Blog Tour, Review, Playlist & Giveaway: Gamescape: Overworld (The Nova Project #1) by Emma Trevayne

Title: Gamescape: Overworld
Series: The Nova Project #1
Author: Emma Trevayne
Publisher: Greenwillow
Publication Date: September 13, 2016
Pages: 496
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy
Source: ARC

SYNOPSIS

The planet is dying. Centuries of abuse have damaged the earth beyond repair, and now all the authorities can do is polish the surface, make the landscape look pretty to hide the disease within. Two prominent yet mysterious businessmen couldn’t fix it, either, but they did something even better. Together, they invented Chimera, the most complex and immersive virtual reality video game the world has ever known. The Cubes in which Chimera is played quickly became a fixture of this landscape: part distraction, part hospital, and almost wholly responsible for holding up the failing world economy.

Miguel Anderson is also dying. He isn’t the only one who plays the game–everybody does–but Miguel has more reason than most: When players leave their Cubes for the day, the upgrades and enhancements they’ve earned for their virtual characters leave with them. New lungs to breathe poisoned air, skin that won’t burn under the sun are great and everything… but Miguel, born as broken as the earth, needs a new heart–and soon–if he wants any hope of surviving just a little longer.

Then the two Gamerunners announce a competition, with greater rewards and faster progression than ever before, and Miguel thinks his prayers have been answered. All he needs to do is get picked to lead a team, play the game he’s spent years getting good at, and ask for his prize when he wins. Simple, really.

At first, things seem to go according to plan. Mostly, anyway. Inside his Cube, with his new team–including his best friend–at his back, Miguel begins his quest. He plays recklessly, even dangerously, for someone whose most vital organ could give up at any moment, but his desperation makes him play better than ever. The eyes of the world are on him, watching through status updates and live feeds, betting on his chances. With greater rewards, though, come greater risks, and the Gamerunners seem to delight at surprising the competitors at every turn. As he ventures deeper into a world that blends the virtual and the real to an unsettling degree, Miguel begins to wonder just why the game was invented at all, and whether its stakes could be even higher than life and death.

I received this book for free from Fantastic Flying Book Club in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of the most interesting stories that I have had the pleasure of reading. Gamescape: Overworld displays science fiction in such an interesting way!

The most amazing thing about this book is that it surprises you. Going into it, I was expecting a hardcore gaming story with a science fiction baseline. What I got was so much more enticing! The plot is wholly original and very exciting! I loved the mythology and religious references in the book. (But don't be worried if you aren't into things with religious overtones, because this book is not one of those.) I was truly not expecting the plot to go in the direction that it did.

I really loved reading about Miguel and his team inside the game. The game time was a delight to read. I loved how the characters interacted during the game time, and I also liked the action scenes.

The book has some diverse characters, and I love that!

I enjoyed the look at social media and its relevance to individuals. People having a digital thumbprint is a big part of this story.

I felt that the characters had a nice start to them, but I felt that they needed more development. It felt like the author only scratched the surface with them. What I read of the characters I liked, but I felt like there was just so much missing from their personalities. They needed more depth.

The romance was hardly there at all, and it felt rushed. The romance needed more build up, and just plain more romance in general.

I would have liked more detailed information about this dystopian world. We get a little information about it, but it just isn't detailed enough.

I felt the story drag on a bit towards the end. I felt bored reading the second half. It didn't really go out with a bang. It just sort of lulled at the end.

Overall, this is a great story! It is a one of a kind story that explores an interesting premise. I would most definitely recommend reading this one!

Dream on Dreamer "Don't Lose Your Heart"

Kid don't lose your heart
Until you're where you want to be

You find your hopes and your abandoned dreams
That's where you find your purpose.
Sometimes I take another breath,
Another step to embrace what I have
Then I stare at you, staring back
And I know that I'm not dead.
It takes a voice to make a change
It takes courage to not be the same
If the world is silenced today
I make sure to scream my name

We Came As Romans "Hope"

Sometimes I feel so wrong
Like I'm being held down
I feel my heart like a rock, it's sinking
These days can get so dark
Like an eclipse in the sky
But I can rise above
I can find the light

I can run
I can change all the answers
Or what I'll hope they'll be
I won't stop
I won't let my own questions
Fade away in my dreams
Don't fade away
We won't fall to our knees
We are the one true hope
So give me an answer
Are you in or you out?

We all fall, crawl out of the fear you're in
Don't give up

Muse "Mercy"

Help me
I've fallen on the inside
I tried to change the game
I tried to infiltrate
But now I'm losing men in cloaks
Always seem to run the show
Save me from the ghosts and shadows
Before they eat my soul
Absent gods and silent tyranny
We're going under hypnotised
By another puppeteer
And tell me why the men in cloaks
Always have to bring me down
Running from the ghosts and shadows
The world just disavows
Mercy, mercy
Show me mercy
From the powers that be
Show me mercy
Can someone rescue me

The Amity Affliction "Open Letter"

I won't be buried before my time
I'm not searching for forever
I've got my eyes opened wide
I've been searching under rubble from the past
Just looking for a reason to make your life last
No need to look skyward for you to find hope
No need for redemption to be saved from the rope

I'm not searching the sky for a reason to live
'Cause I found beauty right here and found the passion to give
So let me give you my heart, let me give you my tears
Let me give you my life, let me give you my fears

Crown The Empire "Memories of a Broken Heart"

As I stare into these ruins made by man
I tremble as I realize it's the end
More and more I wonder what we could have done
But instead we wage a war that can't be won

I stand on the ash of all I've ever loved
Memories of a broken heart
Now I'm alone in the dark.
I know there's a way out when all hope is gone
Find your light in a new dawn
But there's no way to do this on our own

Out Came The Wolves "Queen Mary"

Why did you come did you come so far
What are you here to find
Boy have you lost your mind

There's no point of return
This is it this is all that I have left

Too Close To Touch "What I Wish I Could Forget"

I know I need to move on, but it's the last thing that I'm ready to do
These subtle signs cause angry tides that rip you right in two
I tell myself that this all will pass
But it just won't stop and it all adds up, so I'm sure that this will last
Take every memory ingrained in me
Erase it from my thoughts so I can sleep
I'd give anything to feel no pain
Name your price and take the past away

They say I haven't been myself
But I've lost so much that I love, so that can't help

I Prevail "Scars"

I can’t escape all these thoughts in my mind
They’re waiting to haunt me night after night
I feel it in my bones and everything I know
It’s underneath my skin and it won’t let go
They know me all too well, but only time will tell
If this is who I am, do I know myself?
Don’t forget your life’s your own, don’t ever let it go
In the heat of the moment, when fear has you frozen
You’re crashing and burning, when life’s at its coldest
Don’t fall too far from who you are
They can cut us but we’ll wear our scars

I will survive

Hands Like Houses "Colourblind"

For better or for worse

Our vision of the future's getting blurred

Between the black and white

Naming every shade of grey has left us colourblind
We are all for none and none for all
We are the sickness and the symptom, and the cure

A War Within "Slave"

I am a slave
I won't give to take
I work for everything
Not just a wage
Grinding away
Cause that's the way you want me
Falling to my grave
Cause I am a slave

The Amity Affliction "Don't Lean On Me"

Well don't lean on me 'cause I am falling, please don't fall with me
I really need you here, yeah I need you so don't leave
And don't count on me 'cause I am drowning, please don't drown with me
Just hold me in your heart, let the ocean take me

The Smashing Pumpkins "Disarm"

Disarm you with a smile
And leave you like they left me here
To wither in denial

I used to be a little boy
So old in my shoes
And what I choose is my choice
What's a boy supposed to do?
The killer in me is the killer in you
My love
I send this smile over to you

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YA sci-fi/cyberpunk writer. Fan of words and music and chocolate. Represented by Brooks Sherman of FinePrint Literary Management. My first novel, CODA, will be out Spring 2013 from Running Press Kids, and its sequel, CHORUS, will be released the following year.