OK but I had TEARS being shed when nearing the end of this book and that almost NEVER happens when reading but especially when reading a thriller! It’s honestly the pets that always get me.. ILY Slate 😭♥️.

This book has been sitting on my tbr for SO long and I really am working on my back log this year (successfully might I add) so I decided to randomly give this one a whirl and I loved it from the very first chapter!

The friend group, the dog, the FOUND FAMILY 🥹 and all of the twists and turns made me fall in love with this story! There were shocking truths, betrayal, heart warming moments and also sad. It was such a well rounded out story, I couldn’t help but love it!

As a gamer girl myself, I LOVED that the FMC and her friend group were a bunch of gamers who got swept away in a real life game and mystery. Like what a cool concept?? The Chinese heritage and language was also really awesome to see and I did I mention I loveeee her little found family?!

I wish I got to see more of her budding relationship but from what I did get to see, it was sweet and adorable 🥹 I also felt like the end was wrapped up nicely!

Overall, I had a lot of fun escaping into this story!!

Seriously one of the best YA thrillers I've ever read! The dual timeline kept me gripped and the short chapters are great for reluctant readers.

This YA thriller was engaging and fast-paced - I loved the concept and the characters. Great thriller, look forward to seeing more from this author!

Oh this cover!!!

I felt this was a great read with alot of twists and turns from the beginning. The gaming aspect was awesome as my husband is a gamer so it was just awesome with the story line and the character build.

Will read more from the author and would recommend this book.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

I loved the premise of this but spent most of the time feeling confused about what exactly was happening. Still, it was enjoyable as a YA thriller, and there were enough twists and turns that I still enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!
A great read, filled with lots of twists and turns. I did feel like I might be missing some of the nuance, as I am not a gamer in any universe, so I might not be the actual target audience.

So sad not to love this one!

I was HERE for the deadly game, the mesh of virtual and reality, and the tricksy characters and murder mystery, but sadly I couldn't get into this one. It seemed like the game was not explained well, and the stakes were 'told' but never actually shown/established, so they never felt real. The tone also waffled between straight-up murder and chill moments over food? The protagonist is 15 and yet the story was very politically loaded from early on. The writing style felt pretty young, as well.

Extra star for the idea, because it could've been so good! Still very grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The twists!!! Ahhhhh it was so good. I loved the friendships in it. The mystery itself was so good. I loved the video game aspect of it. I just wish there was more on the video game side. Also the torture scene was genuinely chilling.

DNF: 7%

No one is more upset about me DNFing this than I am. When I read the synopsis of this, I was 1,000% positive that this was going to get me out my reading slump. Unfortunately, after reading the first few chapters, I knew that this book wasn’t going to be for me. While this appears to be a well written murder mystery/thriller, it’s the gaming influencer vibe that I am having a hard time enjoying. I love video games whole heartedly. I mean, I practically own all of the current Mario & Luigi games for my Nintendo Switch. I just lack the ability to reading about them. I also find it very hard to enjoy books where abbreviations are used instead of the whole word being spelled out. I understand that authors are trying to “keep up” with the times and the new YA audience but, some of us like our writing to be in our face and real simple. By no means is this a bad book. I am just the wrong audience member.

If you enjoy:
✨Gaming Influencer Vibes…
✨Four friends/ Possible Found Family…
✨Secrets and Interesting Twists
And
✨Murder Mysteries…

Then this book is MOST DEFINITELY for you!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for granting me an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for my honest and personal opinion!!!

I loved the premise of this, definitely reminds me of the Escape Room movie, which I loved. However, I did find this a bit hard to get into, as the pacing just didn’t flow for me. It is still not bad though and may work for other YA readers.

I really enjoyed this YA thriller! It was fast paced and action packed. As I enjoy playing games myself, I could relate to the game and the camaraderie of a group of players. I like that it shows how good friends you can become even if you only see each other through a game and think it's nice that good examples of online friendship can be seen in books.

The story is exciting and you are quickly thrown into the action where the characters have to make a quick and difficult decision. Then it continues at a fast pace and keeps the reader on edge until the end. I could eventually guess who their mysterious enemy was, long before they knew it themselves, but it didn't matter much and I still enjoyed the story.

4.5 stars
I loved this!
The prologue got me right away, the relationships between the characters was relatable, and I was hooked until the very end.
I loved the way that the "game" was played both in the real world (which had a bit of a mystery solve-along vibe) as well as in the digital world of the game.
Highly, highly recommend. And I can´t wait to see what the author writes next.

This is a YA thriller where best friends are framed for murder. As an adult YA can be hit or miss but this book is captivating and has lots of twists to keep you on your toes. I would recommend this book to thriller lovers of all ages.

Asian authors write the best thrillers. It's Only A Game is a YA thriller following a girl who runs away from home and a year later spends her time playing an online game, making friends in the process.

There is a deadly game where people are dying and four teens who are shoved in the game against their will but now they are breaking laws, committing different felonies to protect their own secrets.

This story heavily relies on video games but the author has done an amazing job writing it in a way that it won't be difficult to imagine for non gamers as well. I loved all four teens and the plot twists were perfect. Finished reading it in less than 24 hrs. Perfect for YA lovers also has a queer cast

If you love the Y.A. mystery genre like I do, you'll find this book to be perfectly fine. It doesn't really add anything to the genre, but it wasn't really bad. It's fine.

This was fun! Very twisty and fun. I didn’t not see any of the twists coming and I was flabbergasted.

I struggled with this in the beginning, mostly because the gamer aspect isn’t really for me, but it was well written and easy to follow. The story had a great plot twist, and I was surprised by how dark it was for a YA. The MC was someone you really wanted to root for, especially the more you learned about her past, and the story was filled with great friendships and found families. Overall an enjoyable, twisty read!

This was definitely a super fast paced read! It was fun but there was something missing for me. It was a really fun concept but I feel that some plot points could've been more developed. Still worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC

I have mixed feelings about this book. It feels very unique, with a murder mystery taking place in the real world and also a video game world. The premise was super cool, but it was predictable at some points. The final reveal of the antagonist and her relationship to the victim and protagonist was pretty much told to the reader, yet the main character didn't figure it out until way later. I appreciate the foreshadowing to avoid plot holes, but I also wish that I couldn't figure it out that easily.

I wasn't very invested in the characters. Only the main character had any depth, and that was primarily through her backstory, not the current plot.

This was a hard ass review to write. I have so many feelings about this book. I loved it so much and I’ve already put this on a list to use this for our ToB book list for 2025…..

Ok so first things first. The teens are going to EAT THIS UP! There’s gaming, there’s romance, there’s fighting, there’s some schmurder! And a dog! That sounds like a weird ass mix, but it really worked so well together. I don’t want to say anything else because spoilers, but there is so much happening in this book and I was sucked into it and I wanted to read it every chance I got.

The rep in this was something serious too. There’s family diversity because Lordt, there’s racial/ethnic diversity because the MC was Chinese, and there’s 2slgbtq+ diversity because its sapphic. And the MC is also unhoused and living in a restaurant. There’s so much rep in this book and tho I am none of the things listed, I am saying it was ok rep until I hear different. Also the author is also Chinese, so it is own voices in that aspect.

The writing style was so cool! Idk how Yu got us to help her solve the mystery in the real world and the world of her game! And I really enjoyed seeing the papers with the threats that her friends got too. I was glad we got to see it all. I also liked the way she went back and forth in time to explain what happened. it really did help to tell the story.

I do wish there was a bit more to the ending. it was this whole buildup and the end conflict is so short lol I wanted so much more for it. Whoever edited this did it a bit of a disservice. Idk I wanted so much more. And Idk if that’s a me thing and I’m just being dramatic, or if it was actually ok. Whatever the reason, I wanted more.

The main character grew on me. When i first started this book I’m not gonna lie, she was annoying lol I felt like we didn’t know anything about her and we weren’t getting to know her. And the little glimpses we get from the past was like scraps. But as we got more and more into the story, it began to make so much more sense. Usually I don’t like books where I don’t know anything about the characters, but this one just worked for me.

So if nothing else, I hope y’all read this one! The gaming, the mystery, the everything was just so good! So y’all go get it! I need someone to talk to about this! This book was so good! Read it and get back to me lol