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.

Good concept, somewhat boring execution. Wanted more murder and drama and less pinning.

I loved this book. The best part was the giant spider. I love spiders.

I really liked this book for a few reasons. It was great seeing a good range of characters. We had some in their 40s, some in their 20s and some ancient. I liked it better than some YA where there are only people in their late teens or early 20s. I didn’t like how many POVs there were. I do like how they left the POV of the “evil” character and we got to kind of see her “descent into evil.” I don’t like the premise of “what waits” or basically the devil. It seems kind of weird and like it doesn’t fit. Aveyard could have just made the main character the one who is “evil” for the sake of being evil. I also love Dom but wish he had more depth. I will probably read the next book in the series.

Love

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.

My son likes the Seb Spider!

Loved it

I read the Fangirl novel back in 2020. I had previously read Eleanor & Park and I hated it, so I didn't pick up another Rainbow Rowell book for close to 5 years, but on a whim I tried and loved the first two Simon & Baz books and was looking to prolong the experience while waiting for the third book to be released. I adored the Fangirl story, so I picked up the first volume of the manga this week. It follows the book very well, and the artwork was particularly fun for the emergency dance party. I get brain fog due to health issues and I find that when I cannot focus on a novel, the art of graphic novels helps me stay involved in the story. I'm going to have to pick up volume 2 soon.