Book Review: The End Games by T. Michael Martin

TITLE: The End Games 

AUTHOR: T. Michael Martin 

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Children/Balzer + Bray
PUBLICATION DATE: May 7, 2013

FORMAT: Hardcover, 369 pages
GENRE: Young Adult, Horror, Science Fiction/Dystopia
ISBN: 9780062201805

It happened on Halloween.

The world ended.

And a dangerous Game brought it back to life.

Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in The Game for weeks.

In the rural mountains of West Virginia, armed with only their rifle and their love for each other, the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of “Bellows”—creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good.

But The Game is changing.

The Bellows are evolving.

The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors—survivors who don’t play by the rules.

And the brothers will never be the same.

T. Michael Martin’s debut novel is a transcendent thriller filled with electrifying action, searing emotional insight, and unexpected romance.

MY REVIEW: 

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own. 

Well, I finished it. That’s saying something, right?

When I read the synopsis for The End Games, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it: A 17 year-old guy and his 5 year-old brother who survive an apocalypse and try to make their way to the Charleston Safe Zone, battling zombies (called "Bellows" in this book) along the way, so that they can be reunited with their mom. I love “end of the world” books, especially those with zombies. So, why did I have such a problem getting into it?

This was one of those books that I had to slog my way through. It wasn’t that the writing was bad. I think my main problem with it was the lack of connection to the hero of the story, Michael Faris. He sounds like a great guy who is very protective of his younger brother, who I am guessing is autistic. In fact, Michael and Patrick had run away from home on the night that the apocalypse struck because their step-father wanted Patrick to be institutionalized. In order to keep Patrick from having a melt-down as a result of the chaos surrounding them, Michael told him that the apocalypse is just a game and that they are role-playing. Aside from that, we don’t really know that much about Michael except that he was a bit of a loner in school and was definitely not one of the cool kids.

It took me a really long time to get into this book. Many times, I just couldn’t keep my eyes open because I was so bored. I expected it to be a lot more action-packed, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t until I actually started waking up a little early to try to read first thing in the morning that I started to make some head-way into the story, and it wasn’t until I was in over 200 pages that I actually started to like it.

Michael and his brother meet up with four other survivors: A US Army Captain named Horace Jopek whose personality is not unlike their abusive step-father, a kind middle-aged woman named Bobbie Louise, and a pair of teenage siblings named Hank and Holly – Hank, who is the epitome of the school jock, looks upon Jopek as their saviour and Holly, who is a bit of a brainy nerd.

I would have liked to know the back-story of why the apocalypse took place. Instead, I felt like I was thrust into this story and wandered around aimlessly, just like Michael and Patrick.

For me, this debut was a disappointment.

MY RATING:

2 stars!! Meh, it was just "okay." A big thanks to HarperCollins Children/Balzer + Bray and Edelweiss for the opportunity to review this book.

This book qualifies as: 
#35 for my 2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge
#35 for my 2013 Read-a-Latte Challenge   
#16 for my 2013 Let Me Count The Ways Reading Challenge: Book Version  
#14 for my 2013 Where Are You Reading? Challenge
#14 for my 50 States Challenge 2013   
#13 for my The In the Middle Reading Challenge
#19 for my 2013 ARC Reading Challenge
#19 for my New Authors Challenge 2013
#19 for my 2013 Reading Challenge: First-Reads      
#4 for my 2013 Debut Author Challenge
#3 for my 2013 Debut Author Challenge (YA/MG)
#3 for my 2013 Ebook Challenge
#22 for my 2013 Free Reads Challenge   
#15 for my 2013 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge  
#17 for my 2013 Genre Variety Reading Challenge   
#3 for Task #2 of my 2013 Sub-Genre Reading Challenge
#19 for my 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge   
#2 for my Zombie Challenge 2013
#2 for my Zombie Reading Challenge 
#4 for my 2013 Horror Reading Challenge  
Task #12 for my 2013 Sci-Fi Reader Challenge
#15 for my 2013 Young Adult Reading Challenge   
#4 for my Dystopia Reading Challenge 2013
#25 for my Monthly Mix-up Mania: 2013 to 2015 Edition    
Letter E for my 2013 A to Z Reading Challenge  
#16 for my What An Animal Reading Challenge VI  

#14 for my Spring Reading Thing 2013

#5 for my Clean Sweep ARC Challenge: May 2013
 

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