What do you think?
Rate this book
Choking Game
A must-read for teens and parents, regardless of their children's age. Choking Game is a chilling, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting story of an alliance so unique, it redefines the meaning of hope.
It is the inner journey of a depressed teenager whose mind is all made up but whose inner voice insists on asking questions and debating MJ's answers to make sure suicide is the only option left. Nothing in MJ's typical middle-class suburban life seems out of the ordinary, but deep inside, MJ is tormented by a series of sad events. Combined with difficulty to make friends, the death of an only friend in a choking game incident, and a nasty rumor that spread through social media, MJ's mind is choked by the outside world he did not create. As the imaginary noose around his neck tightens, his inner voice becomes louder, more annoying, relentless and even cruel; anything to make MJ see the other side of the coin he flipped. And when a quiet boy and a riveting new girl in school connect with MJ, a rare light blazes through the dark world of MJ’s teenage depression.
Inspired by the tragic death of a young boy who made the mistake of playing the dangerous choking game, the book deliberately does not mention whether MJ is a teenage girl or a boy. It allows readers to see the character for themselves, to feel MJ’s struggle, and to experience the journey into the depth of his soul and the world we live in.
It is the inner journey of a depressed teenager whose mind is all made up but whose inner voice insists on asking questions and debating MJ's answers to make sure suicide is the only option left. Nothing in MJ's typical middle-class suburban life seems out of the ordinary, but deep inside, MJ is tormented by a series of sad events. Combined with difficulty to make friends, the death of an only friend in a choking game incident, and a nasty rumor that spread through social media, MJ's mind is choked by the outside world he did not create. As the imaginary noose around his neck tightens, his inner voice becomes louder, more annoying, relentless and even cruel; anything to make MJ see the other side of the coin he flipped. And when a quiet boy and a riveting new girl in school connect with MJ, a rare light blazes through the dark world of MJ’s teenage depression.
Inspired by the tragic death of a young boy who made the mistake of playing the dangerous choking game, the book deliberately does not mention whether MJ is a teenage girl or a boy. It allows readers to see the character for themselves, to feel MJ’s struggle, and to experience the journey into the depth of his soul and the world we live in.
325 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2014
1 person is currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Yveta Germano
11 books36 followersI was born in the Czech Republic where I spent my teenage years goofing off, singing in a band, studying several foreign languages, scouring ancient crypts and medieval buildings, dreaming about faraway places, and writing stories and book ideas in a journal no one had ever seen.
I couldn't help myself and included one of those spectacular, secret underground crypts as a setting for some of the chapters of my debut young adult novel, Bring Me Back.
In my early twenties, I moved to the United States and have worked hard ever since to fulfill every dream I had as a teen. One of those dreams was to write until all of the stories worth telling made it to their readers. I am still keeping my journal, which is why I will never stop writing.
A graduated from Bentley University with a BA and an MBA. I live with my husband, two teenage daughters, a cat, and a dog in Atlanta, Georgia.
I couldn't help myself and included one of those spectacular, secret underground crypts as a setting for some of the chapters of my debut young adult novel, Bring Me Back.
In my early twenties, I moved to the United States and have worked hard ever since to fulfill every dream I had as a teen. One of those dreams was to write until all of the stories worth telling made it to their readers. I am still keeping my journal, which is why I will never stop writing.
A graduated from Bentley University with a BA and an MBA. I live with my husband, two teenage daughters, a cat, and a dog in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 16, 2015
Full review can be found here: http://devinsbookhub.com/2015/02/chok...
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you, Yveta.
The book was alright. It wasn't amazing but it wasn't terrible.
The good:
-Unique plot and concept: not something written about often, not knowing whether MJ was a boy or girl, the colors
-A little humour and a few plot twists
The bad:
-Quite a few spelling and grammatical errors (as far as I know it wasn't an uncorrected proof that I received) For the heck of it:
Page 6: virtual word -> should be virtual world
Page 56: There is a space before period
Page 106: If my eyes aren't deceiving me, there's a double space between "thing" and "no one"
Page 109: Then instead of than
Page 204: You're instead of your
I also think there was a few run-on sentences/sentences missing a comma in the middle of it
-Also a few minor detail errors (Some tweets are over 140 characters and Snapchat videos can only be up to 10 seconds, not 15 seconds. Not that it matters though)
The book started off slowly, but since I won it and the book is special to Yveta I didn't want to abandon it. After about two thirds into the story is when it finally got interesting. While the conversations between MJ and her soul were a unique concept, it really made the book drag in my opinion and some of it was kind of unnecessary. But by the time MJ became friends with Angela and she began telling her story, things really got picked up and I couldn't stop reading from then on. But like I said, it took a bit to get there.
There's also one bit that confused me, unless I missed something. One moment MJ was in school, and next thing she has a rope around her neck at home or something??? The transitions between who's talking and where MJ, Luke, and Angelica were wasn't always spelled out.
Overall, it was a semi-enjoyable story. Thanks again for the copy.
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you, Yveta.
The book was alright. It wasn't amazing but it wasn't terrible.
The good:
-Unique plot and concept: not something written about often, not knowing whether MJ was a boy or girl, the colors
-A little humour and a few plot twists
The bad:
-Quite a few spelling and grammatical errors (as far as I know it wasn't an uncorrected proof that I received) For the heck of it:
Page 6: virtual word -> should be virtual world
Page 56: There is a space before period
Page 106: If my eyes aren't deceiving me, there's a double space between "thing" and "no one"
Page 109: Then instead of than
Page 204: You're instead of your
I also think there was a few run-on sentences/sentences missing a comma in the middle of it
-Also a few minor detail errors (Some tweets are over 140 characters and Snapchat videos can only be up to 10 seconds, not 15 seconds. Not that it matters though)
The book started off slowly, but since I won it and the book is special to Yveta I didn't want to abandon it. After about two thirds into the story is when it finally got interesting. While the conversations between MJ and her soul were a unique concept, it really made the book drag in my opinion and some of it was kind of unnecessary. But by the time MJ became friends with Angela and she began telling her story, things really got picked up and I couldn't stop reading from then on. But like I said, it took a bit to get there.
There's also one bit that confused me, unless I missed something. One moment MJ was in school, and next thing she has a rope around her neck at home or something??? The transitions between who's talking and where MJ, Luke, and Angelica were wasn't always spelled out.
Overall, it was a semi-enjoyable story. Thanks again for the copy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2014
This book was inspired by the tragic death of a young boy who made the mistake of playing the dangerous choking game. For months, I witnessed the outpouring of sadness, confusion, and genuine heartbreak his friends and schoolmates confessed on Facebook. I knew back then that I’d write a book about teenage suicide, even though this boy’s death was entirely accidental. I paid a lot of attention to my own children and their friends, and I researched everything I could to identify reasons for this growing phenomenon. In the end, I came to an alarming conclusion that despite all of the material “things” teens have these days, their world is far more difficult to deal with than the teenage world previous generations had lived in.
I deliberately did not mention whether MJ is a teenage girl or a boy in the book. I wanted to allow readers to see the character for themselves, to feel MJ’s struggle based on some of their own experiences. MJ has several reasons to be depressed and even suicidal; some are unique, some may be surprisingly common among today's teens. I tried my best to write this story as an inner journey of a young character into the depth of his/her soul and the world we live in.
I deliberately did not mention whether MJ is a teenage girl or a boy in the book. I wanted to allow readers to see the character for themselves, to feel MJ’s struggle based on some of their own experiences. MJ has several reasons to be depressed and even suicidal; some are unique, some may be surprisingly common among today's teens. I tried my best to write this story as an inner journey of a young character into the depth of his/her soul and the world we live in.
December 24, 2014
I like the way this book was written.
The book is told through the inner voice or soul. The author does not specify if Mj is a boy or girl, because she wants you to just feel the emotions of the person.
Mj's inner voice is always talking to try and get through to Mj.
Mj always feels alone, depressed, and closed off.
Mj is a teen that is going through all the angst that teenagers go through.
After the death of Mj's one special friend, Mj's life seems to get darker with thoughts of suicide.
Some kids have tried this so called "Choking Game", where you tie a rope around your neck and choke yourself until you feel yourself slipping out of consciousness and getting a high from it,
some have never regained consciousness.
Mj meets two new friends who know what Mj is feeling and can identify.
These friends, along with the inner voice try helping Mj by showing how they cope and deal with issues that they go through.
Mj soon learns life can be what you make of it!
I think all teens need to read this book! I would recommend this to any teen.
Yveta German gets to the heart of teen issues such as depression, suicide, bullying, and etc.
Finally a book that gets into the heart and soul of a teen and issues they face!!
** I received this book on Goodreads first reads giveaway **
The book is told through the inner voice or soul. The author does not specify if Mj is a boy or girl, because she wants you to just feel the emotions of the person.
Mj's inner voice is always talking to try and get through to Mj.
Mj always feels alone, depressed, and closed off.
Mj is a teen that is going through all the angst that teenagers go through.
After the death of Mj's one special friend, Mj's life seems to get darker with thoughts of suicide.
Some kids have tried this so called "Choking Game", where you tie a rope around your neck and choke yourself until you feel yourself slipping out of consciousness and getting a high from it,
some have never regained consciousness.
Mj meets two new friends who know what Mj is feeling and can identify.
These friends, along with the inner voice try helping Mj by showing how they cope and deal with issues that they go through.
Mj soon learns life can be what you make of it!
I think all teens need to read this book! I would recommend this to any teen.
Yveta German gets to the heart of teen issues such as depression, suicide, bullying, and etc.
Finally a book that gets into the heart and soul of a teen and issues they face!!
** I received this book on Goodreads first reads giveaway **
September 1, 2016
This book was inspired by the tragic death of a young boy who made the mistake of playing the dangerous choking game. For months, I witnessed the outpouring of sadness, confusion, and genuine heartbreak his friends and schoolmates confessed on Facebook. I knew back then that I’d write a book about teenage suicide, even though this boy’s death was entirely accidental. I paid a lot of attention to my own children and their friends, and I researched everything I could to identify reasons for this growing phenomenon. In the end, I came to an alarming conclusion that despite all of the material “things” teens have these days, their world is far more difficult to deal with than the teenage world previous generations had lived in.
I deliberately did not mention whether MJ is a teenage girl or a boy in the book. I wanted to allow readers to see the character for themselves, to feel MJ’s struggle based on some of their own experiences. MJ has several reasons to be depressed and even suicidal; some are unique, some may be surprisingly common among today's teens. I tried my best to write this story as an inner journey of a young character into the depth of his/her soul and the world we live in.
I deliberately did not mention whether MJ is a teenage girl or a boy in the book. I wanted to allow readers to see the character for themselves, to feel MJ’s struggle based on some of their own experiences. MJ has several reasons to be depressed and even suicidal; some are unique, some may be surprisingly common among today's teens. I tried my best to write this story as an inner journey of a young character into the depth of his/her soul and the world we live in.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews