The Assassin Game Review

The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay

Expected Publication: August 2, 2016 by Sourcebooks Fire

Goodreads Summary:

Who will be left after lights out?

At Cate’s isolated boarding school, Killer is more than a game- it’s an elite secret society. Members must avoid being “Killed” during a series of thrilling pranks, and only the Game Master knows who the “Killer” is. When Cate’s finally invited to join the Assassins’ Guild, she know it’s her ticket to finally feeling like she belongs.

But when the game becomes all too real, the school threatens to shut it down. Cate will do anything to keep playing and save the Guild. But can she find the real assassin before she’s the next target?

Originally published in the United Kingdom by Chicken House in 2015 under title: Killer game.

I found this book for the most part to be really entertaining. Although, it did take awhile for the real “killings” to start, but after it did boy did the book really start to pick up speed. The first half of the book we get the backstory on the game, as well as a little bit about Cate and her friends. After Vaughan arrives, it seems as if Cate just drops her other two friends and the relationships don’t really evolve past that. If it helped the plot, then we saw Cate interact with them but other than that it was like they were acquaintances rather than best friends for the past two years.

Aside from the slow moving plot, in the beginning, I really enjoyed this book. I felt like Nancy Drew trying to solve the mystery before I was the next victim. Although, left to my own devices and following Cate’s judgement, I would not have been able to figure out who the Killer is in the game and the Killer in real life. After the revelation, it totally made sense and I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.

I liked how at the end, we got to see how Cate was handling the events a few months afterwards. It made her a more believable character that she didn’t just go riding off in the sunset with Vaughan. We saw that she was still affected by the real killer and was suffering from PTSD. I almost wish that this was a series, rather than a stand alone just so that the author could have gone into more detail about life on the island, and the game specifically.

This arc was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.