I received an advanced copy of The Assassin Game through netgalley; however, I did not know that the book had been previously published under the name Killer Game in the UK. So while The Assassin Game won't be out until August, you all can still read it if you're interested!
The Assassin Game is centered around a boarding school on an island in the UK, with no phones and no access to the internet an elite group of students keep themselves entertained by the game Killer. Very few are invited to join and of those chosen, one is picked as the killer and must go around "assassinating" fellow members, it's a mystery as to who this killer is. This game is different this time though, it's suddenly being escalated and taken a little too seriously and soon it's threatened to be shut down.
I'm not a big mystery person, which is weird because every time I do read thrillers or mysteries, I enjoy it. I get really into it and can't stop reading until I know how it's solved. The Assassin Game was no different, I wanted to know what the heck was going on so I finished it as quickly as possible. I honestly didn't expect the twist at the end and I was kind of glad at how it was done. There were a couple parts where I was thinking it was being made a little too dramatic. For example, who the heck leaves a car running in an unopened garage??? I feel like that's one of the first things I was told never to do, so that bothered me. I also found it very unrealistic that the students had absolutely no access to the outside world where their phones were taken away and they had no internet. Unless the UK is very different from the US, parents would not be okay with having barely any contact with their kids.
The main character, Cate, was kind of awesome in my mind though. She didn't want to put up with misogynistic B.S. and was believable in her reactions. She was not some lame damsel in distress who needed to be saved by others, but she also wasn't an unbelievable character who handled everything herself. She felt normal. I also loved at the end where a ptsd moment was included, like after this kind of stuff happens to someone, they won't be the same.
This book kind of made me wish for a more mature version though, where it actually is an assassin's guild. I love darker books and while this was good, it was also for younger readers where it needs a happy ending. I've gotta find me some dark and gritty books with no happy ending...
I would say that this was just average; not outstanding in my mind, but also not bad.
The Assassin Game comes out in the US August 2nd!
