This dystopian novel was written in 1982 by Stephen King under a pseudonym and imagines a 2025 in the United States with massive unemployment, air so polluted that those who can afford it wear nose filters, and a government run in part by The Games Federation, a government approved reality TV network that places the desperate and poor and hopeless into various deadly reality shows for the entertainment of the masses. Ben Richards, unemployed, his baby daughter gravely ill and needing medication, is chosen for a program called "The Running Man", which no contestant has ever survived. But Ben Richards is no ordinary contestant, and the book follows him through his Running Man journey. Some of the book is hopelessly dated but enough of it will sound familiar - and terrifying.

This book had so many original concepts that I would give it five stars on a scale of five just for that The concepts range from what might happen after a first contact with another world to string theory to glimpses of Chinese culture. Those with a science or math background will absolutely love this book. No such background, like me? No problem - this books gives you a glimpse into the China of the Cultural Revolution and the suffering of its citizens during those turbulent years. I highly recommend this book, which is the first book of a trilogy.

This book was different than what I usually read. The book starts off with a main character that has little to no idea what is happening to her or the people around her. The book doesn't start to reveal what is happening until almost the end. This leaves the plot confusing and ultimately somewhat hard to understand what is happening at times. The narrator was very unreliable and the other characters were kind of shallow. I wished that there were multiple POVs that way the reader had a better understanding of the plot. That said, I will say the book had me on the edge of my seat most of the time and it was a quick read. I'd say it read like a suspense/mystery/thriller novel for 75% of the book and the other 25% is dystopian and Sci-Fi. It wasn't a book I would read again but I enjoyed it for the short book it was.

Love love love anything Emily Henry and this was no exception. Had me in tears due to the easy relatibality of the characters and story.

I really love books by J.L. Armentrout. Her writing can sometimes be cringeworthy but for the most part her world building is good and her characters are super likeable. I'm particularly in love with Roth. He's the perfect bad boy love interest for this series. The trope of "He doesn't like anyone but me" is one of my favorites. Cheesy but oh well! I have already read the spinoff series from this one. I think this series might be a little bit better so far but it could just be the fact that now I've got some blanks filled in (my fault for reading them out of order). These books remind me of moms romance novels but in a good way. I would definitely love to finish the series.

My son likes the Seb Spider!

I originally picked this book up based on the cover and the idea of two juxtaposed characters. They are sisters? One is a redhead, one is a pale blonde? One sister is a queen and one has powers? Sounds kind of like Frozen! I loved the idea of this book but the characters made it hard to love. They were very flawed and constantly questioned themselves and their “power.” I typically enjoy the theme of “coming into ones powers” but these characters struggled to ever do that. They also were consistently thwarted by older people and listened to their elders for most of the novel instead of standing by their own decision making. In the end it was a good story and I will most likely read a sequel if they have it but I wish the characters were a little better. Maybe in the next book!

Loving the series.

Made you think about how we impact each other's lives.

Love