Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Review: The Gender Game by Bella Forrest

Series: The Gender Game #1
Publication Date: September 24, 2016
Genre: YA, Dystopia
Amazon ~ Goodreads 

Synopsis: A toxic river divides nineteen-year-old Violet Bates's world by gender. 
Women rule the East. Men rule the West.
Welcome to the lands of Matrus and Patrus...


Ever since the death of her mother, Violet's life has been shadowed by bad luck. Already a prisoner to her own nation, now after two unfortunate incidents resulting in womanslaughter, she has been sentenced to death.

But one decision could save her life.

One decision to enter the kingdom of Patrus, where men rule and women submit. 

Everything about the patriarchy defies Violet's identity, but she must sacrifice many things if she wishes to survive the forbidden kingdom... including forbidden love.

My Rating
2/5 stars

My Review
I wanted to love this book so much, maybe my expectations were too high. UGH!

Violet's life has gone downhill, ever since the death of her mother and her brother being taken away. After killing two woman, Violet is sentenced to death, until the Queen of Matrus sends her on a secret mission to recover a missing artifact over in Patrus. Across the river in Patrus its men that rule, Violet is forced to marry a fellow undercover agent and work together to frame a security guard for stealing the artifact and returning it to Matrus.

I'm not sure why, but I did not like the story line at all. The main part of the story starts around 20% in when Violet is sent to Patrus. You'd think an undercover female agent, in a land where males rule, would stay quiet and do what she's told, yet Violet does the exact opposite of what she's told. I'm not sure if the author was trying to make her more relatable, but I just found Violet to be really ignorant and stupid. Rather than focusing on the mission, she chose to do what she wanted to do and start breaking all the rules. Everyone knows that in order do complete a secret mission, you have to go undercover and stay in the shadows, which is the opposite of what Violet did.

The romance in this story was very weak, almost to the point where it seemed forced. Violet ends up falling for the individual they are trying to frame, which is also the exact opposite of what a smart person would do. We see the character talking about their lives, while sharing the joy of fighting and self-defence but theres no spark between the two characters, they just act like best friends. Then out of no where, Violet has second thoughts about letting him fall under the bus for her mission and ends up kissing him... which basically comes out of no where.

The only part I truly liked about the book, was the ending during the last 5%. Thats when I thought that Violet was finally beginning to act like a sane person would in her situation.

Unfortunately I don't think I will be continuing this series. I really wanted to love this book, but it just wasn't for me.

Happy Reading,
- Aneta
 

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