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
lara_r's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Pregnancy, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- 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
mini_malist'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
4.5
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Abortion
laurataylor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Car accident, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
scmiller's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Infidelity, Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Violence, Fatphobia, Medical content, Racism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Hate crime, Abortion, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Body shaming
marym419'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
Graphic: Chronic illness, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Sexual harassment, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, and Homophobia
bonjoery'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
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Drug use, and Car accident
Moderate: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Xenophobia, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, and Cancer
emmapaigereads'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
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Cancer
addie'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
Graphic: Medical content, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Car accident, Grief, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Cancer, Sexism, and Pregnancy
Minor: Terminal illness and Racial slurs