nabecker13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Abortion, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Chronic illness, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Minor: Antisemitism
bisexualwentworth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This novel tells the story of the relationships between Sadie Green, Sam Masur, and Marx Watanabe in an occasionally non-linear and experimental way over the course of about three decades. I've seen a lot of people describe this book as just the story of Sadie and Sam's friendship, but I don't think that's wholly true. Marx--and Sam and Sadie's relationships with him--is just as important as they are.
We meet Sam and Sadie as long-lost friends reunited and quickly learn why their initial tween friendship ended. Marx is at first Sam's roommate and then becomes generally the backbone of everything when Sam and Sadie start creating videogames with each other.
The games in this book--Solution, Ichigo, Both Sides, Mapletown, Master of the Revels, and others--are intriguing and add a lot to the story in the way that they use literary and pop culture references, show changes in tech and cultural norms over time, and help to show us things about the characters. This is not, however, a book about videogames, so I'm not mad at all that none of the games are particularly original in the grand scheme of things. Of course they're not. If Gabrielle Zevin came up with a fully original videogame, she'd probably use that concept outside of the confines of her novel. However, I do know that there is controversy around the resemblances of certain games in this book to certain games in real life, and I don't want to invalidate the feelings of anyone for whom that is a significant issue here.
Sadie is, I think, who I would have become if I'd grown up with more privilege and gone into STEM in college. I see a lot of myself in her, in her flaws and her literary interests as well as in her struggles with misogyny and her relationship with Dov.
Sam is in many ways a classic quirky character, a nerd who struggles to express his feelings and doesn't always know how to do interpersonal relationships. He's not explicitly autistic in the text, but he reads as autistic to me in a lot of ways, and I also resonated with him a lot.
Marx is the producer, the mom friend, the glue. He is a lover of Shakespeare and Homer, a man with expert social skills who struggles with romantic relationships and is doomed to forever be a side character because he is an Asian man living in America in the 90s and early 2000s. I love him just as much as Sadie and Sam do.
The book is named for Marx (it's a Shakespeare quote, Macbeth to be precise, and it is in Marx's honor), and anyone who thinks the title should have been Unfair Games was focused on a VERY different part of the story than I was. Unfair Games the company is a supporting character at best. Marx IS the story.
There are some very harrowing depictions of domestic abuse and gun violence here that could be triggering to a lot of readership, and I think it's important to note that so that you know what you're getting. This is not a trauma novel. It does not follow the trauma plot. It does not revel in its characters' pain, and I love it for that. It is also a novel filled with a lot of pain because the characters, especially Sam, are filled with so much pain of so many kinds.
Also, definitely the queerest book I've read this year that was not explicitly marketed as queer. Everyone is very bi, and the relationship between the three main characters certainly does not resemble any cishet friend group I've ever known. And the most central couple that is actually a couple for the entire time we know them is two men.
Anyway, I loved it.
Graphic: Car accident, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Gun violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Misogyny, Cancer, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, and Ableism
Minor: Abortion and Cultural appropriation
sunshineshazam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Car accident, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Ableism, Murder, Hate crime, Vomit, Gun violence, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Misogyny
mal_reads_books's review against another edition
The narration, while easy to read, also had some issues. Too much tell, not much show. It felt slow and focused too much on the game designing process, in my opinion. The social commentary included in this story felt forced to me. That and the author’s constant use of archaic vocabulary felt pretentious. I felt this book was lacking in depth for what the author was trying to accomplish.
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cancer
Sadie dates her professor, who has a crass sense of humor and is creepy and disgusting. HeSpoiler
literally sexually assaults herbespectacledscribbler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Grief, Death, Suicide, and Gun violence
Moderate: Ableism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Blood, Rape, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Cancer, Confinement, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
qrschulte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I didn’t find Sadie and Sam particularly likable, but I completely understood their motivations and their choices were believable.
This was a really ambitious book, and I think Zevin executed it really well. You can tell she put in a lot of time researching to make it realistic. It’s clearly a love letter to gaming, and I really appreciated the style of the different sections. I think it added a lot to the narrative. This is definitely a book that I will enjoy even more on a future read, though having a physical copy would make it easier to flip back to remind myself of different sections.
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Abortion, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Vomit, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and War
Not a true adult/minor relationship, but the power dynamic was definitely like one. The ableism is more internalized.shirarweiss's review against another edition
Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Car accident, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
kimschouwenaar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Car accident, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Vomit, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Pregnancy, Cancer, Animal death, Drug use, and Gaslighting
hayleyfitz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Suicide, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Cancer
Minor: Abortion and Antisemitism
The content warnings that I provided are not in the book in vain, they are necessary and responsibly handled. The author took a lot of time to appropriately write about difficult topics, and how they impact a friendship over decades.5aru's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
My biggest gripe with this one was in fact the writing style. It read impressively lyrical at times and clunky at others; overly informational in its cultural references (it ought to be an "either you get it or you don't" type thing imo); and Zevin resorted to overly complex words when it made little sense as an aesthetic choice in-context, when simpler concepts would likely have worked better. It makes the work read childish and even trite at times, despite the nuance it condenses.
Spoiler
I am also upset at Marx's death and it's difficult for me to say whether it's for legitimate reasons (I'm bothered by the cliché of it, the deus-ex-machina of it) or simply because it made me real damn sad.Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Misogyny
Minor: Racism, Racial slurs, and Cancer