Review | The End Games

The End Games by T. Michael Martin

Review by Jessica 

May 2013 by HarperCollins

369 pages
Amazon + Good Reads
4/5 stars

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."

-Good Reads

The End Games was my first encounter with a book about zombies, and I really loved it. The book does not focus too much on the zombies, but instead in the people and their survival. That is what I think made it a really great read. I got to see how different people react in the same horrible events, and how the world coming to an end really changes people and shows what people will do to help themselves and the ones they love survive. 

The author wrote the main character in a very real way. Instead of the normal and very unrealistic teenagers that are usually in young adult books, the teenagers in this book were how real teenagers are. The main character, Michael, was awkward, said weird things, was dorky, nervous in a very not cute way around girls, and still kind of a kid. Although I do enjoy the way teens are usually written since it makes them seem more my age and hence more relatable to me, it was nice and refreshing to read through a character's point of view that said and did things that are cringe worthy, but how most guys his age actually are.

The romance in the book took me by surprise. I was not expecting it at all, but really loved it. Again, it was very real and awkward and cute. Their relationship was done well, and did not take away from the main story. The relationship between the main character and his younger brother was also amazing. I have a sibling the age of the younger brother, and I really connected to Michael because of the way he cares for and keeps his brother safe. Reading about them together gave me so many feels because I have no idea if I could handle and do what Michael does for Patrick if I were in that situation. 

Overall the novel was amazing. The zombie were fun to read about, and there was a strong emotional aspect in the relationships and survival stories. The ending was done so well, and I can not wait to read another book from this author. I loved his writing style, the way he pulled the story together, and I highly recommend everyone read this book.

Did you like Jess's review? Check out her blog here!