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The Assassin Game
It was just a game…until it wasn't. Will Cate discover the assassin before it's too late? Perfect for fans of teen mystery books! TAG. You're It… At Cate's isolated boarding school Killer is more than a game―it's an elite secret society. Members must avoid being "killed" during a series of thrilling pranks―and only the Game Master knows who the "killer" is. When Cate's finally invited to join The Guild of Assassins, she thinks it's her ticket to finally feeling like she belongs. But when the game becomes all too real, the school threatens to shut it down. Cate will do anything to keep playing and save The Guild. But can she find the real assassin―before she's the next target? "An intriguing, tightly wound mystery. The game is on!" ―Hannah Jayne, author of Truly, Madly, Deadly and Twisted Perfect for those looking for:
384 pages, Paperback
First published July 2, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 734 reviews
July 7, 2016
I was thinking this book was going to be something else entirely. I'm not sure why but I had a few movies running around in my head where they were these masks, but that has nothing to do with the story.
This book is a little more young adult than I was expecting when I started reading it but I really enjoyed it. The kids are sort of weird and dorky acting but who isn't at that age. It does have a creep factor that reminds me of the young horror books I used to read as a kid. I'm old, that was a long time ago.
Cate's parents own an island in the Irish Sea and there is a school on the island called Umfraville. So naturally Cate gets placed in this school. She has some good friends, Daniel and Marsha seem to be the closest but there are more.
The school has a Guild where they play a game called Killed. This isn't a computer game, it's for real. Okay, so not for real kill...... or......
They get initiated into the Guild and there is a really gross way that Cate is initiated, I will save that one for you all to read about yourselves. They have meetings etc and once they get a certain number of kids initiated, the leader (Alex) puts names on cards and whoever draws the KILLER card is the one that goes around taking out the other players. Simple little cheesy stuff like putting stuff that will look like the water is bleeding on you in the shower. I thought it sounded fun at that point.
Cate's friend from childhood suddenly shows up at the school. She hasn't talked to him in years when her parents moved and wouldn't really let her talk to Vaughan. But why is he there? And how did get immediately initiated into the game?
There are mysteries everywhere and it's all good until the game turns lethal. Someone has gone off their nut and starts killing for real. And you know what? I know who the killer is :-)
I really did enjoy this book once it got going, it made made me think of childhood scares that I loved ever so much!
*I would like to thank Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
July 5, 2021
CW:
3.5 Stars
Well I totally understand why this book has really mixed reviews!
I think seasoned Readers of this genre will have little patience for the quite predictable plot and the fact that the main character is as smart as a box of rocks, but in my opinion it was still a fun and sometimes tense YA mystery thriller. It's a pretty exciting concept filled with hijinks and shenanigans as students try to work out who the 'killer' is. There are enough red herrings to keep the target audience guessing and some spectacularly executed 'murders'. I think this will actually be really fun to booktalk and expect the demand to be quite high so will order two copies for the library.
3.5 Stars
Well I totally understand why this book has really mixed reviews!
I think seasoned Readers of this genre will have little patience for the quite predictable plot and the fact that the main character is as smart as a box of rocks, but in my opinion it was still a fun and sometimes tense YA mystery thriller. It's a pretty exciting concept filled with hijinks and shenanigans as students try to work out who the 'killer' is. There are enough red herrings to keep the target audience guessing and some spectacularly executed 'murders'. I think this will actually be really fun to booktalk and expect the demand to be quite high so will order two copies for the library.
June 27, 2020
It is about 4:00 AM when they come for me. I am already awake, strung out on the fear that they will come and the fear that they won't. When I finally hear the click of the latch on the dormitory door, I have only a second to brace myself before they're on me.
The Assassin Game
by Kirsty McKay
My review:
Come one, come all! Let's play..The assassin game.
Imagine. Just imagine. You are away at Boarding school. There is a secret society you really want to be part of.
But not any society. This is the Assassins, the killer club.
Only a select few get in.
Your friends are in it. You want to be too.
The society plays a wonderful little game.every school year.
The members hold secret meetings. They pick from a hat of names. All but one of them receive a note with something nonsensical on it.
Except for that one person.
They receive a note that says:
KILLER.
Let the games begin.
The other members must figure out who the killer is while avoiding being killed themselves. These killings are not REAL. I mean..how could they be? But the point is..it is entertaining as anything and keeps the whole school on its toes.
Stay alive..don't get "killed". Keep your wits. Guess the killer. Survive the game.
How does one get killed? Ahh..so many possibilities! The rules are clear: nothing really bad. But maybe a water pistol. A prank. Or two. Or three.
And Cate is yearning to get in and play the game.
And she does! They choose her!
But she will soon be wishing they hadn't.
Because what if..what if..THIS TIME..The killer decides to change the rules?
What if THIS TIME..The killings are real?
Gosh.what a fucking great movie this would be.
So. That is all from me. I will say..not a perfect five. T here are parts I skimmed. I do not like it when books go back to the past over and over again. I am simply not a major fan of that style. I did not like it here and I skimmed most of that stuff. It simply did not interest me at all.
At one point I thought I might just give it a three because besides that, the book is long, very wordy and so heavy on YA speak AND YA romance (although the romance here worked very well).
So..not perfect.
But so well done! I will tell you..picking out the bad one in this book is very hard. Shades of Agatha here. But Agatha YA style. And seriously creepy.
You will suspect everyone. You will doubt yourself..more than once.
Oh heck..the game sounds like so much fun...not the psychotic KILLING game..the innocent part..what a great concept..kudos to the author..I was hooked.
I think this is one you will want to check out.
The Assassin Game
by Kirsty McKay
My review:
Come one, come all! Let's play..The assassin game.
Imagine. Just imagine. You are away at Boarding school. There is a secret society you really want to be part of.
But not any society. This is the Assassins, the killer club.
Only a select few get in.
Your friends are in it. You want to be too.
The society plays a wonderful little game.every school year.
The members hold secret meetings. They pick from a hat of names. All but one of them receive a note with something nonsensical on it.
Except for that one person.
They receive a note that says:
KILLER.
Let the games begin.
The other members must figure out who the killer is while avoiding being killed themselves. These killings are not REAL. I mean..how could they be? But the point is..it is entertaining as anything and keeps the whole school on its toes.
Stay alive..don't get "killed". Keep your wits. Guess the killer. Survive the game.
How does one get killed? Ahh..so many possibilities! The rules are clear: nothing really bad. But maybe a water pistol. A prank. Or two. Or three.
And Cate is yearning to get in and play the game.
And she does! They choose her!
But she will soon be wishing they hadn't.
Because what if..what if..THIS TIME..The killer decides to change the rules?
What if THIS TIME..The killings are real?
Gosh.what a fucking great movie this would be.
So. That is all from me. I will say..not a perfect five. T here are parts I skimmed. I do not like it when books go back to the past over and over again. I am simply not a major fan of that style. I did not like it here and I skimmed most of that stuff. It simply did not interest me at all.
At one point I thought I might just give it a three because besides that, the book is long, very wordy and so heavy on YA speak AND YA romance (although the romance here worked very well).
So..not perfect.
But so well done! I will tell you..picking out the bad one in this book is very hard. Shades of Agatha here. But Agatha YA style. And seriously creepy.
You will suspect everyone. You will doubt yourself..more than once.
Oh heck..the game sounds like so much fun...not the psychotic KILLING game..the innocent part..what a great concept..kudos to the author..I was hooked.
I think this is one you will want to check out.
June 28, 2016
I was super excited at the premise of this book. I love any and all things like a secret society, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.
Cate is an okay MC. She's a little dramatic and I felt like I couldn't ever settle into her inner monologue or the rhythm of the story. There are a lot of other characters, but no one really stood out as a solid, likable person to root for.
The plot was slow and fast at the same time, if that makes sense. There are a lot of things happening, but it still progressed so slowly. It really started to get interesting about 70% in, but by then, I didn't care who the killer was. I could have easily walked away from this book without knowing that info and not been bothered.
Overall, there was something that kept me reading, but I'm not sure what it was. I loved the concept, but found the execution lacking.
**Huge thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
Cate is an okay MC. She's a little dramatic and I felt like I couldn't ever settle into her inner monologue or the rhythm of the story. There are a lot of other characters, but no one really stood out as a solid, likable person to root for.
The plot was slow and fast at the same time, if that makes sense. There are a lot of things happening, but it still progressed so slowly. It really started to get interesting about 70% in, but by then, I didn't care who the killer was. I could have easily walked away from this book without knowing that info and not been bothered.
Overall, there was something that kept me reading, but I'm not sure what it was. I loved the concept, but found the execution lacking.
**Huge thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
August 3, 2016
I was thinking of giving this a 2.8 but I;ve slept on it and it doesn't deserve it. 2 Stars.
As you guys can probably see by my updates this book took a LONG ass time to start.
How awesome does this sound? Our MC Cate is in a boarding school called Umfraville. Umfraville is for geniuses and on an island that is only accessible by Boat (if the tides are right) or helicopter.
After reading this my internal conversation went a bit like this:
Me: Oh cool setting! What do you have plot wise book?
Book: Oh well every year 13 kids play The Assassins Game. A game where one of them is the "Killer" and has to "kill" all the others before they guess who it is. You can kill someone with a fart bomb as gas, a water balloon filled with red paint as a grenade the possibilities are endless with a school of gifted children, right? RIGHT?
Me:WRONG.
Killer Game is boring. The game doesn't actually start until the half way mark and for geniuses the pranks/kills were lame. We are in a fictional world of kid geniuses I'm sure they could come up with something a bit more inventive then covering someone in red paint. I wanted to see people get "killed" not covered in food colouring, build a droid to launch missiles at people! Set up a hold in the floor and capture people silence of the lambs style I DON'T KNOW I JUST WANTED MORE.
Oh and for a book that had a "real" killer thrown into it no one dies. Was I scarred at any point? No.
The one plus I can say for this book is it was easy to read and I didn't find myself wanting to DNF it.
Upon finishing the book:
Me: Well that was a whole lot of not much
Book: But weren't you surprised by the ending?
Me: If surprised you mean slightly happy it was over, disappointed that it wasn't a shocking reveal and a little bit hungry then yes, I was very surprised.
Book: ...
If your looking for a thriller look away, Killer Game is about as Thrilling as me on a Monday before my coffee.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishes for allowing me to read a free copy in exchange for an honest review
As you guys can probably see by my updates this book took a LONG ass time to start.
How awesome does this sound? Our MC Cate is in a boarding school called Umfraville. Umfraville is for geniuses and on an island that is only accessible by Boat (if the tides are right) or helicopter.
After reading this my internal conversation went a bit like this:
Me: Oh cool setting! What do you have plot wise book?
Book: Oh well every year 13 kids play The Assassins Game. A game where one of them is the "Killer" and has to "kill" all the others before they guess who it is. You can kill someone with a fart bomb as gas, a water balloon filled with red paint as a grenade the possibilities are endless with a school of gifted children, right? RIGHT?
Me:WRONG.
Killer Game is boring. The game doesn't actually start until the half way mark and for geniuses the pranks/kills were lame. We are in a fictional world of kid geniuses I'm sure they could come up with something a bit more inventive then covering someone in red paint. I wanted to see people get "killed" not covered in food colouring, build a droid to launch missiles at people! Set up a hold in the floor and capture people silence of the lambs style I DON'T KNOW I JUST WANTED MORE.
Oh and for a book that had a "real" killer thrown into it no one dies. Was I scarred at any point? No.
The one plus I can say for this book is it was easy to read and I didn't find myself wanting to DNF it.
Upon finishing the book:
Me: Well that was a whole lot of not much
Book: But weren't you surprised by the ending?
Me: If surprised you mean slightly happy it was over, disappointed that it wasn't a shocking reveal and a little bit hungry then yes, I was very surprised.
Book: ...
If your looking for a thriller look away, Killer Game is about as Thrilling as me on a Monday before my coffee.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishes for allowing me to read a free copy in exchange for an honest review
May 17, 2016
Actual rating 3.5 stars.
I received this book on a read-to-review basis from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Kirsty McKay, and the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, for the opportunity.
This novel, whilst not being entirely new in plot and idea, handled a tried-and-tested concept well whilst feeling unique enough to not feel like a rehashing of a known tale. The novel takes place at an elite boarding school on an isolated island off the coast of Wales. The over-achieving teenagers who go there have their own secret society that requires humiliating and dangerous initiation ceremonies to gain access. These culminate in the annual Assassin Games, where a 'killer' is anonymously selected and must attempt to prank kill his fellow society members until he is discovered or has 'killed' them all. The game seemed innocent enough, until the members were actually being culled at the hands of an unknown killer and the pack began to turn on themselves.
I enjoyed the plot and the goose-pimples along my arms it created. There were some eerie moments that made this do-not-read-before-bedtime reading. I also liked the creative manner that the initial prank kills were carried out in. The later real killings and disappearances were also spooky and chilling enough to keep me invested on discovering who the perpetrator was.
I was invested in the story but not all the characters. Some felt a little inconsistent and altered their personalities to suddenly fit the progression of the plot. In all, this was a thrilling read and, whilst giving me nothing new, provided me with a puzzling plot with an exciting progression of it.
I received this book on a read-to-review basis from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Kirsty McKay, and the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, for the opportunity.
This novel, whilst not being entirely new in plot and idea, handled a tried-and-tested concept well whilst feeling unique enough to not feel like a rehashing of a known tale. The novel takes place at an elite boarding school on an isolated island off the coast of Wales. The over-achieving teenagers who go there have their own secret society that requires humiliating and dangerous initiation ceremonies to gain access. These culminate in the annual Assassin Games, where a 'killer' is anonymously selected and must attempt to prank kill his fellow society members until he is discovered or has 'killed' them all. The game seemed innocent enough, until the members were actually being culled at the hands of an unknown killer and the pack began to turn on themselves.
I enjoyed the plot and the goose-pimples along my arms it created. There were some eerie moments that made this do-not-read-before-bedtime reading. I also liked the creative manner that the initial prank kills were carried out in. The later real killings and disappearances were also spooky and chilling enough to keep me invested on discovering who the perpetrator was.
I was invested in the story but not all the characters. Some felt a little inconsistent and altered their personalities to suddenly fit the progression of the plot. In all, this was a thrilling read and, whilst giving me nothing new, provided me with a puzzling plot with an exciting progression of it.
December 14, 2021
so ive literally been preparing to write this review since before i even got halfway through because this book is in a category all to itself that needs to be discussed.
so in short: i hated it. i've read cmbyn, which anyone who reads my reviews knows i hated with every fiber of my being. this is a close second. im not exaggerating.
this is gonna be super long and with random tangents, and ill try to remain as spoiler free as possible, but if anything feels super spoiler-ey ill mark it with bold warnings beforehand.
ANYWAYS. onto the review.
the assassin game is a story about a girl named cate from new money who goes to a boarding school on the isolated island of skull off the coast of wales. she is selected to participate in what is known to students as "the game." it's essentially a huge game of the classic high school game assassin but with a twist. the fake kills can be as creative as you want but no one is allowed to get hurt. and there's a vote each week about who you think "the killer" is: get it right and you win, get it wrong and you're out. the rules state that you can't actually hurt the players or involve non-players in any way. however, part of the way through the game, someone starts to up the stakes and play out kills that are way more dangerous than they ever have. cate, while juggling friend and romance drama, must figure out who the killer is before she gets targeted next.
ill start with the pros, which there are very few of.
the plot is a creative one. i picked it up because it reminded me of danganronpa and although they weren't entirely similar it was cool to see the concept somewhere else. also, vaughan as a character generally was my favorite (although he had his moments). he's just a class clown you would have in your high school math class and i loved him for it.
that's it. onto the cons.
i have a huge problem with a lot of aspects of this book. for one thing, the actual killer. spoiler warning here. alex being the killer in itself was interesting because there was really only one or two points where i suspected him and that faded away pretty quickly. i was too concerned with the idea of it being vaughan or daniel or even marcia to really look at him as a suspect. looking back though, the whole thing really confuses me. because the pipe bomb in vaughan's study room and him freaking about cancelling "the game" were super obvious and made me suspect him just for a little. however, none of that really said "killer" and there were literally no other indications that it was him other than that than i can remember. it was super obvious in the specific scenes kirsty mccay chose to subtly imply it but it made no sense in a grander scheme of the plot. ALSO, his motive??? literally killing his classmates for a fellow 16 year old girl and so that his game can go down in history books???that is the stupidest goddamn thing in the world im sorry
also the characters are sooo one dimensional. it seems like there was an attempt to make them seem more complex but they just feel like caricatures of themselves or one specific aspect of their personality. it does not make them at all relatable.
spoiler warning here. also, for a book that was advertising itself as what seemed like it would be a literal killing game, no one died??? sure there was emily rick and marzia but they didn't die. and that literally wasn't even until the last 7 chapters of the book, because it took 50% for "the game" to even START in the first place. not that i would’ve been happy if anyone died but if you advertise it that way, that’s what your audience will expect.
ive read a couple reviews and none of them seem to mention the biggest issues i personally had with it. which makes me wonder if ive been reading into this too much because it is a lot younger "young adult" book than im accustomed to. but there were a lot of cases in the book where i did not like the main character and felt she was extremely problematic. there were several cases of casual fatphobia in relation to the character tesha and roger, and also just casual drops of eating disorder behaviors:
- "tesha might be fleshy..."
- "[tesha's] tall and meaty; a good launching pad."
- "there'll be no thinking about danielgate or how my parents havent called or wondering if ill eat a proper tea tonight or sacrifice it for a guilty chocolate bar and a flatter stomach."
- "roger, an amiable chubster with glasses..."
there's also several parts that make casual jokes or uncomfortable mentions of mental illness.
- "athlete OCD neatness"
- "i scrub at my body like im little miss OCD"
- "i don't care about daniel either. he's drama but not in a fun way. he's just an energy sap...i'd put in endless hours of dealing with his moods and the frequent eeyore-type nonsense he habitually threw in, for what? an occasional, fun afternoon when he was doing manic, rather than depressive?" (((for context, later in the novel daniel does turn out to be kind of a creep but she doesnt know that here)))
there's a lot of sexism from the characters including the main character herself, internalized of course
- "she has a brother in a rock band and a not-so-secret tattoo, and she thinks she's hella edgy"
- "Vaughan frowns. 'oh lordy how female. you're practically insulted that you're not sexy enough to have been Killed.'"
- "emily should be applauded for even finding the library" - in reference to the fact that Emily is a female athlete and therefore stupid
THERE'S ALSO LITERAL RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA??
- "he's blond and tall and good-looking in a screwed-up hitler youth kind of way" referring to a blond hair blue eyed character alex why is that even a comparison to be made
- several times one of the only characters from another country speaks she just randomly throws in words in a different language, which isn't bad in itself but she speaks fluent english and just randomly break out a couple words into spanish. most people with english not as their first language dont speak like that???
- also about the above character marzia, cate frequently says things that she says to marzia are "lost in translation" despite marzia speaking and understanding perfect english throughout the book
- "vaughan had a jamaican mother and irish dad, so in my mother's eyes, that was a perfect recipe for lazy and stupid"
also, she grows from none of this. at no point does cate come to realize her ways of thinking are wrong, and at no point does kirsty mckay ever attempt to make a commentary about how she disagrees with cate's thought process or portray it in a way other than normal. and that's what i dont like.
the final thing im not going to directly quote because it could be triggering, so ill summarize it. so by the way, TW for sexual assault. in chapter 20, cate meets up with one of her friend's daniel and goes with him to his private study room. he starts talking to her and he gets really creepy, bringing up her romantic occurrences with vaughan and alex (alex before the novel started) and then implying that she and her favorite teacher mr. flynn are getting "very comfortable with one another." after that, he forces himself onto her and kisses her despite her trying to fight back. it doesn't progress much farther and she eventually gets him off of her.
but here's my problem with it. no, there's no issue to me if an author wants to talk about sexual assault in their book. it's important to show people it in a fictional setting in order to teach them about it, make them feel less alone, what have you. but that's as long as it's done in a tasteful, respectful way. to me, this feels anything but. it feels used as a plot point to push the love triangle agenda because "oh my god this guy is so obsessed with her that he kissed her without asking!!!" also, it has literally no place in the plot because it came so out of right field and has nothing to do with the rest of the plot. it literally feels like it got thrown in just because at the last minute. and that's what i don't like. teach kids about these things but don't use it as an entertainment or shock factor on your reading. and on top of that, the book demonizes mental illness, shows casual representations of eating disorders that try to make light of it, perpetuates racist and xenophobic stereotypes, and more. young children dont need to be reading books where they're going to be more harmed than helped. especially because that's who the audience of this book likely is, younger people in the "young adult" bracket.
okay, im done here. that's pretty much all i can think of to rant about so thank you for listening!! please do not get this book im begging you
so in short: i hated it. i've read cmbyn, which anyone who reads my reviews knows i hated with every fiber of my being. this is a close second. im not exaggerating.
this is gonna be super long and with random tangents, and ill try to remain as spoiler free as possible, but if anything feels super spoiler-ey ill mark it with bold warnings beforehand.
ANYWAYS. onto the review.
the assassin game is a story about a girl named cate from new money who goes to a boarding school on the isolated island of skull off the coast of wales. she is selected to participate in what is known to students as "the game." it's essentially a huge game of the classic high school game assassin but with a twist. the fake kills can be as creative as you want but no one is allowed to get hurt. and there's a vote each week about who you think "the killer" is: get it right and you win, get it wrong and you're out. the rules state that you can't actually hurt the players or involve non-players in any way. however, part of the way through the game, someone starts to up the stakes and play out kills that are way more dangerous than they ever have. cate, while juggling friend and romance drama, must figure out who the killer is before she gets targeted next.
ill start with the pros, which there are very few of.
the plot is a creative one. i picked it up because it reminded me of danganronpa and although they weren't entirely similar it was cool to see the concept somewhere else. also, vaughan as a character generally was my favorite (although he had his moments). he's just a class clown you would have in your high school math class and i loved him for it.
that's it. onto the cons.
i have a huge problem with a lot of aspects of this book. for one thing, the actual killer. spoiler warning here. alex being the killer in itself was interesting because there was really only one or two points where i suspected him and that faded away pretty quickly. i was too concerned with the idea of it being vaughan or daniel or even marcia to really look at him as a suspect. looking back though, the whole thing really confuses me. because the pipe bomb in vaughan's study room and him freaking about cancelling "the game" were super obvious and made me suspect him just for a little. however, none of that really said "killer" and there were literally no other indications that it was him other than that than i can remember. it was super obvious in the specific scenes kirsty mccay chose to subtly imply it but it made no sense in a grander scheme of the plot. ALSO, his motive??? literally killing his classmates for a fellow 16 year old girl and so that his game can go down in history books???that is the stupidest goddamn thing in the world im sorry
also the characters are sooo one dimensional. it seems like there was an attempt to make them seem more complex but they just feel like caricatures of themselves or one specific aspect of their personality. it does not make them at all relatable.
spoiler warning here. also, for a book that was advertising itself as what seemed like it would be a literal killing game, no one died??? sure there was emily rick and marzia but they didn't die. and that literally wasn't even until the last 7 chapters of the book, because it took 50% for "the game" to even START in the first place. not that i would’ve been happy if anyone died but if you advertise it that way, that’s what your audience will expect.
ive read a couple reviews and none of them seem to mention the biggest issues i personally had with it. which makes me wonder if ive been reading into this too much because it is a lot younger "young adult" book than im accustomed to. but there were a lot of cases in the book where i did not like the main character and felt she was extremely problematic. there were several cases of casual fatphobia in relation to the character tesha and roger, and also just casual drops of eating disorder behaviors:
- "tesha might be fleshy..."
- "[tesha's] tall and meaty; a good launching pad."
- "there'll be no thinking about danielgate or how my parents havent called or wondering if ill eat a proper tea tonight or sacrifice it for a guilty chocolate bar and a flatter stomach."
- "roger, an amiable chubster with glasses..."
there's also several parts that make casual jokes or uncomfortable mentions of mental illness.
- "athlete OCD neatness"
- "i scrub at my body like im little miss OCD"
- "i don't care about daniel either. he's drama but not in a fun way. he's just an energy sap...i'd put in endless hours of dealing with his moods and the frequent eeyore-type nonsense he habitually threw in, for what? an occasional, fun afternoon when he was doing manic, rather than depressive?" (((for context, later in the novel daniel does turn out to be kind of a creep but she doesnt know that here)))
there's a lot of sexism from the characters including the main character herself, internalized of course
- "she has a brother in a rock band and a not-so-secret tattoo, and she thinks she's hella edgy"
- "Vaughan frowns. 'oh lordy how female. you're practically insulted that you're not sexy enough to have been Killed.'"
- "emily should be applauded for even finding the library" - in reference to the fact that Emily is a female athlete and therefore stupid
THERE'S ALSO LITERAL RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA??
- "he's blond and tall and good-looking in a screwed-up hitler youth kind of way" referring to a blond hair blue eyed character alex why is that even a comparison to be made
- several times one of the only characters from another country speaks she just randomly throws in words in a different language, which isn't bad in itself but she speaks fluent english and just randomly break out a couple words into spanish. most people with english not as their first language dont speak like that???
- also about the above character marzia, cate frequently says things that she says to marzia are "lost in translation" despite marzia speaking and understanding perfect english throughout the book
- "vaughan had a jamaican mother and irish dad, so in my mother's eyes, that was a perfect recipe for lazy and stupid"
also, she grows from none of this. at no point does cate come to realize her ways of thinking are wrong, and at no point does kirsty mckay ever attempt to make a commentary about how she disagrees with cate's thought process or portray it in a way other than normal. and that's what i dont like.
the final thing im not going to directly quote because it could be triggering, so ill summarize it. so by the way, TW for sexual assault. in chapter 20, cate meets up with one of her friend's daniel and goes with him to his private study room. he starts talking to her and he gets really creepy, bringing up her romantic occurrences with vaughan and alex (alex before the novel started) and then implying that she and her favorite teacher mr. flynn are getting "very comfortable with one another." after that, he forces himself onto her and kisses her despite her trying to fight back. it doesn't progress much farther and she eventually gets him off of her.
but here's my problem with it. no, there's no issue to me if an author wants to talk about sexual assault in their book. it's important to show people it in a fictional setting in order to teach them about it, make them feel less alone, what have you. but that's as long as it's done in a tasteful, respectful way. to me, this feels anything but. it feels used as a plot point to push the love triangle agenda because "oh my god this guy is so obsessed with her that he kissed her without asking!!!" also, it has literally no place in the plot because it came so out of right field and has nothing to do with the rest of the plot. it literally feels like it got thrown in just because at the last minute. and that's what i don't like. teach kids about these things but don't use it as an entertainment or shock factor on your reading. and on top of that, the book demonizes mental illness, shows casual representations of eating disorders that try to make light of it, perpetuates racist and xenophobic stereotypes, and more. young children dont need to be reading books where they're going to be more harmed than helped. especially because that's who the audience of this book likely is, younger people in the "young adult" bracket.
okay, im done here. that's pretty much all i can think of to rant about so thank you for listening!! please do not get this book im begging you
August 2, 2016
1.5 Star
Overview:
I received a ARC of this through Netgalley. Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity!
This was a DNF around 20% for me. I really hate rating books this low. Especially review books. And I feel especially bad about the fact that I didn’t finish this. But I already had too many problems with it and too many other better books I’d rather spend my time reading.
An isolated, upper class boarding school has a secret society who organizes a giant game referred to as ‘Killer.” During this game someone is chosen to be the “killer” and must simulate deaths of other classmates, until someone solves the mystery.
Pros:
This started right in the middle of the action, which I really appreciate. All too often books spend too much time elaborating on characters and setting before jumping into the plot. This certainly did not.
Cons:
Okay, so maybe this is my fault, because I didn’t read the summary close enough. I’ll admit I was mainly swept in by the title and the cover, but I was not impressed with the plot. I love mysteries, and thought this had potential. The plot just seemed off, with no real purpose.
By far my biggest problem was the startling lack of motivations amongst the characters. I could not figure out why anyone wanted to play this game. At all. Usually in a secret society, the characters get something out of being in the society—be it money, power or acceptance. This society seemed to promise none of those things. It seemed everyone already had money and power, and everyone hated each other just as much in the society as this did without. I couldn’t figure out why everyone was subjecting themselves to all this hazing and torture. Basically though, I couldn't figure out why anybody was doing any of the crazy shizz they did.
I also had a problem with the writing as it never really appealed to me—in fact it seemed rather simplistic throughout.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t read far enough, so I can’t fully critique this. But I was never really enthralled by any of the characters. As a narrator, Cate fell flat to me. She would go on random asides and distract from the plot more often than I liked, and spent far too much time trying to be tough.
In Conclusion:
I don’t know how this ends… but I don’t really care.
Overview:
I received a ARC of this through Netgalley. Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity!
This was a DNF around 20% for me. I really hate rating books this low. Especially review books. And I feel especially bad about the fact that I didn’t finish this. But I already had too many problems with it and too many other better books I’d rather spend my time reading.
An isolated, upper class boarding school has a secret society who organizes a giant game referred to as ‘Killer.” During this game someone is chosen to be the “killer” and must simulate deaths of other classmates, until someone solves the mystery.
Pros:
This started right in the middle of the action, which I really appreciate. All too often books spend too much time elaborating on characters and setting before jumping into the plot. This certainly did not.
Cons:
Okay, so maybe this is my fault, because I didn’t read the summary close enough. I’ll admit I was mainly swept in by the title and the cover, but I was not impressed with the plot. I love mysteries, and thought this had potential. The plot just seemed off, with no real purpose.
By far my biggest problem was the startling lack of motivations amongst the characters. I could not figure out why anyone wanted to play this game. At all. Usually in a secret society, the characters get something out of being in the society—be it money, power or acceptance. This society seemed to promise none of those things. It seemed everyone already had money and power, and everyone hated each other just as much in the society as this did without. I couldn’t figure out why everyone was subjecting themselves to all this hazing and torture. Basically though, I couldn't figure out why anybody was doing any of the crazy shizz they did.
I also had a problem with the writing as it never really appealed to me—in fact it seemed rather simplistic throughout.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t read far enough, so I can’t fully critique this. But I was never really enthralled by any of the characters. As a narrator, Cate fell flat to me. She would go on random asides and distract from the plot more often than I liked, and spent far too much time trying to be tough.
In Conclusion:
I don’t know how this ends… but I don’t really care.
December 3, 2016
Who doesn't love reading a book with an anonymous psychopath? I loooovvvvveeeddddd it! I couldn't put the book down! I just couldn't stop reading until I found out who the Killer was! (I really didn't see it coming). If you like reading mysterious YA novels or anything with suspense, I definitely recommend reading The Assassin Game!
April 20, 2017
I was immediately drawn to this book on the shelf, with its gripping title and creepy-looking cover. I’m a complete sucker for thrillers, especially when they’re done well, and the blurb on the back of the book seemed exciting. The blurb, however, really talks up the overall plot of the book, making it seem more intense than it is.
I wasn’t entirely disillusioned with the book - the descriptions throughout are lovely, and the setting - a rainy, foggy, isolated island boarding school - is a lovely place for a thriller to take place. There’s a bit of a natural-feeling love story gem packed within these pages. I found my gut burning for the romance more than I felt my heart pounding for the suspense. Cate, the main character, has multiple love interests throughout the book. I won't gripe about it, though, because the author handled it well - there was no pining over “who to choose.” I think it’s important to note that Cate knew what she wanted from square one.
Cate herself wasn’t a terribly interesting character, but she felt rather real to me, and I could relate to the level of "boring" she projects upon herself. She plays the game mostly from a standpoint that she wants to feel connected to her peers, and feel a kinship with them - pretty run-of-the-mill for a high school girl. She is not without extreme emotion, frequently toiling and yelling and confronting, and she’s not afraid to show a feminist disposition and call some of her guy friends out on their bullshit. She is full of a lot of anxiety, about relationships and friendships. The character is easily relatable to the intended reader demographic.
There were a lot of side characters in this story, and a lot of them melded together into a big blob of "guild members." Most of the Assassin Guild, the elite group within the school that plays the game, consisted of “popular girls” and “jock boys,” and it’s hard to tell them apart. Cate’s close circle of friends - Marcia, Daniel, and Vaughan - had a bit more personality to them. Vaughan had a particular loveliness, and he was full of energy and sparkle every time he was introduced! He was a bit off the rails, in a charming manner. The most concerning thing to me here was that Marcia, who is supposed to be Cate’s "bff," was a horrible friend. She’s so frequently absent. There’s more than one scene where Cate is trying to have an important conversation with her, and Marcia blows her off entirely. Daniel, Cate’s other “best friend,” never shows up as a friend figure within the text. His character arc, which included an episode of sexual assault, was handled distastefully, felt very incomplete, and painted him as being this ghastly inhuman villain rather than as a human being who needed real help.
That being said, I was spurred toward the end due to the extreme suspense. A person went missing toward the end of the book, and the author had me completely fooled about whodunnit. However, this doesn’t mean that it was a good mystery - I felt as if the author had intentionally veered away from planting clues about the many killers that were present throughout, giving us only clues that pointed towards red herrings. It wasn’t an incredibly satisfying close, and the epilogue left some large, scary, and important facts, revealed about the main character's love interest, completely unaddressed. Overall, I think this would be a fun, easy, and suspenseful read for teens who are new to the genre.
Check out my review blog!
I wasn’t entirely disillusioned with the book - the descriptions throughout are lovely, and the setting - a rainy, foggy, isolated island boarding school - is a lovely place for a thriller to take place. There’s a bit of a natural-feeling love story gem packed within these pages. I found my gut burning for the romance more than I felt my heart pounding for the suspense. Cate, the main character, has multiple love interests throughout the book. I won't gripe about it, though, because the author handled it well - there was no pining over “who to choose.” I think it’s important to note that Cate knew what she wanted from square one.
Cate herself wasn’t a terribly interesting character, but she felt rather real to me, and I could relate to the level of "boring" she projects upon herself. She plays the game mostly from a standpoint that she wants to feel connected to her peers, and feel a kinship with them - pretty run-of-the-mill for a high school girl. She is not without extreme emotion, frequently toiling and yelling and confronting, and she’s not afraid to show a feminist disposition and call some of her guy friends out on their bullshit. She is full of a lot of anxiety, about relationships and friendships. The character is easily relatable to the intended reader demographic.
There were a lot of side characters in this story, and a lot of them melded together into a big blob of "guild members." Most of the Assassin Guild, the elite group within the school that plays the game, consisted of “popular girls” and “jock boys,” and it’s hard to tell them apart. Cate’s close circle of friends - Marcia, Daniel, and Vaughan - had a bit more personality to them. Vaughan had a particular loveliness, and he was full of energy and sparkle every time he was introduced! He was a bit off the rails, in a charming manner. The most concerning thing to me here was that Marcia, who is supposed to be Cate’s "bff," was a horrible friend. She’s so frequently absent. There’s more than one scene where Cate is trying to have an important conversation with her, and Marcia blows her off entirely. Daniel, Cate’s other “best friend,” never shows up as a friend figure within the text. His character arc, which included an episode of sexual assault, was handled distastefully, felt very incomplete, and painted him as being this ghastly inhuman villain rather than as a human being who needed real help.
That being said, I was spurred toward the end due to the extreme suspense. A person went missing toward the end of the book, and the author had me completely fooled about whodunnit. However, this doesn’t mean that it was a good mystery - I felt as if the author had intentionally veered away from planting clues about the many killers that were present throughout, giving us only clues that pointed towards red herrings. It wasn’t an incredibly satisfying close, and the epilogue left some large, scary, and important facts, revealed about the main character's love interest, completely unaddressed. Overall, I think this would be a fun, easy, and suspenseful read for teens who are new to the genre.
Check out my review blog!
July 31, 2016
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
In an isolated and exclusive boarding school on a Welsh island, the Assassin's Guild is the club everyone wants to join. Once a year new initiates join and the whole club play a game called 'Killer' where members are killed off using tricks such as smoke bombs and red paint - nothing too dangerous and nothing illegal. This year, things take a weird twist when there's another Killer and the game takes a dangerous turn.
The premise of this was exciting, it was like Pretty Little Liars mixed with Scream and then some boarding school action thrown in. I liked the Guild's history and how they went about some things like the sorority pledge-like initiation and then the cave with the statue, the bracelets and the ritual goblet. The game itself seemed pretty clever though I wondered at times if it was a bit far-fetched and if teachers and other students would be so okay with everything that was going on.
Cate, as a character, didn't totally do it for me. She seemed a bit of an enigma - she wasn't very popular, was described as mediocre at best in the looks department and was a bit of a drab queen yet she had a bit of a rap sheet with the guys. And can I just say that all the guys, even Vaughn - the main love interest, were really creepy. I felt like everything they all did just had a mega creep vibe to them and I didn't feel any likability coming off them at all and wouldn't like to meet any of them on a road in the dark!
This didn't have quite the thrill I was expecting from it and not everything turned out very surprising for me. But I think people who are fans of the Pretty Little Liars and Scream TV shows will like this one.
March 20, 2018
I need this to become a movie!!!!
April 25, 2018
A fun read, trying to figure out who the killer is. Got me on that one, I definitely didn't see him being the killer.
August 4, 2015
Honestly, this book annoyed me SO MUCH.
Not only is the concept completely unoriginal – a pretend assassin game but OH MY GOD SOME PEOPLE START TO BE SERIOUSLY HURT??!!? – but it is told in a boring and really terribly-written way.
Note: Seriously hurt. Not killed. Because that’d be too much drama and excitement for Killer Game.
Very rarely does a book rile me up so much that I have to tell everybody about it. But this is how I feel right now. The amount of offensive material in this book has completely blown me over. I can’t believe it was published this decade, never mind just a month ago.
Remember that post I wrote the other day called Five Things That Lower a Book’s Rating By One Star? This book fit the bill pretty well for that, lowering the rating right on down to one star. Why was it not a zero star? Because for some reason, I was interested in who the Killer was. I don’t know why.
I wasn’t interested as soon as I found out though, the big reveal was particularly uninspiring…
Imagine a load of privileged, gifted and talented kids on a secluded island in a private boarding school with limited connection to the internet and with only EACH OTHER to socialise with… For goodness sake, man. It was tiring, the craic was abysmal and I just didn’t care.
Do you know what else I really can’t abide? Misogynist books that try and seem really feminist by calling out its own misogyny in such a none progressive and jokey kind of way. It boils my piss. Really annoying.
Here are some examples of the material found in this book:
‘Little Miss OCD.’
Calling a boy someone’s ‘gal-pal’ for doing something they think is stupid.
‘Bitch asked for it.’
Boys physically forcing girls to kiss them… then having the woman apologise for it?
‘We’ll catch this psycho’
That is literally not even a quarter of what could be found in this book.
Anyway.
I would not advise anyone to read this book. I mean, if you’re into assassins, read something else, something better, like Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. If you’re into murder mysteries, go for James Dawson’s Cruel Summer. Don’t put yourself through this. Please.
Not only is the concept completely unoriginal – a pretend assassin game but OH MY GOD SOME PEOPLE START TO BE SERIOUSLY HURT??!!? – but it is told in a boring and really terribly-written way.
Note: Seriously hurt. Not killed. Because that’d be too much drama and excitement for Killer Game.
Very rarely does a book rile me up so much that I have to tell everybody about it. But this is how I feel right now. The amount of offensive material in this book has completely blown me over. I can’t believe it was published this decade, never mind just a month ago.
Remember that post I wrote the other day called Five Things That Lower a Book’s Rating By One Star? This book fit the bill pretty well for that, lowering the rating right on down to one star. Why was it not a zero star? Because for some reason, I was interested in who the Killer was. I don’t know why.
I wasn’t interested as soon as I found out though, the big reveal was particularly uninspiring…
Imagine a load of privileged, gifted and talented kids on a secluded island in a private boarding school with limited connection to the internet and with only EACH OTHER to socialise with… For goodness sake, man. It was tiring, the craic was abysmal and I just didn’t care.
Do you know what else I really can’t abide? Misogynist books that try and seem really feminist by calling out its own misogyny in such a none progressive and jokey kind of way. It boils my piss. Really annoying.
Here are some examples of the material found in this book:
‘Little Miss OCD.’
Calling a boy someone’s ‘gal-pal’ for doing something they think is stupid.
‘Bitch asked for it.’
Boys physically forcing girls to kiss them… then having the woman apologise for it?
‘We’ll catch this psycho’
That is literally not even a quarter of what could be found in this book.
Anyway.
I would not advise anyone to read this book. I mean, if you’re into assassins, read something else, something better, like Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. If you’re into murder mysteries, go for James Dawson’s Cruel Summer. Don’t put yourself through this. Please.
August 2, 2016
"It is about 4:00 a.m. when they come for me. I am already awake, strung out on the fear that they will come, and the fear that they won't."
I won't recap the basic plot, as that's covered in the blurb. If you're worried (or hoping) this is a slasher type book, it is not. It is a suspenseful Young Adult mystery. There's a bit of romance, but it's more in service of the question of who the guilty party is than really romantic. Something I actually preferred.
I enjoyed the isolation aspect. With the island cut off from the mainland except at low tide. Although it's not all that unique in the genre, I think it was handled well and added to the tension of the plot.
We're fairly quickly introduced to the game, "Killer", and don't have to wait too long before it starts. Still I found that things really picked up during the second half of the book, as it was then that I really started to find it un-put-down-able. The first half of the book was fine, but the second half really gets good.
I had several potential suspects in mind while reading this, and kept going back and forth on who I thought the guilty party was likely to be. It kept me guessing.
I was very impressed with the showing, not telling, in this book. In Cate's head I could really feel the way we can freak ourselves out when stressed, just from her inner dialog. Where you start to get spooked over things that aren't anything to be spooked over, just because you're so on edge or become suspicious of everything.
Another example of the showing, not telling, is the way I began to not trust one of Cate's friends in particular, simply due to what he said and did, and the way he said and did them. He (to me) felt like someone who either had boundary issues or was socially inept, or he was a jerk in that fake nice way some people have a talent for. And this was accomplished without the reader being told what to think. I enjoyed that.
Overall I think this is a very enjoyable story for young adults who like mysteries and suspense.
I do not think this one would do as well for those adults (like me) who enjoy reading YA. Although well done, and having some personality of it's own, I think most adults familiar with the genre will probably find it a bit tame.
I received a free (expiring) copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I won't recap the basic plot, as that's covered in the blurb. If you're worried (or hoping) this is a slasher type book, it is not. It is a suspenseful Young Adult mystery. There's a bit of romance, but it's more in service of the question of who the guilty party is than really romantic. Something I actually preferred.
I enjoyed the isolation aspect. With the island cut off from the mainland except at low tide. Although it's not all that unique in the genre, I think it was handled well and added to the tension of the plot.
We're fairly quickly introduced to the game, "Killer", and don't have to wait too long before it starts. Still I found that things really picked up during the second half of the book, as it was then that I really started to find it un-put-down-able. The first half of the book was fine, but the second half really gets good.
I had several potential suspects in mind while reading this, and kept going back and forth on who I thought the guilty party was likely to be. It kept me guessing.
I was very impressed with the showing, not telling, in this book. In Cate's head I could really feel the way we can freak ourselves out when stressed, just from her inner dialog. Where you start to get spooked over things that aren't anything to be spooked over, just because you're so on edge or become suspicious of everything.
Another example of the showing, not telling, is the way I began to not trust one of Cate's friends in particular, simply due to what he said and did, and the way he said and did them. He (to me) felt like someone who either had boundary issues or was socially inept, or he was a jerk in that fake nice way some people have a talent for. And this was accomplished without the reader being told what to think. I enjoyed that.
Overall I think this is a very enjoyable story for young adults who like mysteries and suspense.
I do not think this one would do as well for those adults (like me) who enjoy reading YA. Although well done, and having some personality of it's own, I think most adults familiar with the genre will probably find it a bit tame.
I received a free (expiring) copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 19, 2018
Outline of the story: In a private school for talented students, there is a secret game being played among students: The Assassin Game. Once a year, the Game would be played by chosen players and they must outsmart and outlive a mysterious Killer and his/her many creative Kills. Once you are Killed, then you are out of the Game!
All should be in good fun and game, but what if in this year, the stake has been raised higher and there is someone in the Game who wants to use it to really hurt people?
(Link: https://giphy.com/gifs/retro-fiend-ho...)
My thoughts: As a horror fan, I like what Kirsty Mckay had done with this YA thriller of hers (Ms. Mckay probably likes horror too), she really did get the feeling and buildups of suspense right for most of the time, plus as a whole The Assassin Game is an interesting, decently written YA novel.
Although I must admit the pacing might appear to be slow for some readers; the protagonist Cate can be annoying at times: alright, for how many times must she insist her kissing her male friend is such a huge mistaking!? How insulting for this male friend when Cate just insists upon 'OH I KISSED HIM! IT IS TOTALLY, SERIOUSLY A HUGE MISTAKE! IT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!'
Plus the final revealing of the real Killer and his/her motives turn out to be quite underwhelming......but it's a flaw that I can deal with.
Last but not least, here is my biggest complaint: .
Short review for Undead, by the same author: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All should be in good fun and game, but what if in this year, the stake has been raised higher and there is someone in the Game who wants to use it to really hurt people?
(Link: https://giphy.com/gifs/retro-fiend-ho...)
My thoughts: As a horror fan, I like what Kirsty Mckay had done with this YA thriller of hers (Ms. Mckay probably likes horror too), she really did get the feeling and buildups of suspense right for most of the time, plus as a whole The Assassin Game is an interesting, decently written YA novel.
Although I must admit the pacing might appear to be slow for some readers; the protagonist Cate can be annoying at times: alright, for how many times must she insist her kissing her male friend is such a huge mistaking!? How insulting for this male friend when Cate just insists upon 'OH I KISSED HIM! IT IS TOTALLY, SERIOUSLY A HUGE MISTAKE! IT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!'
Plus the final revealing of the real Killer and his/her motives turn out to be quite underwhelming......but it's a flaw that I can deal with.
Last but not least, here is my biggest complaint: .
Short review for Undead, by the same author: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 6, 2018
You can also find my review here: https://devouringbooks2017.wordpress....
I have had a copy of this from Netgalley for years before I picked it up. I can’t believe it took me so long to pick this up because the concept is so cool. I love the idea of secret societies, they have an air of mystery to them that intrigues me. When I read the blurb of the novel again I was so excited to read it.
The assassin game is a game that I’ve played before, but never like the way they did, the twist put on it in this book would be so much more fun. The initiation of the Guild is so cool, like initiation to a secret society should be. I found myself wishing that I could play myself, that’s how much fun it sounded like. But soon the game turned sinister, and became a hunt for a real killer.
The idea behind the book was really cool and the plot was fun, but I think it could have been done better. For parts of the book I was on the edge of my seat and excited, but other parts weren’t as thrilling. The characters were okay and the story was cool, but it didn’t blow my mind. As far as mysteries go, this isn’t at the top of my list, but it was fun to read.
Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a review copy. This is my honest opinion.
I have had a copy of this from Netgalley for years before I picked it up. I can’t believe it took me so long to pick this up because the concept is so cool. I love the idea of secret societies, they have an air of mystery to them that intrigues me. When I read the blurb of the novel again I was so excited to read it.
The assassin game is a game that I’ve played before, but never like the way they did, the twist put on it in this book would be so much more fun. The initiation of the Guild is so cool, like initiation to a secret society should be. I found myself wishing that I could play myself, that’s how much fun it sounded like. But soon the game turned sinister, and became a hunt for a real killer.
The idea behind the book was really cool and the plot was fun, but I think it could have been done better. For parts of the book I was on the edge of my seat and excited, but other parts weren’t as thrilling. The characters were okay and the story was cool, but it didn’t blow my mind. As far as mysteries go, this isn’t at the top of my list, but it was fun to read.
Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a review copy. This is my honest opinion.
January 6, 2021
before i review... let's just say happy 2021 guys!!! i am so sorry i haven't been too active... i've had some crazy busy stuff going on. i also hope your guys' christmas was good and it cheered you up more for the rest of 2020. :)
this book i didn't really know about... it's one of those small books lots of people skip in a store and that's exactly what i did. my mom showed me it and i thought, "hmm why not?" and i don't regret reading it.
the book's about a girl who wants to join the social circle at her school because she has no other way of joining- and they only way is to join the Game. also known as Assassin. there is a group of select people who have to be tested into the group before they can join. if you make it, your in the Game.
someone took the game too seriously.
overall this book was really good and mysterious, but they added so many confusing details to hide the easy guess on who the person who was killing people were.
:)
this book i didn't really know about... it's one of those small books lots of people skip in a store and that's exactly what i did. my mom showed me it and i thought, "hmm why not?" and i don't regret reading it.
the book's about a girl who wants to join the social circle at her school because she has no other way of joining- and they only way is to join the Game. also known as Assassin. there is a group of select people who have to be tested into the group before they can join. if you make it, your in the Game.
someone took the game too seriously.
overall this book was really good and mysterious, but they added so many confusing details to hide the easy guess on who the person who was killing people were.
:)
January 17, 2016
Utter shite - I should know by now when it takes me four months to finish something, it's never going to be good. But this? The book is called Killer Game by an author of a fricking zombie series and is about a serial killer game played at a remote boarding school on a lonely welsh isle. It stops being a game and starts being real as 'victims' get hurt for real and things get serious. But NO ONE dies - spoiler alert but I'm not sorry, it'll save you reading it. Biggest waste of space I've read in sometime and so disappointing given her previous works.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2017
To get into the club you must first survive the game.
This book draws you in with descriptive writing, semi suspenseful mystery and an unusual concept. "Death" is the game but not really, everyone gets "fake killed" by the killer but you might as well be dead because you lost the opportunity to join the elite club of 'assassins'. Only this semester the killer is doing real harm and Cates next will she survive or be punished along with her friends?
This book draws you in with descriptive writing, semi suspenseful mystery and an unusual concept. "Death" is the game but not really, everyone gets "fake killed" by the killer but you might as well be dead because you lost the opportunity to join the elite club of 'assassins'. Only this semester the killer is doing real harm and Cates next will she survive or be punished along with her friends?
April 13, 2019
It was so good, even though it was a lot of rising action it never had a dull moment, you were constantly questioning who to trust, and once it got to the climax it was almost impossible to put down.
September 2, 2018
Alrighty, here we go.
I loved most of this book, but there were 2 things that bugged me, and thus I docked 2 stars.
Thing 1: The narration/writing. Sometimes, first-person narration just has bits that don’t ring true. In this book, I found myself furrowing my eyebrows at several turns of phrase that Cate used in her narration. Example: describing replaying a traumatic event over and over in her head as “eternal gifs” running through her mind. Yeah, no. No one says that. It sounded like the author was trying too hard to be relatable with the techie young’ns.
Thing 2: The love interest.
Those two things aside, this was an interesting mystery story that kept you guessing, with a great premise.
(Read to complete my mission of reading all the Eliot Rosewater Book Award nominees for the 2018/2019 school year.)
I loved most of this book, but there were 2 things that bugged me, and thus I docked 2 stars.
Thing 1: The narration/writing. Sometimes, first-person narration just has bits that don’t ring true. In this book, I found myself furrowing my eyebrows at several turns of phrase that Cate used in her narration. Example: describing replaying a traumatic event over and over in her head as “eternal gifs” running through her mind. Yeah, no. No one says that. It sounded like the author was trying too hard to be relatable with the techie young’ns.
Thing 2: The love interest.
Those two things aside, this was an interesting mystery story that kept you guessing, with a great premise.
(Read to complete my mission of reading all the Eliot Rosewater Book Award nominees for the 2018/2019 school year.)
February 5, 2017
This...was...painful. It's supposed to be suspenseful but I guarantee you will know how every single thing will work out within like, the first 50 pages of the book. Seriously, the author literally tells you the exact reasoning why it's gonna happen. She spells it out for you. Boy gets burned, boy targets girl who hurt him. Shocker. It's a yawn-fest of predictability right down to the cheesy big 'battle' scene ending (think every movie that climaxes on a dark and stormy night in the middle of nowhere with no one around to rescue the heroes BUT THEMSELVES...DUN DUN DUN...though of course, naturally, they survive without a scratch).
Despite all of what you think is gonna be dramatic, nothing actually happens for about a million pages, though you THINK something will happen every 30 seconds because even though the main character is playing an assassins game in which the sole objective is for someone to 'kill' her, she spends just about every second of her life running away from scary noises, getting scared by nothing, thinking someone is about to attack her, etc. Like, at that point in the book she doesn't know anything is truly amiss...it's all still the game. And yet the author makes the character know she's someone's target, even though the character doesn't know. LAWD. It's just bad, to be honest. Like, you can't give so much exposition and then have something still be a surprise, especially when the red herrings you try to throw COULDN'T BE MORE OBVIOUS. "Let's lead everyone along with the actual person who's going to be the bad guy!" said no author ever.
Harsh but I seriously don't know how this made it through a developmental editor. I fully blame whoever said "this totally works." It doesn't. It COULD. Look at "Scream Queens." I was hoping for a "Scream Queens!" That's the reason I read this book. Murdery nonsense at a boarding school in the middle of goddamn nowhere that doesn't even have a ROAD because it gets WASHED AWAY BY THE SEA and a game with kids fake killing each other for fun?? It had all of the makings of a really suspenseful thriller but here's the thing - no one actually dies. Legit everyone who gets poisoned or stabbed or drowned or whatever ends up miraculously surviving. Hhhokay. Sure.
It's the most implausible nonsense book I've ever read and I was actively mad at myself the entire time I was reading it because I kept HOPING for it to get good and my expectations would jump a little whenever something that seemed ~JUICY~ came into the mix, but NOPE. It's dull, cliché, predictable, nonsense.
Also the main character is a 16-year-old girl whose voice switches back and forth between an 80s-era valley girl and a 90-year-old woman knitting an afghan. Tbh, there was so much wrong and inconsistent with the main character - her reactions to traumas, her lack of personality, her lack of insight (no joke, when her 'boyfriend' is pointing at the 'killer' and saying "he's the killer," she's like "oh hey [insert name here]! Sup bro, you here to rescue us?" and her boyfriend's like "NO he's ACTUALLY the killer" and she's like "haha cool, so is he here to rescue us from the killer or no?" like WHAT lmao), her paranoia, her idiocy - it was awful.
I keep trying to find the good because I like finding the good in everything, but really, all I can come up with is "could be a rip-off of Scream Queens if it actually had anything exciting happen." Just. WHY.
Despite all of what you think is gonna be dramatic, nothing actually happens for about a million pages, though you THINK something will happen every 30 seconds because even though the main character is playing an assassins game in which the sole objective is for someone to 'kill' her, she spends just about every second of her life running away from scary noises, getting scared by nothing, thinking someone is about to attack her, etc. Like, at that point in the book she doesn't know anything is truly amiss...it's all still the game. And yet the author makes the character know she's someone's target, even though the character doesn't know. LAWD. It's just bad, to be honest. Like, you can't give so much exposition and then have something still be a surprise, especially when the red herrings you try to throw COULDN'T BE MORE OBVIOUS. "Let's lead everyone along with the actual person who's going to be the bad guy!" said no author ever.
Harsh but I seriously don't know how this made it through a developmental editor. I fully blame whoever said "this totally works." It doesn't. It COULD. Look at "Scream Queens." I was hoping for a "Scream Queens!" That's the reason I read this book. Murdery nonsense at a boarding school in the middle of goddamn nowhere that doesn't even have a ROAD because it gets WASHED AWAY BY THE SEA and a game with kids fake killing each other for fun?? It had all of the makings of a really suspenseful thriller but here's the thing - no one actually dies. Legit everyone who gets poisoned or stabbed or drowned or whatever ends up miraculously surviving. Hhhokay. Sure.
It's the most implausible nonsense book I've ever read and I was actively mad at myself the entire time I was reading it because I kept HOPING for it to get good and my expectations would jump a little whenever something that seemed ~JUICY~ came into the mix, but NOPE. It's dull, cliché, predictable, nonsense.
Also the main character is a 16-year-old girl whose voice switches back and forth between an 80s-era valley girl and a 90-year-old woman knitting an afghan. Tbh, there was so much wrong and inconsistent with the main character - her reactions to traumas, her lack of personality, her lack of insight (no joke, when her 'boyfriend' is pointing at the 'killer' and saying "he's the killer," she's like "oh hey [insert name here]! Sup bro, you here to rescue us?" and her boyfriend's like "NO he's ACTUALLY the killer" and she's like "haha cool, so is he here to rescue us from the killer or no?" like WHAT lmao), her paranoia, her idiocy - it was awful.
I keep trying to find the good because I like finding the good in everything, but really, all I can come up with is "could be a rip-off of Scream Queens if it actually had anything exciting happen." Just. WHY.
April 28, 2020
3.5 // This was good fun. I got this book a few years back at my first book con. I forgot about it for a while and while recently looking through my shelves I saw it and decided to pick it up with low expectations. This book honestly had no one talking about it and barely any reviews so I just expected it to be lackluster. Oh was I wrong. This book was captivating and entertaining throughout. Yes, it had its issues (hence the 3.5 star rating) but overall, I enjoyed the many theories I had to come up with until its ending. I think this book definitely deserved more hype and if you are looking for a fun quick read this would be perfect.
July 8, 2018
Holy cow that was good.
My mind was leaping all over the place as to who the killer was, and I honestly did not see the killer coming from a mile away.
My mind was leaping all over the place as to who the killer was, and I honestly did not see the killer coming from a mile away.
February 15, 2023
I'm sorry, but what in the actual heck was this 😭
August 1, 2017
The Good
I have never been so disappointed then I am with The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay. But this is the good section, so I will talk about the very few good portions of the book here.
I'll start off with the cover. The cover is what drew me into the book in the first place. The girl standing there with a mask on is really creepy! It reminds of The Purge movies. Then the title caught my attention. It is the name of the game I used to play with all my friends at night. So if The Assassin Game has anything going for it, it would be the cover and title!
Finally there was the synopsis. It explained the game I used to play perfectly but on a larger scale. Instead of just sitting around in a room, this game is played with pranks and public "kills." Things begin to get all too real, which led me to believe the players actually start to die and Cate our main protagonist must try to find the real assassin and avoid being the next target herself. I was totally on board with this. But that is where all the good portions end. All the good portions are before you actually read the book.
The Bad
***At this point, there will be SPOILERS ***
Now we have the bad portions to talk about. So buckle up, it might be a bumpy ride from here.
There was nothing thrilling about The Assassin Game at all. To be honest I was actually bored 75% of the time reading it. The synopsis I found to be really misleading. When it says "when the game becomes all too real," that lead me to believe that the players are actually going to die. But guess what? None of them do. Not a single player dies. One gets anaphylactic shock, and another gets poisoned. BORING.
The characters were all sub-par. Cate as the main protagonist didn't really bring anything substantial to the table. I found her drab and unlikable. Vaughan the mysterious new member of the guild and Cate's childhood best friend was creepy at most parts, but also unlikable. And don't get me started on the side characters: Daniel, Marcia, Alex, and Rick. Their personalities and dialogue are completely off. I don't think they were completely fleshed out.
McKay's writing didn't make up for the rotten plot, but it didn't bomb the book either. But sadly enough, nothing about it thrilled me. For a mystery thriller, the writing should be able to keep you on your toes and to expect the unexpected. But sadly, I found myself skimming over parts and dreading the "mystery" of it all.
The romance between the two characters was off as well. I felt the romance was completely unnecessary, especially to the level the author took the relationship. I felt like it was just thrown into the story just to motivate the characters to save each other in the end, not to further or deepen the plot in any way.
Finally we have the most disappointing portion of all, the ending climax. We find out who the "killer" actually is, and to say I was not shocked is an understatement. At this point of the story, the 95% mark, I was just reading to finally be done with it all. I didn't care anymore. The big reveal did nothing for me, and I found the "killer's" motive to be completely superficial and dumb. I was pretty pissed to be honest. But then it ends, trying to tie up all the loose knots. Boring, boring, boring.
I have never been so disappointed then I am with The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay. But this is the good section, so I will talk about the very few good portions of the book here.
I'll start off with the cover. The cover is what drew me into the book in the first place. The girl standing there with a mask on is really creepy! It reminds of The Purge movies. Then the title caught my attention. It is the name of the game I used to play with all my friends at night. So if The Assassin Game has anything going for it, it would be the cover and title!
Finally there was the synopsis. It explained the game I used to play perfectly but on a larger scale. Instead of just sitting around in a room, this game is played with pranks and public "kills." Things begin to get all too real, which led me to believe the players actually start to die and Cate our main protagonist must try to find the real assassin and avoid being the next target herself. I was totally on board with this. But that is where all the good portions end. All the good portions are before you actually read the book.
The Bad
***At this point, there will be SPOILERS ***
Now we have the bad portions to talk about. So buckle up, it might be a bumpy ride from here.
There was nothing thrilling about The Assassin Game at all. To be honest I was actually bored 75% of the time reading it. The synopsis I found to be really misleading. When it says "when the game becomes all too real," that lead me to believe that the players are actually going to die. But guess what? None of them do. Not a single player dies. One gets anaphylactic shock, and another gets poisoned. BORING.
The characters were all sub-par. Cate as the main protagonist didn't really bring anything substantial to the table. I found her drab and unlikable. Vaughan the mysterious new member of the guild and Cate's childhood best friend was creepy at most parts, but also unlikable. And don't get me started on the side characters: Daniel, Marcia, Alex, and Rick. Their personalities and dialogue are completely off. I don't think they were completely fleshed out.
McKay's writing didn't make up for the rotten plot, but it didn't bomb the book either. But sadly enough, nothing about it thrilled me. For a mystery thriller, the writing should be able to keep you on your toes and to expect the unexpected. But sadly, I found myself skimming over parts and dreading the "mystery" of it all.
The romance between the two characters was off as well. I felt the romance was completely unnecessary, especially to the level the author took the relationship. I felt like it was just thrown into the story just to motivate the characters to save each other in the end, not to further or deepen the plot in any way.
Finally we have the most disappointing portion of all, the ending climax. We find out who the "killer" actually is, and to say I was not shocked is an understatement. At this point of the story, the 95% mark, I was just reading to finally be done with it all. I didn't care anymore. The big reveal did nothing for me, and I found the "killer's" motive to be completely superficial and dumb. I was pretty pissed to be honest. But then it ends, trying to tie up all the loose knots. Boring, boring, boring.
August 19, 2016
With a title like this one, I had some pretty high hopes. The Assassin Game is my first time reading a book by Kirsty McKay and while it wasn’t all I had hoped for, it was enough to get me to check out some of her other books.
Pros:
Mystery: There were times when I totally thought about setting aside The Assassin Game and adding it to my short list of DNFs. I admit, there were times when I was just plain bored. Things moved at a slow pace with this one. However, I could not stop reading this one because there were so many things I still needed to know. Yes, there was a killer in the game but there was also someone attempting to kill people in real life too. And let me tell you, I didn’t have a clue who either killer was. These kids were pretty ruthless and they each wanted to be the last one standing at the end of the Game. They were willing to do a lot of stuff in the name of the Game and it looked like someone was taking the Game a little too far.
Cons:
Pacing: I already mentioned this briefly but the pace of this one was ridiculously slow. I honestly felt like nothing happened for the first half of the book. The synopsis tells you about someone taking the Game a bit literally and trying to kill people but the first attempt doesn’t even happen until halfway through the book. The first half just focuses on Cate and her many romantic entanglements as well as the progression of the Game. I was extremely bored with that. Which brings me to my next point.
Characters: I was not impressed with any of these characters. Cate, for instance, was immature and obsessed with the Game. I think she saw it as a way of fitting in which was something she had always been trying to achieve. She was the kid that wasn’t really supposed to be at Umfraville but since her family owned the island she got to attend the school. Everyone there was snobby and rich and she didn’t feel like she belonged with any of them except maybe Marcia and Daniel. Also, she may have considered those two friends but they were anything but. Marcia was self-centered and totally not there for Cate at all. Daniel, on the other hand, was completely obsessed with her. He was creepy. As for Alex and Vaughn, Cate’s other possible love interests, I wasn’t really impressed with either of them. Alex was the popular guy who was a total player but for some reason, Cate never wanted him. They hooked up once and that was the end for her. Vaughn was her childhood friend who reappeared after years and they immediately fell for each other. I didn’t really have any problems with the two of them together but I didn’t feel any sort of investment in their relationship.
Writing: I wasn’t terribly upset with the writing in The Assassin Game but I was far from impressed with it. It was very stilted and straightforward. I felt like I was being told everything outright rather than having things shown to me through descriptions. It was a really dull way of telling this story.
Overall, The Assassin Game may not have a lot of pros going for it but it was an entertaining enough story for me. It’s not something I’ll ever re-read but it was a good mystery for a rainy day.
Pros:
Mystery: There were times when I totally thought about setting aside The Assassin Game and adding it to my short list of DNFs. I admit, there were times when I was just plain bored. Things moved at a slow pace with this one. However, I could not stop reading this one because there were so many things I still needed to know. Yes, there was a killer in the game but there was also someone attempting to kill people in real life too. And let me tell you, I didn’t have a clue who either killer was. These kids were pretty ruthless and they each wanted to be the last one standing at the end of the Game. They were willing to do a lot of stuff in the name of the Game and it looked like someone was taking the Game a little too far.
Cons:
Pacing: I already mentioned this briefly but the pace of this one was ridiculously slow. I honestly felt like nothing happened for the first half of the book. The synopsis tells you about someone taking the Game a bit literally and trying to kill people but the first attempt doesn’t even happen until halfway through the book. The first half just focuses on Cate and her many romantic entanglements as well as the progression of the Game. I was extremely bored with that. Which brings me to my next point.
Characters: I was not impressed with any of these characters. Cate, for instance, was immature and obsessed with the Game. I think she saw it as a way of fitting in which was something she had always been trying to achieve. She was the kid that wasn’t really supposed to be at Umfraville but since her family owned the island she got to attend the school. Everyone there was snobby and rich and she didn’t feel like she belonged with any of them except maybe Marcia and Daniel. Also, she may have considered those two friends but they were anything but. Marcia was self-centered and totally not there for Cate at all. Daniel, on the other hand, was completely obsessed with her. He was creepy. As for Alex and Vaughn, Cate’s other possible love interests, I wasn’t really impressed with either of them. Alex was the popular guy who was a total player but for some reason, Cate never wanted him. They hooked up once and that was the end for her. Vaughn was her childhood friend who reappeared after years and they immediately fell for each other. I didn’t really have any problems with the two of them together but I didn’t feel any sort of investment in their relationship.
Writing: I wasn’t terribly upset with the writing in The Assassin Game but I was far from impressed with it. It was very stilted and straightforward. I felt like I was being told everything outright rather than having things shown to me through descriptions. It was a really dull way of telling this story.
Overall, The Assassin Game may not have a lot of pros going for it but it was an entertaining enough story for me. It’s not something I’ll ever re-read but it was a good mystery for a rainy day.
January 3, 2020
So I had this on my “will probably not like” list and the universe said SURPRISE BITCH
This has been sitting on my shelf for ages, just collecting dust. I decided to read it to either love it or just get it out of the way once and for all. I had gotten over this type of book, or so I thought!
The atmosphere of this book was so well written, I could see it so clearly in my mind. I didn't feel like I had to make up a fake map just to understand where things were.
The characters, too, were very well written. I felt like they all had their own personalities, arcs, and voices. Our main character was a tad bit I'm not like other girls but I mean... she wasn't like them and she didn't try to make herself look better because of it.
The plot was different than other books like this because it also had the twist of their online universe which was interesting and made the book seem more realistic than other books with this plotline.
Also, the red herrings! I got caught a few of them, if I'm being honest. The last plot twist, I sorta saw coming but it was awesome seeing how it would play out. If you read a lot of mystery, I can see the ending being an easy one to catch on to, but it was still very well done.
Overall, I very much enjoyed reading this book and I'm glad I finally picked it up!
This has been sitting on my shelf for ages, just collecting dust. I decided to read it to either love it or just get it out of the way once and for all. I had gotten over this type of book, or so I thought!
The atmosphere of this book was so well written, I could see it so clearly in my mind. I didn't feel like I had to make up a fake map just to understand where things were.
The characters, too, were very well written. I felt like they all had their own personalities, arcs, and voices. Our main character was a tad bit I'm not like other girls but I mean... she wasn't like them and she didn't try to make herself look better because of it.
The plot was different than other books like this because it also had the twist of their online universe which was interesting and made the book seem more realistic than other books with this plotline.
Also, the red herrings! I got caught a few of them, if I'm being honest. The last plot twist, I sorta saw coming but it was awesome seeing how it would play out. If you read a lot of mystery, I can see the ending being an easy one to catch on to, but it was still very well done.
Overall, I very much enjoyed reading this book and I'm glad I finally picked it up!
June 8, 2017
I expected more from this book. I expected at least a few dead bodies, but unfortunately it did not deliver. I thought the Game will take a dark turn and it eventually did, but until that point I was pretty tired of expecting something interesting to happen. The last few chapters were good, with lots of action and tension, hence the 3 stars. The first two thirds of the book should have been shorter in my opinion.
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