Week 34 Review: Gamescape: Overview

From Goodreads:
The planet is dying. Centuries of abuse have damaged the earth beyond repair, and now all the authorities can do is polish the surface, make the landscape look pretty to hide the disease within. Two prominent yet mysterious businessmen couldn't fix it, either, but they did something even better. Together, they invented Chimera, the most complex and immersive virtual reality video game the world has ever known. The Cubes in which Chimera is played quickly became a fixture of this landscape: part distraction, part hospital, and almost wholly responsible for holding up the failing world economy.

Miguel Anderson is also dying. He isn’t the only one who plays the game–everybody does–but Miguel has more reason than most: When players leave their Cubes for the day, the upgrades and enhancements they've earned for their virtual characters leave with them. New lungs to breathe poisoned air, skin that won’t burn under the sun are great and everything… but Miguel, born as broken as the earth, needs a new heart–and soon–if he wants any hope of surviving just a little longer.

Then the two Gamerunners announce a competition, with greater rewards and faster progression than ever before, and Miguel thinks his prayers have been answered. All he needs to do is get picked to lead a team, play the game he's spent years getting good at, and ask for his prize when he wins. Simple, really.

At first, things seem to go according to plan. Mostly, anyway. Inside his Cube, with his new team–including his best friend–at his back, Miguel begins his quest. He plays recklessly, even dangerously, for someone whose most vital organ could give up at any moment, but his desperation makes him play better than ever. The eyes of the world are on him, watching through status updates and live feeds, betting on his chances. With greater rewards, though, come greater risks, and the Gamerunners seem to delight at surprising the competitors at every turn. As he ventures deeper into a world that blends the virtual and the real to an unsettling degree, Miguel begins to wonder just why the game was invented at all, and whether its stakes could be even higher than life and death.

My Review:
I enjoyed reading this book so much! A lot of it was playing the game, but there was a portion of it in the real world. Which is good, given that Miguel at the end doesn't want to play anymore. A lot goes on, and it was pretty intense to read!

Mig isn't healthy. There's something with his heart that means he's weaker then everybody else, and means that he has 5 years or less left to live, if he doesn't get a replacement heart. So he's really focused on the game, where he can earn it. And then a new aspect of the plan starts rolling out, giving him a new opportunity much sooner. Because as it turns out, he needs it.

I enjoyed the game, I think it was obsessed over a little too much, a distraction given that the world was basically ending, but the different challenges and puzzles faced were very interesting! They had to be clever and inventive, and that was really great to read!

That ending, oh, wow, so much was discovered, and it changes the course of what's going to happen next! I'm so excited to see where things are going to go from there! I mean, that everybody was sorted into good and evil, yeah, that's pretty mind-blowing idea, at least, while you're still alive!

Yeah, this book was so fantastic, and I can't wait for the next book!

Author: Emma Trevayne
Series: The Nova Project #1
Read: August 18th, 2018
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a 2018 Dystopia Book and a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2018 Book!
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published: September 13th 2016

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars