“I’m still getting used to past tense verbs for so many things that felt concrete in my life for so long.” Brooke Neville’s own words are the thesis of her journey, a whirlwind adventure on her own through Europe while she runs away from her complicated emotions. Struck by tragedy and haunted by a dream that seems shattered and unattainable, Brooke travels to the heart of Berlin to escape the snobby confines of her ultra-rich family. From Berlin to Prague, she gets lost in history, budding friendships, and a summer romance with a hunky Australian guy, Patrick, who’s on a vacation of his own. Though she knows everything is impermanent, Brooke throws herself into her first taste of freedom and real, thrilling love.
Some of the writing in P.M. Vance’s GAME feels clunky—exposition shoved into awkward dialogue and passages that read like a history textbook—but the poignancy of Brooke’s grief and yearning for her own life shine through. Despite her unwillingness to share with others, her honesty about her own feelings is relatable and complex as she navigates loss, mistakes, and messy familial ties.
Brooke is a difficult character to like sometimes, but her human struggles resonate universally—especially for a person so young. Wanting her freedom, wanting the independence to make her own choices, wanting to be seen as an adult and not an extension of her family’s privileged life. She’s desperate to belong when so many things shelter her from living a “normal” existence. Brooke stands out among the group of international friends she meets in a Berlin hostel, in spite of her attempts to appear like an average backpacking American. Her new friends’ stark differences seem to be there just to highlight how out-of-touch Brooke’s worldview is, almost to the point of heavy handedness. It’s hard to see it as genuinely diverse when their more inclusive traits feel like they’re simply used as devices to challenge Brooke’s narrow upbringing.
That said, her willingness to tear everything down and start over—to maybe gain a shred of control—is an admirable thing. “But this time, I am taking the axe to my life and breaking it apart with my own hands,” she says. “That, at least, feels good.” And while her summer fling keeps himself at a distance, he does help her kind of break out of her shell. Their romance is fast-moving but sweet. They find common ground together in past demons and complicated family issues that still hurt. One of Brooke’s more interesting character arcs—her passion and professional aspiration for tennis—is intermingled with her grief, a reminder of her flaws, and her family’s rigid expectations. It’s a little disappointing that her confrontation with it is somewhat glossed over in the end, as the author’s earlier descriptions of Brooke’s tennis matches are well-rendered and exciting.
There’s a thread of tension throughout, wrapped around Brooke’s loss and Patrick’s evasive personality. It’s threaded taut enough to wonder exactly how deep their grief and their flaws go; and when the other shoe drops in both cases, it takes the air out of the room. The story twists in the last act with a gut-punch, and it’s well-executed. After that, however, the book tends to progress a bit too quickly; things are half-tied up in a rush, and glimmers of Brooke’s character development seem to happen off-page. It’s not the cleanest ending, but with the promise of other installments to Brooke’s story, there’s certainly potential to expand on her choices in the coming books.
An honest exploration of grief and yearning for freedom, GAME by P.M. Vance overcomes its minor faults to deliver a sweet love story that navigates themes of loss, complicated familial ties, and finding the courage to live your dream.
~Jessica Thomas for IndieReader