, how rumors change over time, how they go viral, and how they can ruin lives. This aspect of the book, I enjoyed immensely! I also enjoyed the running list of rumors, including those from earlier in the book that were continually included. I can see where the repetitiveness of the early parts of the list could be frustrating to some, but for someone who forgets very quickly, I liked this; it kept the list fresh in my head.

Sometimes when I read (listen to) books, I have the terrible habit of missing things (thanks to my ADD!). So please feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this point... (I very well might be!). I like the vast array of cultures represented in the book... DC was a perfect setting for that, with politics and embassies. However, there seemed to be literally one of each culture, rather than a true mix as there would be in real life. It made each character come across as the token representing that culture... it felt like each culture came across as a stereotype rather than just a natural mix. If that was the authors' intention, they achieved it; however, that made the reading experience regarding the characters feel awkward to me, which was a big deal and why I gave three instead of 4 stars.

Last, to end on a positive note! The book takes place in DC... I live in the DC Metro area, so it was easy to distinguish what was fictionalized and what was geographically accurate. The authors did an outstanding job with this! I often get frustrated when I read books that take place locally because of how ridiculous some geographical facts are. Even living in the area, the fictionalized portions of the setting were entirely believable, and it's one of the few books where I enjoyed the DC setting. Kudos!

Thank you to netgalley, the authors, and Disney Audiobooks for the opportunity to read (listen to LOL) and review this book!

The Rumor Game follows Bryn, Cora, and Gerogie, Foxham Prep students who get sucked into the dangerous world of cyberbullying. This book tackles a lot of difficult issues in addition to cyberbulling like sexual assault, eating disorders and fat shaming. There is a growing sense of dread as what happens to the girls escalates into something pretty awful.

While there are aspects of the three girls that are unlikable, in the end I don't think this causes the characters to be unlikable overall. Clayton & Charaipotra do an excellent job of crafting complex characters who are equal parts tragic and relatable. As I said before, this book tackles uncomfortable subject matter, but it does so in a way that makes you really want to root out the bad guys and bring them to justice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Taylor Meskimen, Deepa Samuel, and Joniece Abbott Pratt (one of my favorite audiobook narrators), and Julie Nathanson were amazing narrators and really brought the characters to life.