It’s Only a Game is a fast-paced YA whodunnit novel full of engaging plot twists. The story follows mysterious Marina and her friends as they get roped into playing a crossover mind game with a twisted game developer all in the hopes of clearing their names of murder and protecting their loved ones.

This story was engaging and suspenseful. I think readers who enjoy Karen McManus or E. Lockhart will love this book.

Marina Chan and her online gamer friends are thrilled: not only do they get to meet in real life, but it’s for a tour of Apocalypta Games, the company that makes Darkitect, their favorite game. And they’ve just received an invitation from the most renowned private Darkitect level designer, Cixi, to test a new mission.

But their excitement turns to horror when Ethan Wainwright, the CEO and founder of Apocalypta Games, is murdered while they’re there on their private tour. Marina’s uneasy because she recognizes the building’s layout from their Darkitect mission the night before, and her instincts prove to be right when they receive a video message from Cixi, telling them that if they don’t successfully make it through the next four private missions, she’ll start carrying out acts of blackmail against each of them.

As the teammates work together to carry out their mission, they discover that Cixi is trying to reveal some unpleasant truths about Ethan Wainwright. And the longer the game goes on, the more Marina starts to realize her hidden past (including the scars hidden under her long sleeves) are right at the center of everything.

This was a great page-turning thriller, and we were eager to find out the truth behind Ethan’s murder and Cixi’s manipulations. The novel will appeal to many students—gamers and non-gamers alike—but do be aware that child abuse plays a central role in Marina’s backstory when making recommendations to students.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

This review will be posted at https://threeheads.works/category/blog/ya-books/ on July 1, 2024.

This is a propulsive YA thriller about a gamer girl with a traumatic past, mommy issues, and someone threatening her life in a video game--of course I devoured it!! The short action-packed chapters make this a quick read, and the main cast are all so loveable. Marina is a sweetheart who's just trying to keep herself safe from her past; Slate is adorable, Marina's adopted family at the restaurant--so sweet. The friend group and their dynamic really comes through. I also really admired the video game, Darkitect, which feels fleshed out and realistic and like something I would actually play. The gaming aspects and references are very present, but grounded in such a way that the non-reader can still grasp what's happening, though the gamer-readers will feel like this book is speaking to them.

Thriller lovers, gamer or not, definitely pick this one up!!!

4.5 stars

This book mostly feels like it was made for me. I love YA thrillers, I'm an avid gamer, and I I adore Sapphic stories.

Marina a.k.a. NightMar3 is a runaway living in a restaurant whose only solace is playing online with a trio of friends. She meets up with them to tour their favorite game's company only to stumble upon a murder. The four are forced to take part in a game orchestrated by someone unknown or they'll be framed for murder.

I loved a lot of this. The stakes are high, the gaming aspects are on point, and I was all in for the Sapphic longing. I even enjoyed the flashbacks strewn throughout. The ending was a bit predictable, but I was still highly invested in Marina's fate.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

I enjoyed this book and the online gaming direction. I thought it was well written and the darker elements were handled well. I'd read another book from this author.

Thanks to Bloomsbury USA Children's Books and NetGalley for an ARC of It's Only a Game by Kelsea Yu in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5

This book beautifully conveyed the message of belonging and the joy of finding family amidst an adventurous story. The main character's relationships with friends throughout the book were truly heartwarming. The story was filled with unexpected twists and turns, keeping me constantly engaged. If you enjoy tales of video games and the camaraderie of playing alongside friends, then this book is perfect for you. There were definitely some dark moments, so I suggest reading the trigger warnings.

3.75 ✨ I thought this was an interesting concept for a YA thriller! It was fast paced and switched between the main character’s past and what was currently happening. Part of the mystery was trying to figure out who Cixi is, and I felt that it wasn’t too difficult to do so, especially as the story went on. There was some video game jargon that wasn’t always easily understandable for someone who doesn’t play often and I found it confusing when switching between the characters’ real names vs their gaming names. There was a large emphasis on found family in this book that felt very heartwarming. However, I felt there was a lot of buildup for an ending that just wasn’t satisfying for me. The scene ends abruptly and then we pick up as the reader 2 weeks later; while this wasn’t done poorly and does wrap things up, I would have preferred to see exactly how it played out in the moment.

If you’re a fan of video games, YA, or fast paced thrillers, I would recommend this to you! Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for an eARC!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

I was so excited to get my hands on this book, it was very good! Will check out more from this author!

I liked the concept of video games mixed with horror in this book. It has interesting characters and a well developed plot. It's a real page turner that keeps you guessing. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

I was super hooked on this concept, video games and murder mysteries with some queer relationships? Sign me up! It was not as gripping as I was hoping it would be, seemingly going back and forth between super high stakes to really low stakes which made it hard to stay feeling invested. The intensity of what happened/happens to our MC Marina is something that I think doesn’t match the stakes and tone of the rest of the book. It felt like there were two completely different books being written at times. While I enjoyed the friend group, we didn’t get to know them very well outside of the required portions for the telling of the story. There was a lot of telling and not showing when it came to some of the relationships. I think my favorite relationship was between Marina and the restaurant owners, the affections they showed each other were so wonderful.

It took some time to get used to the in game versus out of game actions, but once I got the hang of it, they felt more natural. The letters were difficult to understand for the blackmail portion as I had to keep checking what everyone’s real names were, and it led to some things going over my head. Overall, it has a lot of great components, I just wish it was a bit more cohesive.

"It's Only a Game" by Kelsey Yu left me disappointed and frustrated. While the premise of a dangerous game turning real had potential, the execution fell flat.

I found the book overly reliant on video game references and lingo, which made it difficult for me to connect with the story. As someone who doesn't consider themselves a regular video gamer, I struggled to engage with the plot and characters.

It's rare for me not to finish a book, but "It's Only a Game" came close to being an exception. The constant immersion in gaming culture overshadowed the thriller aspect of the story, leaving me feeling disconnected and uninterested.

Overall, this book may appeal more to avid gamers, but for readers like me who prefer a more balanced narrative, it misses the mark.

This book had a great concept! What happens when the games you play online become reality? I think that this book was really good.. I do think that the teenagers emotions when the CEO. died did not enumerate enough emotions about. They were sad for like one page and then were like okay lets play this game. I think that I would have wanted to see more emotion and sadness that went into that feeling. Other than that the book was great, and cant wait to read more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This debut YA thriller is about online gamers fighting for their lives in a very twisted cat-and-mouse game.

The things I liked:

✔ It was fast-paced and the chapters were relatively short.
✔The author incorporates her Chinese heritage into the plot.
✔ I liked Marina and her group of friends that played Darkitect
✔ The story got a little dark, especially with the mother and daughter relationship.

The things I didn't like:
(1) I wasn't completely sold on Marina's crush on another character.
(2) I am not an online gamer. It was hard for me to visualize what was going on during the game and I couldn't grasp some of the vocabulary.
(3) The ending felt a little lacklustre and left me with questions.




#ItsOnlyaGame #NetGalley
Expected Publication 09/07/24
Goodreads Review 01/06/24

I really wanted to love this book ! I loved the story line and suspense and plot, but there was just something about it that didnt really work for me. I think that including the notes to each of the four friends randomly throughout the story threw me for a loop and wouldve been nice to either see in the beginning when the letters were first mentioned or in a way that told the story from their POV instead of just Marina’s. I also was confused with the in between memories. Though they made sense throughout the story they were very short and oddly placed so it just made it more confusing to me and kind of felt more like filler than helpful pieces to build a story. I do love the plot twist in the end and how things kind of came together full circle, but i dunno i just feel like this story couldve been more than what it was to make it an extremely well told story. Like i also have questions..
where are marina’s parents’ bodies did the cops ever find them? Why is rock’s parents the one’s who get custody of her instead of her biological family that she had on her dad’s side? Why was all of the parents except the mother pretty much villians in this story? Like i wouldve at least expected if there was a secret affair going on like how it seemed at first but that wasnt the case at all.. and also how did her mother even know shed fall for the ploy of the game? Was it because she was watching her the whole time? And how did Marina not notice she was being watched? Also why doesnt the story talk about how Marina goes to see jimmy and bette and why didnt she work to go and live with them when they were the ones taking care of her in the first place?
Idk i just have a lot of thoughts and questions but overall the story wasnt bad i enjoyed it! I just feel like it couldve been better.

THOUGHTS

This book is high-stakes and high-melodrama in a way that usually doesn't work for me, and yet somehow, I loved this book. It feels like the perfect balance between over-the-top and strong characters that can shoulder the melodramatic tone.


PROS
Great Hook: This book has teeth from the beginning. It starts off so, well, normal. A group of gamer friends getting a behind-the-scenes tour of their favorite gaming studio? It's a dream come true, but not a far-fetched one. But when things go inevitably awry, Kelsea Yu does a great job of casting doubt and suspicion over the whole scene. Because murder doesn't just happen out of the blue. There's always motive, and that motive proves a great mystery, the underlying foundation of this book that I, at least, was just dying to solve.

University Uses: You know what professors love? When students come to their office hours to engage with their specialties. And sure, these gamers might not exactly be students, but they pull off the part well. I could totally believe that a random professor would be happy to divulge all he knew to two "business students" who came calling, and that yeah-this-could-happen factor, here and in other instances throughout the book, really propped up a plot that would otherwise have been too high-key to be believed.

High Stakes, High Tension: This book doesn't skimp on the tension. The stakes are so high because you know, from the beginning, that there won't be any pulling back. There's some pretty significant blackmail going on here, and there's some pretty strong follow-through, too. This plot twists and turns, dancing around the truth and giving such a horrifying revelation that I, at least, was pretty satisfied once all was said and done.


CONS
Open World: A plot like this--murder, blackmail, and a ticking clock--works best when any outside factors are limited, which is why I was so surprised when these gamers were just, you know, left to go out into the world after witnessing a bloody crime for which they're potentially on the hook. Sure, the blackmail is strong enough to keep them in line, but it feels like a real risk, to let them leave the scene of the crime before you're done playing with them. It felt like the perfect set-up for a locked-room style thriller, and the loose ends felt too great when it wasn't set in a closed environment. They had to do some sleuthing outside of the gaming studio, so it makes sense, plot-wise, that they would have to be let go. I'm just not such a cold-blooded, scheming killer would really let this happen. I got over it, obviously, but I did have some questions.

Gamer Code: Hey, I can appreciate some niche hobbies being explored in fiction, but... sometimes when these gamers were together, headsets on and levels loaded, their lingo felt a little, well, forced. I mean, it felt natural that they would be slinging acronyms to each other if they've been playing this same game for years. But I haven't played this game. I don't know the terminology, and so the few times they were really in the zone, I was really out of it. It felt like reading a bunch of technical jargon tossed into a sci-fi book--like, sure, these sound like science/gaming terms, but are they really? It felt, I don't know, a little bit... nonsense.

Formula Foibles: Kelsea Yu, to great effect, alternates between timelines. One chapter is in the very tense present. The next skips back to Marina's childhood--her mother's secrets, her own dark past. And this alternating, for the most part, works. But a few times, at the height of suspense, dropping back in time just deadened the impact a little bit. This isn't really the fault of Yu's writing. It's the fault of the alternating formula chosen. It wasn't terrible, but there were a few times that I felt, well, deflated to be going back to the deep, dark secrets of times gone by.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8/10
Fans of Diana Urban's These Deadly Games will love this new team of competitive gamers forced to play a game that proves to be a little too real. Those who loved the deadly glitz and glam of Wendy Heard's She's Too Pretty to Burn will like the high-stakes, high-melodrama nature of this new thriller.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC. This is a wonderful young adult book, however, as an adult I truly enjoyed it! The characters were well-written and the plot was perfect. I couldn't put this book down!

2.5 stars

This book is about a girl named Marina, who is running from her past and starting a new life. She and her group of friends she met through an online game get invited to play exclusive levels made by someone going by the name Cixi. If they don’t complete the levels in time, their loved ones may be in danger.

I was very excited to start this book as I love plots with a video game involved, but this one fell a little flat for me. I did like the characters for the most part, but Marina was a bit frustrating when she kept withholding helpful information from her friends. I did enjoy the descriptions of the game and the levels. I liked how the author incorporated her Chinese heritage into the story as well.

A big part of the reason I didn’t like this as much I thought I would is because of the writing. I know it’s YA but it feels a little too juvenile for the concepts being discussed. I really disliked the overuse of exclamation points and words in all caps. It made this feel like something written on Wattpad. It was also very repetitive with certain phrases.

The overall idea of the book was interesting and thrilling, but the execution made it a little predictable and cheesy.

This was a great book! Absolutely loved it! The characters were amazing, the plot was perfect and just all in all an amazing read. I was hooked from page one, and just couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend this one to everyone!!

Oh man, this YA thriller is so GOOD. So twisted, but also so fun! I raced through the pages and devoured this book in two days. I particularly enjoyed the gaming aspect with the nightly “challenges”, and also all the descriptions of Chinese food (yum).

This book was action packed and full of mystery and intrigue! Marina has left her old life behind. Now, she’s thriving and happy with who she is and the friends she has made. But when someone starts threatening her and her friends, forcing them to uncover secrets. It was really fun to read and the ending was spectacular!