Playing Dead

By: Bronson Palmer

Narrated by: Ramona Master

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

In the halls of Andrew Jackson High School, Jenaiya is a nobody. Less than a nobody. She's practically invisible. An awkward, shy freshman, she very rarely gets any attention beyond being bullied by the monsters who roam the hallways.

But in Age of Z, a postapocalyptic multiplayer video game, she's a gun-wielding, fast-talking GOD. She doesn't suffer fools lightly, and she's one of the most revered players in this near-future dystopian world of the undead. Through survival as one of the fittest, Jenaiya has learned the ropes of the online world. And what she picks up on very quickly is that the zombies are not the most vicious monsters in Age of Z. The real villains end up being the humans on the other end of this social media experiment.

When her favorite game goes on sale, the apocalyptic landscape is overrun with foul-mouthed trolls who take pleasure in overt sexism and racism. As an African American teenager, she's especially sensitive to that kind of cyber bullying, but she vows to not let it get the best of her. She's got her crew, and she's not prone to backing down.

Some people leave, give up, and some people just take up a different corner of the zombie-infested world. But Jenaiya won't. She refuses to. She knows the only way to move forward is to fight back. And she's not playing nice anymore.

©2017 Bronson Palmer (P)2018 Bronson Palmer

incredible!!!

a lovely book that I enjoyed very much as an audio the story was well-written the narrator did a great job very interesting book
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Couldn't put it down

I received this audiobook free for an honest review. Even though I'm not a gamer and not a YA, I thought this book was awesome. It taught me a little bit about the "Age of Z" type of computer games. Although it is said a lot of these games teach kids how to be bullies and killers, there are lessons to be learned by the normal person. I makes you think and strategize. There is also a great story of relationships within and outside of the game. The author depicts a number of issues that are currently happening to the kids in school. The narrator did an excellent job with the characters and their personalities. Loved this book.

it felt very cliche

This book was all over the place it went from the main character realizing sexuality about being gay to a story about standing up to bullies to playing a game online and being the mega hero and then realizing that games weren't everything. it had the vibe of somebody that put their on Personal Agenda in the book instead of a making a story that actually made sense and let me make this clear I'm not saying any of these are bad point of views but in this book it just did not work.

A good moral lesson

I liked this book a lot, it was a good mix between entertaining and carrying a strong moral lesson about hat behavior is bulling and what it means when you cross that line.

I thought that the mix of real life and gaming was well done and it did a good job of showing how online behavior and treatment by others can affect you in real life.

Interesting and well written.

Then narration is well done, I liked the character voices and othe overall delivery is a good match for the story.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

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Complex

I must admit that Playing Dead was not quite what I expected, but I did enjoy it. I'd say this is actually a hard book to classify. As you can see from the cover it's called 'A YA techno thriller', but I don't know that I would agree with that. YA? yes, but not sure I agree with the techno thriller part. It felt very much like a coming of age story, with the main character dealing with many issue that come with growing up, confronting bullying, prejudice, and attempting to find her place in the world. The author handles all of those issues quite well, and I must say the parts that take place in the real world are entertaining. Now while the zombie game that main character plays sounds like fun, I never found that aspect of the story to be as gripping as the rest. Perhaps because it's just her sitting at a computer playing the game, though I will admit that the elements of the game and the lessons she both learns and teaches others via the game are important.

I believe this is the first book I've heard narrated by Ramona Master and I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit and will definitely be checking out more of her work in the future.

I received a copy of this audio title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.