June 27, 2013

Review: The End Games by T. Michael Martin


The End Games by T. Michael Martin
Published: 2013, HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult Post-Apocalyptic
Source: Library book
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And who are you, Michael?
I'm the one who can save us. I'm a Gamer. And the Master.
So what are you going to do?
I'm going to remake the world.
And after that? I'm going to beat that world.


I'm not quite sure what drew me to pick up a copy of The End Games. Zombies, video games, a touch of the macabre, a relationship between brothers: all these central components of T. Michael Martin's debut are interesting and well handled, but none of those really has the potential to make this into a "me" book. Add to those components a frustrating narrative voice that was all over the place and therein lie the majority of the issues I had with this story.

Michael and Patrick have been on the run since Halloween night, when a strange virus took over the world and turned humans into zombies. By day they travel around, seeking food and shelter and other survivors. By night Michael and Patrick must either hide or be prepared to defend themselves against the Bellows (their word to describe the zombies' tendency to repeat words spoken by humans). Although it's now been nearly three weeks that they've been on the run, they still retain a fair amount of hope. After all, this new world seems to be one controlled by rules. There's a Game Master who gives Michael new instructions each night and points for how many enemies are killed, all in the hope of achieving a "Game Over" upon reaching the Safe Zone and regaining a sense of normalcy in life once more. 

The best part of The End Games is the relationship between Michael and Patrick. Seventeen-year-old Michael is five-year-old Patrick's half-sibling, and the two rely completely on one another to survive in this post-apocalyptic world. Even before the virus came, life wasn't easy for either of them, with a pushover mother, an abusive (step)father, and an indeterminate psychological diagnosis on Patrick. And now Michael still has to tread carefully as the two search for a Safe Zone so that Patrick does not end up having another one of his episodes. The love and support between the two of them is wonderful and realistic, and, judging from the author's notes, perhaps is at least slightly based on the relationship the author has with his own brother Patrick. I for one not questioned the authenticity of the depictions of Michael, Patrick, their history, or their relationship. 

Not surprisingly, I ended up identifying a lot more with Michael. Not only is he the narrator, but he's much closer to my age (and the age of all readers of this book, I'd assume) and I also know what it's like to have a rather sizable age gap between you and your sibling. Michael is a realistically written teenage boy, struggling with some very ordinary issues in extraordinary circumstances. There's fear, self-doubt, grim determination, the stirrings of a first love, guilt all at war within Michael's head, but of course everything always comes back to Patrick. At times Michael is overly-protective and distant and makes mistakes, but they're all borne out of a desire to do good and help save his brother. Who wouldn't want to have a sibling willing to protect you at all costs?

Because Michael believes he must appear strong for Patrick, at least outwardly, a lot of his issues are developed and examined internally. He notes his thoughts and observations of the world internally more often than not. And it is through these internal narrations that the story began to lose me. Michael's narration is chaotic and messy as he struggles to make sense of everything. At many instances he creates arguments that he can debate solo. It was a bit unnerving to read. Not only that, but the flashbacks feel jarring, and the lack of focus in Michael's world becomes mirrored through his narration. Perhaps all of this is supposed to illustrate how overwhelmed Michael felt by everything. If so, then The End Games certainly did a good job of that. But it also was incredibly frustrating to read.

This is a clear case where a book simply doesn't mesh well with me. If not for the realism of Michael's character and my ability to identify with him somewhat, then I probably never would have been able to make it through this book. As it was, I still didn't really enjoy the book as a whole. Aspects such as the basic premise, bond between brothers, and some of the conflicts are well done. But as a whole, the book just felt not quite there. I think I've made it clear though that this is not my type of book, however, so please take my review with a grain of salt.

Rating: 2 stars
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Amanda

Amanda loves few things better than sitting down with a cup of tea and a book. She frequently stays up far too late, telling herself she just needs to finish one more page. When she's not wrapped up in the stories of others, Amanda works as a children's librarian in a public library.

17 comments:

  1. "Not for me" books can be so hard to review, but you did a great job of explaining what didn't work for you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics

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    1. Aw thank you, Jen! I'm glad that you think that - this was certainly a challenge to write!

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  2. The cover is so brilliantly creepy! The synopsis really doesn't tell you anything about the book. The whole game master aspect doesn't sound like it fits with a zombie apocalypse but that's probably better explained in the book. While it doesn't sound like anything I'd enjoy, I enjoyed reading your take on it.

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    1. I know - I do love that cover. And true. Part of the reason I was so intrigued, I think. Thank you, Amanda!

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  3. I knew from the initial reviews itself that I should avoid this one and you've only confirmed that. It's a shame that a novel with such a promising premise wound up being so disappointing, but thanks for the honest and helpful review, Amanda! :)

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    1. It was definitely disappointing for me - and I'd guess it would be for you too - but I do think there is an audience out there. Somewhere. Sometimes I need to trust my reading instincts/read what I know I already I like, I think.

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  4. I'm not really into zombies so I wasn't so sure about this one. I like what you said about the half-brother relationship. I do like those and the age gap is cute but I'm not sure this would be for me either. Thank you for the review!

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    1. Yeah, the half-brother relationship is definitely the highlight of the book but it wasn't enough for me personally, unfortunately.

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  5. Sorry this wasn't the book for you. It actually sounds pretty good to me. I want to read more zombie novels, and I like the idea of the Bellows.

    I do agree that the brothers' relationship seems likes a shining point in the novel; at least you enjoyed that enough.

    -Lauren

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    1. If you're interested in the premise and what I've mentioned in my review, I would encourage you to give it a shot! And yes. I don't want to think about how unmotivated I would have been to read this book without that relationship haha.

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  6. Aw, sorry this one wasn't really for you, Amanda! I really liked it when I read it, but it is DEFINITELY not a book for everyone. I think if I were to read it now as opposed to a few months ago I'd rate it lower. I found the highlight of The End Games to be the relationship between Michael and Patrick, too. I love family relationships in an apocalyptic setting. Even though I did find Patrick to be at times insufferably annoying. And the writing was pretty intolerable at times, too.

    Man, the more I think about this book, the more I begin to doubt my own review. :/

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    1. Yeah, I think this is a pretty polarizing book, which is fine. Family relationships in a post-apocalyptic world are pretty cool, as is any emphasis on family relationships in books. I just love seeing those types of interactions. :)
      Patrick was pretty annoying, though. I felt bad thinking that, but at times I was just so frustrated. But it helped me better like Michael as I saw him adapt to Patrick's mood changes, bad behavior, etc.
      And lol then don't bother re-reading it. Seriously though, I hate it when that happens. I've read a number of books I thought I loved only to think back and realize that they weren't that great. Not a fun feeling at all.

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    2. Yeah, I really do think it's a book written for a specific audience, which is fine. I just know I'm not part of that audience. And aw! That's the worst when the more I think about something, the more I dislike it. You just need to move on and be distracted by a new book! :)

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  7. Oh, too bad this one didn't really work for you! Though I do have to agree about the writing... I was kind of split on liking it because it was really interesting and gave you a direct view of Michael's thoughts and hating it because it was hard to read. Unfortunately, a good chunk of the time was spent hating it. It just didn't flow nicely! Though it did start to grow on me and annoy me less as the story went on. The relationship between Michael and Patrick was definitely the best part of this one, I agree. I would definitely like to read more from this author - but I hope he doesn't use this writing style again. Anyways, very nicely reviewed, Amanda!

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    1. Yeah I'll be curious if that's his normal writing style or if it was a particular technique he wanted to use for this specific book. I don't think I'll be reading future works of his though unless they differ drastically from this one. Thanks, Aylee!

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