You are Invited.
Come inside & play with G.O.D.
Bring your friends!
It’s fun!
But remember the rules. Win & ALL YOUR DREAMS COME True. Lose, You DIE!
With a blurb like that ... how can you not be intrigue to devour this book in one sitting?!? Ready to pick up your next binge read?!? This is it!! Thank you to St. Martin Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!! This was a page turner for sure!! Couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend.

The God Game by Danny Tobey is a science fiction thriller that really had an overall horror vibe to it as well with the events getting darker and darker. I’ve seen this one compared to Ready Player One a lot and I suppose I see that in the group of teens playing the online game but minus all the fun pop culture 80s references as that was a lighter read than this one.

Charlie and his friends call themselves the Vindicators and they are seniors in high school but not exactly in on the popular crowd. This group of gamers receive an invite online to come play a game with an AI who is calling himself God. It seems that whoever is behind the game sees what they are doing and as the game goes on the tasks, rewards and punishments get higher and higher.

This story for me was one that hooked me in at the beginning but as time went by I personally thought it began to drag a bit. Being someone that has read a lot of virtual gaming books and also a lot of horror books that have the characters doing “dark” things along the way I kind of had a feeling of I’ve read this one before after a while and got a little edgy waiting to find out how it would all wrap up. I think personally for me if it had been shorter in length I would have enjoyed it more overall.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
You can purchase your copy from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/God-Game-Novel-Danny-Tobey/dp/1250306140





This book had a slow start and I had a little trouble getting into it, but once I started it, I was totally absorbed in it and finished it in one sitting!



We begin this book with two kids, Charlie and Peter staring at a Computer screen who are interrupted by a knock on the door by one of the kid's fathers. Now this could be a VERY awkward situation depending on the age of the boys, but this was not what you think, despite what they elude to. Charlie and his father have suffered quite the loss with his mother passing after a long battle with cancer. Thankfully, Charlie had his little group of friends to get him through his loss. They all knew about this “GOD” thing. They soon dub themselves “the Vindicators” after a little deliberation.

So much happens in this book that is so surreal. I was OMGing throughout this book! The setting is a high school with kids that end up playing a game. Kids that normally would not have fit in with other kids for a variety of reasons bind together to play this game. This game is full of deceit, lies and secrets. Secret money, secret crushes, secret beatings, secret graffiti, and secret grade changes. The funny thing is about secrets is that someone else ALWAYS knows… in this case GOD seems to know everything and somehow has orchestrated all of this. GOD assigns tasks to each one of them and they are “rewarded”. The Vindicators try to unmask the address that GOD is communicating with them from, but there is so much underlying masking that the boys are unable to figure out where the messages are coming from, despite their tenacity. Collateral damage is another term that I will use with this book. Many people get caught up in this book as collateral damage. I learned so much about masking and viruses and clocking and as a mother of almost teens, this book has me scared.

I am nervous about what my soon to be teens will be getting themselves into. Did you know that you can download an app that allows the user to bypass any parental settings you may have set on their device? YUP, this is real. Did you know that the kids are more tech savvy than you ever think that you can, unless you teach technology and are up on the latest and newest, etc? Who has time to play BIG Brother on their kid’s devices?



I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but it reinforces my helicopter parenting and need to know what my kid is doing and with whom at all times. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! I cannot wait to see what this author brings next!

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a bit of Ready Player One.
I enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen next and trying to figure out how the characters were going get themselves out of the situations that the God Game kept putting them into. Trying to figure out whom they could trust and if they were going to make decisions that went against their moral code

I received an uncorrected e-arc to review for an unbiased opinion. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to immerse myself in this novel.

If IT and Virtual Reality got together and had a technological AI baby you'd have this book. I can see you scratching your head. "IT?! Seriously. Like the Clown??" Yes friends. This book reminded me so much of the gang from IT. A group of kids that have a malevolent force pull them apart and try to kill them but in the form of a virtual reality game that thinks it's G.O.D. All while feasting on their weaknesses and using others as pawns.

Overall I definitely enjoyed this book. Action packed, great character connections, high school hierarchy vibes and violence. There is code lingo that may not be exciting for the average reader and the explanation of events in some areas can be a bit to wrap your head around. Either it's too in depth or just didn't come off explained well enough for the non-coder. There was a point in my reading where I started to notice how long the book was. I went into this fairly blind and didn't realize it was almost 500 deep. It's still a great read though.

For informational purposes this novel includes references to adultery, LGBT, drugs, suicide, domestic abuse and child abuse.

The God Game reminded me a lot of the movie Ready Player One. The God Game is about a group of teenagers, Kenny, Alex, Vanhi, Charlie, and Peter who start to play the virtual reality game G.O.D. that they found on the dark web. G.O.D. sets each individual on tasks that they must complete, very similar to what other role playing video games have you do to earn prizes, tokens, etc. However, the tasks that G.O.D. asks them to do go from easy to more difficult and darker in nature. The tasks pit them against themselves, each other, and the community.



As I previously mentioned, The God Game reminded me of the movie Ready Player One, so if you liked that movie or the book (which I have not read) than you will most likely like this book. It dives deep in the role playing video game G.O.D. and uses some technical coding language. Although, I struggled a little bit with the coding language, I was still able to follow it. It also takes some time to remember what some of the games names are for items, such as "Aziteks" and "Blakk".



The character development was spot on and the teenagers, Kenny, Alex, Vanhi, Charlie, and Peter are easy to relate to. The book touches on some real life topics that I feel that teenagers are struggling with today, such as bullying and suicide.



Rating 4 out of 5 because Danny Tobey did a good job at hooking me into the story from the beginning and keeping me hooked. I struggled a little bit with the coding language and with remembering what "Aziteks" and "Blakk" were, which is also why I rated it a 4.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the advance readers' copy.

A group of code savvy teens enter a dark web video game that believes that it is God. Missions accomplished means real life rewards. Failure to obey the game means real life consequences.

This book starts out a bit slow when we are being introduced to all of the characters. But, as soon as the teens start to play the game, it becomes a wild ride of a story. I really couldn't put it down.

The real world tie in to the game with the use of the high tech glasses was a great way to implement the game play. It was a smart way to keep the plot moving without having to stop to dive into the game play.

I am a fan of a group, rag tag or otherwise. This one hit the mark for me on that for sure. I like to see all the personalities and how they work for or against each other.

The game play got a bit too meta for me at some points and the hacks usually went over my head. But, it didn't stop me from enjoying the story.

What did put a damper on my enjoyment of the book was the repeated mentions of Trump. I found it kind of unnecessary, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I don't think that it helped to tell the story in any way. It kind of felt like the author's desire to insert a very polarizing subject into his novel for that sake alone.

Overall, I really liked the book. It is unique and was fun to read. It is fast paced. Even though the book is over 400 pages, it doesn't feel long. That is always a good sign!

One of 2020's bestsellers hands down. It's vivid and heart pounding. It's unputdownable so make sure you have plenty of time to read thi amazing book. It deserves a spot on your keeper shelf. Happy reading

Charlie and his friends become really, really involved with the G.O.D. game. The game is run by hackers and controlled by a super AI who believes he is god. As they get into the game on their screens and devices, the group moves into a virtual reality where they reap benefits from successes, but ultimately face the ultimate question of how far they can and want to go, and what happens when they lose. Suspicious packages show up at their homes. Strangers seem to follow them, luring with all sorts of nefarious intentions/ideas. It all makes them and us wonder what exactly is going on and just how far it all will go. The wins are big, but the losses? Are they just virtual losses or is there an ultimate payment for losing they haven’t found/reached yet? When they reach tis level, they find out that leaving the game is not easy, if not impossible—and it looks like only god will decide when the game is over.

The book, as one reviewer stated well, begins and moves long at a fast clip initially, but tends to sow down as it goes on, though I did not think it got bogged down “in the weeds”. The big question in the book becomes what happens when some sort of super form of AI controls the world and people within. I liked this idea. However, like others, I found the book characters wanting a bit as the tale progressed. There just was not the development I expected/wanted. I am also not sure about the lasting interest in the idea behind the story. However, it does put forth a good, novel concept, one some of us should be thinking/worried about, as we move into the future. In addition, it has a good sci-fi tone and vibe which many will probably find fascinating. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

Shocking to me but I loved this book! It started out weird for me as I am neither a gamer nor a sci- first reader. Without giving spoilers I can only say ReadI both YA and seniors will love it! Thank you to NetGalley for introducing me to a genre I wouldn’t normally read,

Charlie and his group of coder friends don’t know how much their life is about to change when they accept their invitation to the G.O.D. game, run by underground hackers and loaded with every religious text known to humankind. Too soon, their real lives are as interconnected with the game as they appear through their VR glasses, their high school turned into a world of glyphs, gods, and mythical creatures.

"The God Game" is a mix between "Nerve" and "Black Mirror," specifically S3 EP3: ‘Shut Up and Dance.’

First of all, I thought this book was going to be YA, considering the high school setting and young main characters, but the book gets into some pretty dark territory that even I would say is more catered to adults (Goodreads has listed this under YA but others have only categorized it as ‘coming-of-age).

Dark twists and horrible happenings are in abundance. And, for what it is, it makes sense that the story would sink into this dark place while exploring the topics of humanity that it seems to somewhat want to commentate on.

Beware: not all of the topics (meaning, basically none of them) in this story are dealt with particularly gracefully, which may irk some readers. Personally, considering the unlikeable characters and pessimistic, dark tone overall, it didn’t feel unexpected or as bothersome to me as it would have in other circumstances.

What kept me avidly flipping through pages of this book was not the characters (which are mostly meant to be unlikeable anyways), or the game (which is not incredibly original in comparison to other books/movies/shows in the genre), but the fact that in every single one of the over 100 chapters there was a new surprise…and I can’t say I saw any of them coming. This story threw me for a loop…or rather, many loops…like an extreme roller coaster. And, perhaps even more shocking, was that all of them made sense. It can be easy for stories to throw in surprises, but it’s another thing entirely for those twists to follow realistic logic. But there were not many moments during "God Game" that I thought something was too unbelievable.

Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is that the entire story is well-executed and planned out. It’s more than clear that Tobey knew what he was doing. The coding, at the heart of the story, is extremely convincing (at least to someone like me who has *ahem* limited experience on the subject) which sets up the story on a strong foundation.

In fact, the middle of this book was building to something really great, but it was unfortunately bookended by a weaker beginning and end. At first, readers are met with an info-dump of information where we’re told everything we’d ever need to know about every character…and then some. While, towards the end, we’re met with the opposite problem as the book starts feeling rushed and it’s hard to gain a grasp on the complicated issues at hand and fully understand what’s going on.

Although the overarching themes in this story are more than apparent, I couldn’t help feeling that there were some missed opportunities when it came to commentary. There were so many things I thought the book could have been building towards talking about, but the focus became more about the plot itself than the concepts beneath. The story also takes place in 2017, right before the election that made Trump president. This is mentioned lightly and could have had a deeper impact on the story, but more or less served only to date it. I understand why so many stories recently are including Trump in their stories, for catharsis or relevancy, but it’s not my favorite tactic. Books that would otherwise have more of a universal tone are placed in a specific time period, which may limit their relevancy, and I fear the same may be said for this one.

I rated "The God Game" 3.5 out of 5 stars. Fans of "Black Mirror" will like this one (especially while biding our time during the long wait for another season) and those with an interest in coding and hacking.

Review link:

I wish that I enjoyed this book more than I did, friends. Reading this book was a wild ride of emotions for me because I was interested in the story but also was disengaged from it. The book felt really long while reading it. By the time I was at 85%, I wanted to DNF the book but forced myself to finish since I was so close to the end. Part of me wanted to know. I wish I hadn't. This book has no discernable meaning or purpose; it is just chaotic neutral.

"'What you want, gentlemen and lady, is to play God! Turn social order upside down. Claim what should be yours. Go from duds to studs! And so I give you ... the God Game!'"

This started as a very exciting read for me that slowly devolved into something that by the end I had come to almost hate. A big part of this is a Me Thing: I often struggle with mutiple POV narratives. The narrative style felt disjointed and jarring to read, the "perspectives" bled into each other and veered almost into an omniscient narrator but wasn't written to be that way. The perspective shifts happen randomly and many times within a chapter, noted solely with a double line break. There are so many characters, too. It's not only from the 5 Vindicators, either. Randomly perspectives from other characters are thrown in which to me detracted from the plot and muddied the water as to who we are supposed to care about.

Which leads to my next complaint: I didn't really care about the characters by the end of the book. I was just kinda tired of them. But I liked them at first, before they bled into one another. I think that Charlie is meant to be the main character because he has the most page-time and a lot of the story centers on his grief. But honestly, there was so much going on that I wound up not caring about much of anything.

This is a messed up book. Everyone in the book winds up basically being terrible, and each of the Vindicators have their own personal traumas that lead them to play the game. The game itself is messed up, which you can expect from a tagline Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.™ Lose, you die! . But in addition to the plot itself being a messed up nightmare, there's a character in an abusive and toxic relationship, as well as one with abusive parents. There are things that happen in the book that go Too Far in my opinion. Please be sure to read my content warnings at the end of the review and make sure you are in the right headspace. (Thank you to Lauren for giving me a head's up - I would have been PISSED had I gone in blind.)

I got my degree in Religious Studies and one of my honors theses delved into the theory of religion. At first, I really enjoyed the religious allusions and how the AI presented itself after being fed all of World Religion. But there is this part near the end of the book where various philosophical theory is debated and explained in excruciating detail by the characters. It kind of read like That Guy in your undergrad philosophy class trying to sound smart with all the things he can recite. As a person who loves philosophy, it wasn't enjoyable to read - but this may be due to the fact that I was so done with the book by this point.

I don't feel that anything wrapped up and am pretty unsatisfied with the ending. If you are the kind of person who will want to learn the origins of the game and the nitty-gritty on how the tech works, you will be disappointed. There is no greater message or purpose to this other than veering into nihilism, only without the freedom associated with it. It also gets very heavy on philosophy and theory of religion in the last quarter of the book, which should have been my jam since that is what I studied in university. (view spoiler)

Ultimately, I found The God Game to be a promising premise but an uneven reading experience. While I absolutely adored the first 30% of the book, the longer the book went on the more I disliked it. Due to the number of characters and perspectives, I had a difficult time connecting to anyone or the story at all because I didn't care what happened to anyone. It is worth noting that my experience is an anomaly among some of my SFF reviewing friends; please check out Alana's and/or Paul's review before writing this one completely off. For the right reader, this will be an amazing read. I just wasn't that reader.

Content warnings: abusive romantic relationship, animal death, attempted suicide, blackmail, bullying, death, drug use, grief, incest (inferred), loss of a loved one, parental abuse (off-page but referenced a lot), suicidal thoughts, violence
Representation: lgbtqiap+ (Vanhi is lesbian), Indian rep (Vanhi), Asian rep (Alex)

eARC sent by St. Martin's Press in exchange for my honest review. This does not impact the content of my review or rating. Quotations are from an unfinished proof and subject to change upon final publication.

Teenagers obsession with video games a game that has gripped a group of teens. This is a chilling wild ride of a read.Unique creatives a Cary lok at artificial intelligence unputdownable #netgalley#st.martinsbooks.

The God Game was a creative, excellent, and captivating novel! It was a bit long, however the pace never slowed and the story was addicting. This entertaining thriller has some Black Mirror vibes (which is a show I absolutely love and highly recommend) and it was interesting to see the consequences of each action or choice. I wasn’t sure how the story would end but I actually loved the ending! This is definitely one of those novels that you have to suspend belief for since there’s some aspects that aren’t particularly realistic or believable. In the end, this won’t be one of my favorite novels, but I thought it was well-written, kept my attention, and was difficult to put down since I wanted to know what happened next. Thank you to Net Galley and St Martins Press for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙!
𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙂.𝙊.𝘿.
𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨!
𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙣!
𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨. 𝙒𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝘿𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙈𝙎 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙏𝙍𝙐𝙀.™
𝙇𝙤𝙨𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙚!

Charlie, founder of the Vindicators, a group of misfit teens at an Austin, Texas high school, receives an invitation to play the God Game. Spiraling downward since his mother died a year ago, he has nothing to lose by accepting, and his friends, the Vindicators, Peter, Vahni, Kenny, and Alex join as well.

Playing through their cell phones, the game overlays the real world with fantastic imagery, adding details like hanging vines in the school halls. When they play against imaginary beasts only to gain Goldz in the game which they can exchange for advantages, the God Game seems harmless.

But soon, it intrudes on the real world. They are asked to make illicit deliveries, perform errands, and complete tasks, after which they receive more Goldz and rewards like an ATM that dispenses cash freely. When they go against the game, however, they receive Blaxx, and the punishment might be more than they’ve bargained for—how much further will Charlie fall before he can get himself and his friends out of the game… if they game will even let them leave.

With short chapters and lots of action, The God Game by Danny Tobey is a quick and exciting read. Though the characters, who, if not likeable, are interesting, are playing an AI game, the technology is subordinated to questions of morality. Before the Vindicators began playing the game, they each had secrets they considered shameful. The game further isolated them by requiring them to engage in behavior that ordinarily would be against their ethics. The pleasure of the book is both in the fascination of the game’s context and watching the characters handle the increasingly demanding and dangerous game while losing trust in each other.

At times, I thought Tobey shifted between points of view too quickly, without enough transition, and I was left with questions—such as how could so many people be playing an underground game. The book, though, was very entertaining, and I thought Tobey nailed the ending. The God Game is not just for readers who like books such as Ready Player One and Slay but also those who want to explore the impact of technology on morality or who just like a fast-paced, fun story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I have made it a point to step out of my comfort zone of reading only thrillers this year, and give other genres a chance. For the first 30% of this book I really regretted that decision. I’m not a gamer and I really disliked all the gaming explanations that were going on. I also had an incredibly hard time keeping the characters straight. Scrolling through Instagram I had seen a positive review on this book saying that the story really picked up around the quarter mark. I decided to get back to reading and read this with fresh eyes and a more open mind. I am glad I gave it another chance. Once I gave this book the attention it deserved, I enjoyed the stories of the 5 teenagers and their struggles and stories of living with the consequences of their actions that came about from playing the game. I found the ending satisfying enough, and was happy I had continued reading this tale. I would recommend this to those who enjoy technological thrillers and gamers. Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Too creepy for me

Do you remember in 2014 when the online presence Slenderman was leading teens down strange paths? The premise of this book is that G.O.D., supposedly a computer game, coerces teens to act badly. I only read a few chapters, firstly because G.O.D. and Slenderman were too similar, but also because in what I think is an attempt to adopt a teen's voice, Mr. Tobey's text is too slow. I found the idea of Slenderman disturbing and felt I did not need to read this book.

Last year, I got an email from St. Martin Press asking if people were interested in being part of a blog tour for a new sci-fi book coming out. I had recently started up my blog and I’d always thought being part of a blog tour would be an exciting opportunity. Then I noticed that the book was being compared to Ready Player One and I couldn’t sign up fast enough! Ready Player One is one of my all time favorites and I’ve been looking for something that could compare for awhile! So I want to say a hearty THANK YOU to St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and the author for sending me a free book in exchange for an honest review and for letting me be a part of this tour!

Holy &*#%, this was a WILD ride! It was blurbed as a page-turner and it did not disappoint!

We start this story following a teenager named Charlie. Charlie’s mom has recently died of cancer, his dad has completely checked out, and he has completely checked out of school, going from top of his class to very near the bottom. The one thing that brings him any kind of solace these days is hanging out with his friends in the Tech Room doing “nerdy” things, like building robots and coding. One day, Charlie is introduced to an AI that calls itself God, which leads to an invite to a very interesting game…

Let me just say that this book did not have me sold at the very beginning. It had a slow start establishing who our main characters were and the entire premise of the G.O.D game. But, once the game aspect of the book really kicked in, I was absolutely HOOKED! The pacing afterwards was just spot on. It was high octane and engaging enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. And the game itself! Oh, I absolutely loved how the game was woven into the story. The details were magnificent, the science kept me thinking, and the action wasn’t too over-the-top. It was real and intense and terrifying at times and I LOVED IT!

The characters were a little less to my liking, though they definitely got better as the story progressed. They all felt like they were lacking depth, at first. Charlie was a kid who lost his mom and lost his way and… that was it. He was someone I’d seen in a million after school specials and I just wasn’t feeling it. As I got deeper into the story, however, and saw how Charlie grappled with some serious questions about morality, he started gaining depth and I found myself enjoying his character a lot more. The same holds true for his core group of friends. They all grew into far more interesting characters than they had been at the beginning of this book.

They were all terrible, but that’s neither here nor there. And, honestly, who wasn’t when they were a teenager?

I will say that the perspective shifts sometimes threw me off and the word choices were not always the best, but, in the end, this was an incredibly enjoyable read that I had a hard time putting down. Did it live up to the Ready Player One comparison? In a way, yes. The game aspect of this story definitely kicked in some memories of the Oasis from RPO. Beyond that, it had a very different feel, but this book definitely stands on it’s own two feet, as well.

Final thoughts: This was an amazing sci-fi adventure that had a bit of a slow start but was a gripping story once the game really got rolling. If you’re looking for a fast-paced thrill ride with morally grey characters, you can’t go wrong with this book!

As a genre I would not usually read, I found the first half of this book to be quite intriguing, but as the story progressed, I found it to be a bit cheesy as the gaming sequences were portrayed as “real”. I did find the secrets of the teens to be well written and revealed slowly drawing out the suspense, but this was not a favorite of mine, but those that are interested in the fantasy genre will probably like it more than I.

Solid Yet Could Have Been Transcendental. If you’ve seen the 2016 movie Nerve, you have a pretty good idea what you’re getting into here. The two are very similar in overall concept, though ultimately both use the common concept to speak to different issues. With this particular book, you get more into The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase’s mantra – everyone has a price – even as the book tries in spits and spurts to discuss much weightier metaphysical topics. Hell, the book name drops Aquinas and Lewis and uses Thoth, Christ, Freud, and Heaphestus as characters! And while all of these add some interesting wrinkles to the overall tale, ultimately this book suffers from the same fate as Marcus Sakey’s Afterlife. By this I mean that, as I said in the title, it is a solid action/ scifi book that could have been transcendental with a bit more care. Very much recommended.