Week 14 Review: Dark Parts of the Universe

From Goodreads:

Outer Banks meets Bone Gap in New York Times bestselling author Samuel Miller's propulsive and genre-bending YA mystery, following a group of teenagers who discover a dead body while playing an app-based adventure game that sends players to "random" locations, unlocking a much deeper mystery about their small town. 

In Calico Springs, Willie's life has been defined by two powerful God and the river. The "miracle boy" died for five minutes as a young child, and ever since, Willie is certain he survived for a reason, but that purpose didn't become clear until he found the Game.

The Game is called Manifest Atlas, and the concept is enter an intention and the Game provides a target—a blinking blue dot on the map. Willie's second time playing Manifest Atlas, his intention takes him to an ominous three empty graves. Willie is sure the Game is telling him he's going to die.

Willie's older brother, Bones, doesn't believe him, but their friends are intrigued. Sarai, a girl from across the river, sets the next something bloody. The group follows the Game's coordinates and they discover something even more unsettling than the a dead body. Sarai's stepfather's body. The Game is suddenly personal.

Willie is dedicated to proving the Game works while Sarai is set on finding out what happened to her stepdad. Bones just wants to enjoy his last summer before real life begins. As the group digs deeper into Manifest Atlas, stranger and wilder things begin to appear, unlocking a much deeper mystery running like an undercurrent through the small town. 

My Review:
Oh, I loved reading this book! It sounded really good, like a really fantastic mystery, and it was, I really enjoyed watching these characters investigate this game that was leading to potential and actual death. I had to know more!

This case of characters were really interesting, from Willie who was dead for a few minutes, to his older brother, to Sarai, whose dad is the one that died. They all had a reason to continue on this path, and I had a blast watching them do so!

Finding out what was going on with this game was a pretty big task. That the game worked by putting an intention in and the Game showing a map of where it was, well, the workings of the game were a clue in figuring out who was behind this, and what was going on. 

What turned out to be happening, well, that was really unexpected. I do wish that it had been connected together just a little bit more, or maybe I missed something, but it kinda felt like it came out of left field. I enjoyed it, but I wish it could've connected back a bit more clearly.

This was a fantastic read and I can't wait to read more by Samuel Miller! 

Author: Samuel Miller 
Read: March 30th, 2024
Source: Edelweiss 
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2024 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 
Expected Publication: April 23rd 2024

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars