Book Review
Title: The Gender Game
Author: Bella Forrest
Genre: YA/Dystopian
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to the Gender Game was great we are introduced to Violet and her younger brother Tim, who live in a world divided by gender. Violet is trying to help her brother escape with Cad’s help ad he is a marked boy, but the attempt doesn’t go to plan with both siblings being captured. We then jump right years forward, where we learn that Violet has been bounced from one detention centre to another but had never given hope of getting Tim back from the mines where he is incarcerated but she needs to survive to more years to gain her freedom. It is here we gain our first piece of information about the world here, there are two major living areas Matrus and Patrus. As the names suggest Matrus is a matriarch society where women are in control and only certain men are kept around. Men and boys that are seen as aggressive like Tim are shipped off to basically become slaves. On the other hand, Patrus is a patriarchal society run by men where women are seen as nothing more than pets. We learn that people can move between the societies but don’t adjust well and often have to move back to the place where they were born to survive.
After almost killing a girl in the mill after she tore up the only photo Violet had of her brother, she isn’t taken to prison but to the Royal Court. Here she is given the opportunity to undertake a dangerous mission out face a lethal injection for her transgressions. Violet learns her mission is to retrieve a stolen specimen from Patrus, where they have a spy, but the only way Violet can get into Patrus quickly is by marrying the spy which she has already inadvertently agreed to. As we approach the 1/4 mark in the novel, Violet begins training for her mission but seems very uncomfortable with the idea of going to Patrus, but going there is better than death or is it? Before she leaves for Patrus, Violet asks for one thing in return to be able to see Tim should she succeed and not cause a war between the nations, but despite the warning not to trust anyone, well her desire to see her brother blind her. After arriving in Patrus, she meets the man she is going to marry Lee Bertrand who seems very nice but has been a spy most of his life. Unlike others he is willing to give Violet information but didn’t want to overload her, so he is introducing her slowly to Patrus society and her role within the mission, but Violet doesn’t trust him yet.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Lee begins to fill Violet in on the basic plans for retrieving the egg and who they plan to put the blame on, but specific details do need to be worked out. However, given how these types of novels work I already know that not everything isn’t going to go to plan as this is the first book in a series and they may be some larger plan at work. When Violet sees her cousin Cad, she knows she has to get out of sight before he sees her and starts asking questions, but this leads her to directly encounter the darker side of Patrus.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Violet’s first task is to plant a tracking device on Viggo who they are planning to blame for the theft of the specimen. I was conflicted about their choice of the target as Viggo is an intelligent man but also an innocent one as he was convicted of preventing the course of justice as he fought to protect his wife who killed a man in self-defense but was ultimately hung for her supposed crime. When Violet accidentally bumps into Viggo while tracking his movement, Lee finds a way to twist the situation to their advantage as Viggo seems to sympathize with Violet. Lee convinces Viggo to become Violet’s second guardian and for them to spend time together altering Violet to gain his trust, so he is away from the banquet when everything blows up.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, the first day Violet spends with Viggo is interesting as they have had very similar lives, however when Viggo mentions that Matrus actually kill the boys sent to the mines Violet is worried for her brother but writes it off. The pair get along and Violet even helps take down some criminals although it is away from the prying eyes of others building a rapport between the pair. Honestly, I can see more romantic chemistry between Violet and Viggo than between Violet and Lee as Viggo does everything he can to make Violet comfortable even inviting her to watch his fight which he had no obligation to do.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Violet and Viggo seem to be becoming genuine friends despite her assignment and somewhere she does feel a small measure of desire towards the fighter even convincing him to take a huge paid fight, a feat no one else has been able to do. Despite Violet slipping up nothing changes in their plan, but when she is invited to Viggo’s big fight she is drugged and attacked most likely by the gang members, friends of the men they arrested the kidnapping of a woman. Violet isn’t an experienced spy like Lee, and she may have to do something drastic to keep herself alive. I also believe that Viggo, as well as Lee, will go after Violet to get her back safely but for different reasons, although I do believe Lee is developing feelings for Violet which are unrequited as she has eyes for Viggo although she hasn’t realised it yet.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, I was right about Violet being kidnapped by the gang who torture her to show women their place, however, Viggo comes to her rescue and even puts his neck on the line to stop Violet meeting the same fate as his wife. With less than 80 pages left in the novel, I was excited to see where the story was going to go, personally, I am hoping for a romance between Violet and Viggo. As Violet shares a kid with Viggo and plans to reveal who she is to him, Lee threatens to assassinate him, and she stops. Despite not wanting to pin the crime on Viggo, Lee refuses to change the plan and offers to drug Violet with an emotion suppressor so she can follow through, but I have a feeling she will risk everything to save the man she is quickly falling in love with.
In the final 50 pages of the novel, a lot happened and not everything I was expecting. While Violet didn’t help Viggo due to being drugged and sincerely hoped that he does come back to aid Violet in her new mission as she is in possession of the egg and the potentially deadly secret that it contains, and I hope she unravels the mystery of what happened to Tim. It is safe to say that I will be reading The Gender Secret as soon as I can.
Buy it here:
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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