I want to start by saying I wasn't expecting or wanting something original or that's not derivative because the summary is clear that this is a Hunger Games/Battle Royale story. That's what I was expecting and wanting to read and that is exactly what The Kill Factor is.

Unfortunately, Oliver is a little too derivative, while also writing this story, featuring multiple gruesome deaths, as if it's for children? When it's meant to be YA? The writing is too simplistic in comparison to the content. It then handles various hot button topics with the absolutely no finesse, and so clumsily, that when the incel topic came up I just had to laugh??

Oliver tries to make develop some substance in The Kill Factor by attempting to comment on late stage capitalism, mob mentality, desensitization from the internet, radicalization on the internet, the shallowness of influencers and digital "content", but at the same time... like, this book comes across as a clear attempt to cash in on topics of concern to kids by an adult who doesn't fully understand why these topics concern kids.

A forgettable fumble in the Battle Royale genre.

I didn't want to like this book. The premise just seems so contrived, Emerson starts off pretty boring, and it seems like a setup for a classic love triangle. I almost quit around 30%, but managed to push through. Then I didn't stop reading until I finished and wanted to start all over again. It's very reminiscent of and inspired by the Hunger Games and Black Mirror, especially its commentary on society. Maybe not the most original, but until these sorts of stories stop teaching us about our reality, they're worth telling. Also the ending!!

This book is extremely similar to Hunger Games, just at a prison reform camp and writing that isn't up to par with Suzanne Collins. The deaths are more violent than in Hunger Games. There's a bit of a dystopian angle, as well as a social media one, and I could see it appealing to the YA audience. The writing does lack depth and things are quite far-fetched. This was just "meh" and not a book that will stick with me.

The Kill Factor was so interesting. I found myself reading so quickly, and when I couldn’t read I was thinking about this book. It combined elements from The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner, culminating in a ya dystopian novel that hit the spot.

In the world of The Kill Factor, social media and influencers rule the world. The amount of followers a person has directly impacts the amount of money they have. The rich and famous live lavishly while the unfollowed and poor live under the city in the burrows. I found the topic of social media to be so entertaining. It made me think while being very entertaining. I couldn’t put it down. This book also hit me right in the heart, with so many twists, turns, and heart wrenching moments I was invested. I’m excited to see what else is in store for the world of The Kill Factor.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

HOLY. CRAP.

It’s been a minute since I’ve read a book that had my heart POUNDING with suspense, but Ben Oliver absolutely delivered!!

The world, the characters, the horror, the conspiracies…it was all so incredible. I felt such a wide variety of emotions throughout this book and I’m soooo hoping this is the start to a series, because I need more!

This book has a combination of features from the Hunger Games (dome), #MurderTrending (social media), and Death Race (taking advantage of folks who have been convicted of a crime). It is a quick read with fast paced deaths and quests/rounds, which will keep reluctant readers interested. The book requires a suspension of disbelief, but it could open the door for some deeper conversations on redemption, opportunity, and justice.

This book was one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever read. Which was probably the author’s intention, so goal achieved. I’m effectively horrified. This concept is basically Hunger Games but prison reform camp version. Though this wasn’t exactly much of a futuristic dystopia so much as social commentary, it definitely had high stakes.

I was expecting this to be very Hunger Games-y but it turns out this was much more like Black Mirror. A big chunk of this is a social commentary about how modern society has become dependent on likes and follows on social media. Yet, this concept has been twisted into a life or death situation, where it’s basically, get followers or get voted off this twisted reality show and die. Contestants with more followers get easier challenges and are more likely to survive their challenges than ones with fewer followers, who get harder tasks. Your life quite literally becomes dependent on your follower count and views, so it feels very much like a Black Mirror episode. Then you have teens who are so brainwashed that they think the reality show is a good thing, despite all the death that they themselves are at risk of, because they can gain followers and brand deals and sponsorships from the press of being on the show. Some of the teens on the top of the leaderboard genuinely twist it into, this evil producer killing teenagers is trying to “help them” since they are all felons with “broken brains” and he is trying to “save them”. After witnessing all of the horrors from their first challenge, some of them genuinely have this mindset.

This book does a good job at the social commentary aspect. We all know social media is fake and tons of things we see online, especially on tikok, are staged for views. But it’s even crazier to see it in this setting where views and followers are the difference between life or death. You see teenagers staging fake stuff, staging pranks, a discussion of faking a love triangle for the cameras, even going as far as harming themselves, anything to get followers to be likable enough to not end up at the bottom of the leaderboard. Seeing all this going on in a life or death kind of situation just makes the whole, society as a whole being obsessed with getting attention on social media, thing feel even more superficial and ridiculous. The perfect analogy of young teens putting too much stock into online validation is the scene where one of the teens quite literally starts hurting himself in desperation on camera in hopes of getting followers because he does not have the charisma or skill to be popular online, and followers are the difference between life or death on this reality show, so he thinks he has no other choice. It’s horrific. And the scene where two teens at risk of being voted off the show have to follow a series of dance moves, like something similar to TikTok dances I guess? And viewers vote and evaluate the dances and the best dancer who gets more votes gets to stay on the show. These kids who are being killed for entertainment are forced to literally dance for their lives. It’s completely insane. I think it makes for an effective social commentary, especially for young teens. The more you read on the more and more shocking it gets.

I genuinely wondered how they were going to get out of this one, because stakes were not only high but impossible. I really had no clue how these characters were going to get out of this. It’s also a super quick read; I felt like I’d barely started and I looked up and was already 40% in. I started this book at around 11 pm and ended up staying up late to finish it because I just couldn’t stop reading. It just got more and more horrific and terrible as it went on and I just had to know how this book ended. Which, that ending, I can’t believe it ended like that! We gotta get a sequel now, surely? This was one of the most horrifying books I’ve ever read and it’s literally YA so if it’s meant to be a social commentary for teens to not place too much stock into online popularity because it’s not actually life or death like it is in this book, message achieved lol.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I love dystopian stories, and I was so excited to be accepted as an ARC reader, so as soon as I got it, I dove in, but I can't say this was something I would reread. As others have said, this IS incredibly similar to the Hunger Games, which was disappointing to me. Make no mistake, I did enjoy the book, but I didn't feel like it was anything new or groundbreaking. 3.25 stars. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

3,5 stars, rounded up.

The Kill Factor is a dystopian novel set in a social media-driven world. Like many post-Hunger Games dystopian works, it involves a competition and contestants do die. This was a fast-paced story and quick read, and I do think it will appeal to many of the teen readers in my classroom. I found myself hoping for a bit more depth and character development, but overall I enjoyed the book. Emerson was a strong female MC and many of her fellow contestants also had me rooting for them. I think this book could start interesting conversations with students about the power and danger of social media, as well as the problematic nature of people wanting to be entertained at any cost.

A brand-new game show that offers young criminals the chance at freedom has been greenlit. Little do they know, winning is their only chance at survival. A captivating examination of the dark truths around the criminal justice system, Ben Oliver, critically acclaimed author of The Loop trilogy, delivers an action-packed thrill ride with deadly high stakes. Fifty contestants. Five mental and physical challenges. One winner. In a near-future where a virtual currency of digital content fuels a fame-hungry society, a brand-new experiment that combines social media and reality TV has been greenlit. Voted on, and contestants are sent to a maximum-security reform camp on an island where they can have no contact with the outside world. To lose means prison. But to win is to be free. The most popular young offender with the most upvotes by the end is given both a second chance in society and a cash prize. This kind of money could mean everything to Emerson and her family who live in the Burrows, one of the subterranean villages where the government have buried affordable housing. It's more than freedom. It could mean the chance to change her family’s circumstance and finally find a place in the society they’ve never been allowed into. But what Emerson doesn’t know, what the viewers don’t know, is that the prison on the island is empty. Those who lose, those who are voted off aren’t incarcerated. Each challenge will leave more and more contestants to die. And the only choice they have is to win over viewers before it’s too late.

This was my first Ben Oliver book, and while I thought it was ok, I am definitely not the target demographic. Part hunger games, part squid game with a horror twist, I think horror aficionados and young adult fans will enjoy this one:)

Emerson doesn't care about social media or gaining a following, even if the credits would help feed her family. When she is arrested and faces twenty years in prison, a tv producer gives her a possible out. Emerson can join a new reality game show pitting 50 contestants against each other in physical and mental challenges. If she wins, her record will be cleared and she'll have enough followers (and subsequent credits) to live far more comfortably. If she loses, the consequences are dire--life in prison. Emerson doesn't want to participate, but her father convinces her to agree to the deal. What comes next is an action-packed adventure with lots of horrifically graphic challenges.

The Kill Factor is both an engaging horror/dystopia novel and a satirical look at society and its' obsession with social media. Definitely a book that will appeal to a lot of teens, especially fans of horror.

I did not like this book at all. The author was almost plagarizing the Hunger Games series by Suzannne Collins. The effort was also not as good because the of the actual writing. I wanted to like this but the acutal writing and plot was terrible which made me skim read most of this. It was too much like the Hunger Games obviously with names and ages changed. At least there was a car wreck.

The author should be fined for plagarism. Cannot recommend. Do not waste your time.

Thanks to Netgalley, Ben Oliver and Scholastic Chicken House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 4/16/2024

Heavy handed cliché dystopian novel. This has been done already. DNF.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a DNF for me within the first few pages. The writing felt amateur and I couldn't overlook the clumsy prose to appreciate the plot.

Emerson Ness has committed a crime. She has been offered an opportunity to participate in a reality game. If she wins the game. She wins her freedom. If she loses she will be imprisoned for life without any contact from the outside worlds or others. Emerson and 49 other contestants join the game. Playing the games (5 in total) along with creating content for social media and getting upvotes can is going to prove to be more difficult than any of the contestants every imagined.

The contestants must journey to an circular island and are forced to play games that are cruel and unusual. Bonds between gamers will form but this sinister game can only have one winner and sometimes winning is losing.

The character development is amazing. Each character is distinct and you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat especially as the stakes increase.

Kill Factor is reminiscent of The Hunger Games, Maze Runner and a few Black Mirror episodes. If that genre is your jam you'll love Kill Factor.

This dystopian novel combines elements of The Maze Runner with elements of The Hunger Games, and adds a twist from the present: internet influencers. In the possibly not-so-distant future, influencer credit is more valuable than mere money, and people spend their lives trying to gain enough followers to earn a decent living - but of course, only a few can do that, and those who can't fall to the bottom of the social and financial structure.

One such person at the bottom is Emerson Ness, a 17 year-old Burrower - a person who lives in the tunnels below the city, originally built by the homeless to gain some warmth from the heated floors of the wealthy, but later expanded by the government as a cheap and convenient way to both house and hide the poorest of the poor where they wouldn't bother the rest of society. Emerson has scraped and dug and, yes, stolen, trying to support herself and her brother, with minimal help from her father, a would-be influencer convinced that someday, his cast will take off. Caught in a fire at her school, Emerson is charged with arson and manslaughter, and sentenced to 15 years incarceration - but she's given a chance to participate in the Redemption Games, trading her guaranteed 15 years for a chance at freedom, balanced against the risk of a lifetime in prison. Upon reaching the guarded location of the Redemption Games, Emerson and her 49 fellow competitors find out that the Redemption Games are really a game show called The Kill Factor - and only the last survivor can win. Recommended for older teens and adults, due to dark themes and repeated deadly violence.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of The Kill Factor. Given the success of Ben Oliver's other books in my library, I knew I had to read this one to prepare for book talking with my students. I know they won't be disappointed in the thrills, twists, and turns that come with The Kill Factor. From the televised competition aspect that will attract fans of Squid Game to the dystopian society that will draw in a different subset of readers, I anticipate that The Kill Factor will be a hit with my students.

This book was incredible! It was such a fun adventure, despite the heavy themes. I found myself rooting for Emerson, so hard by the end! She irritated me at first, but I adored her by the end of the book. It was such a good story and really kept me sucked in. The author was absolutely masterful at setting the scene without too much detail and making me not want to put the book down. It was a fantastic ride, and I loved every second of it!

Thank you Netgalley for an Arc of The Kill Factor. After Chapter 1 I wanted to stop reading this book, then chapter 5, then a few more chapters but then next thing I knew I had finished the book. The Kill Factor is a mix of Hunger Games, Squid Games, and a horrible car wreck that you can not look away from. If our world ever relies on social media for its currency we are doomed. Let's just keep that idea within The Kill Factor. I will be patiently waiting for this to be published to share with my students.

Introducing the new reality show, The Kill Factor, a must-watch for Hunger Games enthusiasts. With surprising plot twists and moments of intense suspense, this is a must-see for fans of HG and survival-themed entertainment.