Review: Push (The Game, #2)

Author: Eve Silver
Series: The Game, #2
Published: June 10th 2014
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Format: Hardcover, 352 pgs
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

It’s either break the rules or die.

Miki Jones lives her life by her own strict set of rules, to keep control, to keep the gray fog of grief at bay. Then she’s pulled into the Game, where she—and her team—will die unless she follows a new set of rules: those set by the mysterious Committee.

But rules don’t mean answers, and without answers, it’s hard to trust. People are dying. The rules are unraveling. And Miki knows she’s being watched, uncertain if it’s the Drau or someone—something—else. Forced to make impossible choices and battling to save those she loves, Miki begins to see the Committee in a glaring new light.

And then the Game crosses a new boundary, pushes harder into Miki’s and her friends’ lives, and there’s nothing in the rules that can save them now.

Push is the sequel Rush fans will be screaming for.

Just like its predecessor, Rush, Push is very appropriately titled. In this sequel, which is perhaps a bit slower compared to the previous book, our heroine Miki Jones learns how to push through her anxiety and be the fighter she needs to be in order to survive.

Miki’s father still drinks to cope with her mother’s death and she’s still having a hard time finding the balance between her old life and her new, secret one. Her problems haven’t magically disappeared overnight; if anything, they’ve increased. But Miki is learning that, while she can’t change or control the world, she can change how she approaches it, and the progress she’s made in Push makes me so very proud of her.

Miki is devastated after all the losses she’s suffered, and the final battle in Rush cost her far more than she can stand. But there is some hope still, and she’s not one to wallow in despair. She is a true fighter, our Miki, whether she fights the Drau or the Committee itself.

I lunge, thrust, making up moves as I go because this sure as hell isn’t anything I learned in kendo. This is a miserable, wretched slaughterhouse where I hack at limbs and chests and heads, stab at torsos – anything to hold them off.

In Push, Miki finally gets some much needed downtime, which allows for a sweet and believable development of romance, but which also gives her a chance to work on herself and the issues she has with her loved ones. Through it all, the good and the bad alike, Miki is almost impossible not to like, the strength of her character and her determination making her completely unforgettable.

The worldbuilding is intentionally vague and we’re limited to knowing only what Miki knows, which isn’t much at all. Their reality is constructed of false information and wrong assumptions, and we as readers sense and share their frustration while they try to untangle the truth from all the lies. Going along with everything the mysterious Committee instructs is no longer an option for Miki’s team, but knowing the truth might be even more difficult than lining with the lies.

While I resent yet another cliffhanger, my love for this series could make me forget far greater sins. Waiting a whole year to reunite with Miki and her team will be hard, but I’m sure Silver will give us a spectacular finale when the time comes.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review pusposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influenced the opinions expressed in this review.