When I say match my freak this is what I mean.

I think this book was tailor-made to crush my body and rebuild my soul. Many complexities within this story, but at the heart of it: politics and sex. It felt like it was written specifically for me because an age gap relationship with intellectual, political sparring followed by the most mina numbing sex a person could have? Made for me. It combines all the things I’m passionate about: politics/philosophy and relationships that make you slightly uncomfortable, make you feel!!! This is a story that explores grief, intimacy, broken families and found families and the fear of being human taking place during summer in New York City (which itself felt like a fully developed side character!) There’s a love story between these flawed characters who are just trying to make their way through a difficult, ever evolving world and love burning in places you would never think could work. Anna Maria Volkova’s writing is a gift to the world, it makes you appreciate every single word choice, sentence structure and the way it’s all woven together for the maximum emotional impact. I truly do believe there was a me before this book and after.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If I had to describe the experience of reading Games, it would be like sitting Centre Court watching a tennis match, neck cracking left and right and left and right. It’s intelligent, hilarious, sexually charged, and heartbreaking. And potentially one of my favourite books ever...? I was already excited going into this story for all of its various elements (Normal People comp, fusion of sex and art and economics) and it not only delivered, but far exceeded my expectations.

Games is so rich. It’s rich in concept, content, theory, character, execution. New York breathes in this novel. Lili is a young woman exhausted but driven by ambition, by her socially democratic conviction, her pain and sexual hunger. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more seen by a character’s thought processes, her actions and reactions towards situations and life itself. I felt that I understood her completely. Then there's Aleksandr, who poses as her capitalist, neoliberal counterpart. I wanted to strangle him (so many times) but he unfolds into such a beautiful, nuanced character with his own rationale, belief systems and internalised pains from growing up in the Soviet Union. Also, he was really sexy, amen. And there is a cast of surrounding characters, Lili's friends and Michael, who warm this novel so much.

Lili and Aleksandr's age gap tastefully lends to their conflicting political and economical positions. Both characters stem from heavy cultural histories/backgrounds which shape their feelings towards modern America. It was truly refreshing to read about characters with diverse roots like this; Lili being Middle Eastern and Aleksandr being Russian. It was an illuminating divergence from the Western canon/narrative we see dominating literary fiction nowadays, and I was super appreciative of this element of the book.

Lili and Aleksandr argue constantly, about everything, but each argument is so intellectually stimulating. There's so much food for thought in this regard (e.g., Aleksandr's meditation on Marxism being akin to religious fulfilment: "there's an absolutism to it—answers to all your questions, direction for the rage, purpose to your suffering.") Like, that made me THINK. I'm aware the constant debating in this book won’t be for everyone, but I devoured every second of it. There’s also, obviously, a lot of sex; again, another interesting dynamic meticulously deconstructed and explored between the two characters. There is art and literature and friendship. The writer has imbued this story with so much knowledge it’s almost cavity-inducing, but I felt like I read this book at the perfect time in my life (case and point: I took a photo of The Economist the other day to post on my IG story; Lili takes a photo of The Economist to send to Aleksandr).

Though I now sadly have to leave Games behind (rest assured, a reread is coming in June), I walk away having been offered so much to think about. And what a gift from a book, what an achievement for the author. It’s staggering how much this book takes on but then, I think, life is exactly that: the intersection and overlap and messy, complicated blend of sex and politics and literature and art and pain. It's also really, really funny. Lili and Aleksandr will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you kindly to the publisher for the ARC!