Scan barcode
sarahmreads's review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Bryn knows about rumors all too well, since she's the subject of most of them. After a car accident she caused that almost killed her ex-boyfriend, Bryn has learned to monitor the rumors and how to attempt to cope with them. When the rumors start to finally ease off her and onto her friends, if she can even call them that, they have to work together to navigate them, and figure out who started it all.
I'll start this off by saying that this is a VERY heavy story, full of a lot of difficult topics, as demonstrated by the trigger warnings above. I highly recommend waiting to start this book until you are emotionally and mentally sound for it.
That being said, I think the whole aspect of cyberbullying and rumors was definitely taken to the extreme for this, obviously for plot reasons. It very much was a lot of petty drama and an overemphasis on online drama. I know it's meant to show the impact of rumors and what it does to the lives of people who the rumors are about, but very early on it gets very stale, and the rumors at least don't have much impact until the one major one at the very end of the story. Even then, it was hard to read because of the graphic and foul nature of what occurred.
Because of all of this, there weren't many characters I did like. I only liked maybe one minor character but that's about it. Bryn has good reasoning but she comes off like a pity case. Cora is cruel except for the few times she isn't. Georgie I kind of liked because of her whole body image arc, which I related to a lot, but I can't really speak to the accuracy of which the "weight camps" hold true for this story. I also can't really speak to the representation of the marginalized communities in this story as I myself am not a part of those communities.
The nature of the book itself leads to the fact that it doesn't really have a linear plot. It's just a bunch of smaller events smashed together in an attempt of a plot. As a result, I just couldn't really get into the book until over halfway through. The formatting of the story on my Kindle as well was extremely wonky due to a lot of multimedia things within the story itself. That ended up taking me out of the story slightly.
Overall, the Rumor Game is reminiscent of Riverdale and other high school dramas, with a wide variety of difficult topics that can make it hard to read.
I received a copy of this story as an e-ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I'll start this off by saying that this is a VERY heavy story, full of a lot of difficult topics, as demonstrated by the trigger warnings above. I highly recommend waiting to start this book until you are emotionally and mentally sound for it.
That being said, I think the whole aspect of cyberbullying and rumors was definitely taken to the extreme for this, obviously for plot reasons. It very much was a lot of petty drama and an overemphasis on online drama. I know it's meant to show the impact of rumors and what it does to the lives of people who the rumors are about, but very early on it gets very stale, and the rumors at least don't have much impact until the one major one at the very end of the story. Even then, it was hard to read because of the graphic and foul nature of what occurred.
Because of all of this, there weren't many characters I did like. I only liked maybe one minor character but that's about it. Bryn has good reasoning but she comes off like a pity case. Cora is cruel except for the few times she isn't. Georgie I kind of liked because of her whole body image arc, which I related to a lot, but I can't really speak to the accuracy of which the "weight camps" hold true for this story. I also can't really speak to the representation of the marginalized communities in this story as I myself am not a part of those communities.
The nature of the book itself leads to the fact that it doesn't really have a linear plot. It's just a bunch of smaller events smashed together in an attempt of a plot. As a result, I just couldn't really get into the book until over halfway through. The formatting of the story on my Kindle as well was extremely wonky due to a lot of multimedia things within the story itself. That ended up taking me out of the story slightly.
Overall, the Rumor Game is reminiscent of Riverdale and other high school dramas, with a wide variety of difficult topics that can make it hard to read.
I received a copy of this story as an e-ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content and Car accident
Cyberbullyingkatiemack's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This feels like Gossip Girl with a touch of Ace of Spades. It's not particularly original, and it's cruel in the trauma it brings up; I also guessed the twist about 60% of the way through the book. Nevertheless, YA readers who are looking for a dark thriller set in the realm of the wealthy will enjoy the pacing and the dramatic reveals.
This feels like Gossip Girl with a touch of Ace of Spades. It's not particularly original, and it's cruel in the trauma it brings up; I also guessed the twist about 60% of the way through the book. Nevertheless, YA readers who are looking for a dark thriller set in the realm of the wealthy will enjoy the pacing and the dramatic reveals.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Toxic friendship
booksbytheglass's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I just about screamed when I got the ARC for this one since I loved tiny perfect things so much! the teen drama, the backstabbing, the lies … *chef kiss*
so when I picked this one up and skimmed through the format, I was delightfully surprised to see a new kind of format taking place between traditional first person narrative writing, chat messages, and Instagram posts!
and I absolutely loved the concept of how bullying and slut shaming and racist remarks can change a whole person’s life with just a few taps. however, the whole mystery just didn’t live up to the hype for me.
I wasn’t sure which character I was rooting for when - cora the perfect senator’s daughter, bryn the scorned former best friend, or georgie the girl who just returned from weight loss camp and is suddenly the topic of the town. they all had their hidden agendas, but most of the time, I felt like I wasn’t really rooting for any of them???
I think I wanted to love to hate all of the characters, but I just couldn’t get into justifying what each of them had done and then cried about.
overall, I think this will be a great YA discussion book and hopefully cause a lot of people to look in the mirror. thank you to netgalley and disney hyperion for the ARC in exchange for an honest review :’)
rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: venezia moscato
so when I picked this one up and skimmed through the format, I was delightfully surprised to see a new kind of format taking place between traditional first person narrative writing, chat messages, and Instagram posts!
and I absolutely loved the concept of how bullying and slut shaming and racist remarks can change a whole person’s life with just a few taps. however, the whole mystery just didn’t live up to the hype for me.
I wasn’t sure which character I was rooting for when - cora the perfect senator’s daughter, bryn the scorned former best friend, or georgie the girl who just returned from weight loss camp and is suddenly the topic of the town. they all had their hidden agendas, but most of the time, I felt like I wasn’t really rooting for any of them???
I think I wanted to love to hate all of the characters, but I just couldn’t get into justifying what each of them had done and then cried about.
overall, I think this will be a great YA discussion book and hopefully cause a lot of people to look in the mirror. thank you to netgalley and disney hyperion for the ARC in exchange for an honest review :’)
rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: venezia moscato
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Netgalley and Disney Hyperion in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Rumor Game tells the story of a elite private high school in Washington DC, in the links that some people will go to protect themselves and hurt others. It’s a dark, dramatic contemporary story that unfortunately has too many ties to potential real life situations. I’ll be honest from the forefront and say that I didn’t enjoy The Rumor Game, but I do believe it is an incredibly well written book and will be real received by the correct audience.
My complaints about this book have nothing to do with its actual quality and everything to do with the types of media I prefer to ingest. The Rumor Game is a book filled with unlikable people, putting each other in the worst situations, and behaving as badly as they possibly can. It is stressful and uncomfortable to read, at least as far as I’m concerned. That said, if you’re the type of person who enjoys reality TV or police procedural‘s, this book will probably be just fine for you. This story follows the children of politicians and the elite of the capitol of the United States, and the characters are written in such a way that their every instinct is to protect themselves and sabotage others. If there was a single nice person in The Rumor Game, it would’ve been Georgie, but rumors and lies take a toll even on the nicest people.
The plot twists and turns, and although some of it is predictable, you get so focused on a single aspect of the story that you don’t expect it to explode quite the way it does. The authors certainly keep you reading, but it’s a bit like a car accident where you can’t look away but you don’t really want to see what’s going on. The Rumor Game is a hard book to read, emotionally, and I’m sure it was an extremely difficult book to write. It also makes an excellent point. This novel isn’t afraid to go into the corruption of selfish hearts, the pains of having emotionally abusive and emotionally absent parents, and the way malicious lies can follow us everywhere we go because of the infusion of social media and our daily lives.
I always find it challenging to recommend books that don’t leave me with that feel good feeling, but I will go as far as to say that TheRumor Game is well written, well thought out, and cover several important topics. There are many, many circumstances of trauma inducing events in this book, so please make sure to look into the trigger warnings (I have them on my blog, and you can also see them on the StoryGraph) before reading this book. Otherwise, if you think it sounds interesting, I recommend you pick it up and support the authors. It’s really well done, and while I didn’t like it, that has nothing to do with the quality of the book and everything to do with the way it left me feeling when I finished it. You’ll have to judge for yourself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
More...