Review: Polybius by Collin Armstrong

Polybius by Collin Armstrong

Publication date: April 29th, 2025

Pages: 352

Spice: N/A

Synopsis:

Stranger Things meets The Walking Dead in this shivery novel based on a terrifying urban legend about a small seaside town descending into chaos when an unusual video game is unveiled at the local arcade.

Having recently moved to the gentrifying seaside town of Tasker Bay with her mother, the only thing on high schooler Andi's mind is saving up enough money for her escape to Silicon Valley. Though it's owned by the shadiest resident in town, she takes a job at the dingy arcade Home Video World.

Pining over Andi is Ro, the son of Tasker Bay's sheriff. With his friend's matchmaking help, he begins spending more time at the arcade and soon, Andi finds herself opening up to Ro. But when the store gets an unusual new game of unknown origin, the floor is suddenly overwhelmed with players fighting to get some time on the machine. Seemingly overnight, a virus-like epidemic sweeps through the town while a major coastal storm rolls in, further isolating them from the outside world. Time is of the essence as residents collectively experience anger, paranoia, hallucinations, and even catatonia. And when one heinous act of violence goes unsolved, the town descends into utter chaos. Realizing no one is coming to their rescue, Andi and Ro take matters into their own hands to get to the bottom of the spiraling madness... until it begins affecting them, too.

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Story:

I think the story overall had a lot of potential. I think the execution of the story was not as well done as it could have been. The idea that there is a video game that has the potential to unlock people's anger and violent tendencies is something that is actually talked about on a regular basis in media today. Did the video game cause the teenager to take a gun to school and shoot their classmates or was it something deeper? Having the story set in the 1980's were video games were not as regularly used as they are today, was a good choice, but it was often forgotten for me. There were things that could have been referenced to show the time the story was taking place more readily, but it wasn't utilized so confusion set in a few times after I forgot about the setting. The problem is that the story had a very obvious method of reducing the risks to the townspeople and stopping the spread of this virus-like epidemic. Instead of making that choice and doing what would have worked from the beginning, it turned into two teenagers channeling their inner Scooby Doo detectives to try to find out more about a mysterious video game that has taken the town by storm. I will say there were parts that were rather eerie to the point where I didn't really want to read the book at night. I just wished that it maintained that flow throughout so the second half of the book didn't leave me rolling my eyes and in a constant state of frustration.

Characters:

• Andi - Andi was determined to not get close to anyone at all in her town. She had plans to leave Tasker Bay the minute she was old enough to do so. The fact she refuses to make friends because she doesn't want to miss them when she leaves after high school is highly unrealistic. Also, do phones not exist in the 80's? She couldn't make friends and get close to anyone and talk to them on the phone or visit periodically. It's not like she'd never return to visit her mom who would remain, right? It was just not a very well thought out plan for her or the story. I found her to be way too abrasive and not at all likeable. She seemed like she was seconds away from biting someone's head off at any moment. I didn't like the way she treated her mother who took her out of a toxic environment for the betterment of herself. I just didn't connect to the character.

• Ro - Ro was equally as confusing. He went from school stud and popular guy to a crisis of identity even before Polybius started warping his little brain. You'd think he'd have gone through this after his mother died rather than several years down the road. Then he throws himself into martyrdom situations without much progression for the story. His existence was really just filler and to try to counter balance Andi's bad attitude. Another character I could not connect with.

Writing:

Honestly, I liked the way the story was written. The story was shaky but the actual execution of the story was not bad. The only thing I found a little bothersome was the fact that the perspective shifted between a whole town of characters instead of sticking with the main characters the whole time. This was, of course, to aid in showing how Polybius was effecting other townspeople but it started to become hard to follow each of the different storylines all at once. But then again, I liked seeing what was going on. So the structure was great, but the amount of characters that were touched on was a bit much. If the author had kept Ro or Andi in the scenes with these other characters it would have made the format a little stronger for me.

Overall: 

This was not the most terrible book I have ever read; not even the worst this year. However, it was not a book I was excited to pick up and read every chance I got. I found more and more excuses to switch books so I could avoid the dull periods within the book. I think that if there were a few changes to the characters, the ending, and how many characters the reader was supposed to remember, it might be a really good read. The foundation is there, the execution was not.

Review: The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson

The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson

Series: Dark Inheritance Trilogy #1

Publication date:

Pages: 352

DNF Percentage: 80%

Spice: 🌶️

Synopsis:

Perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy and Thea Guanzon, Rebecca Robinson's thrilling romantasy debut combines high-stakes political intrigue and a steamy, slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance.

All her life, Vaasa Kozar has been sharpened into a blade.

After losing her mother--her only remaining parent--to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid's nation. All Vaasa has to do is die.

But she is desperate to live. Vaasa enters her new marriage with every intent to escape it, wielding the hard-won political prowess and combat abilities her late father instilled in her. But to her surprise, Reid offers her a deal: help him win the votes to rise in power, and she can walk free. In exchange, he will share his knowledge about the dark magic running through her veins--and help keep it at bay.

This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reid's undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brother's lethal machinations take form, everything is at stake: Vaasa must learn to trust her new husband, but how can she, especially when their perfect political marriage begins to feel like the real thing?

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Story:

Let's face facts, most people who choose to read romantasy want to see at least some heat between the main characters sprinkled in with the overall storyline. However, with this book there seemed to be an overall focus on worldbuilding over any other aspect of the story. The characters all felt like they were ticks on a checklist meant to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. We have a middle eastern vibe, check. We have a lesbian couple of warriors, check. We have gay fathers, check. That was not a strike against the book for me but it felt like it was not an organic inclusion in the story but the author trying to cater to different groups of individuals while not caring much about how well it fit within the world she was creating. The romance, that was basically non-existent, felt so incredibly forced. The attempt was an enemies-to-lovers dynamic but the most action that was really experienced was some forehead kisses and sleeping in the same bed. Scandalous. Where's the fire? It was all just a hodge-podge of wrong for me.

Characters:

• Vaasa - Where was the fire that she showed in the beginning of the book? She was willing to cut the throat of the man she married in order to escape a marriage she didn't want and then she was crying in the corner because her mom may have loved her more than she realized. Who is Vaasa? Because I was never able to bond with her. The attempt to show that she had a heart and wasn't just a stone-cold killer didn't work. She went to far to the other side of things to recover. I started to find her more annoying than appealing. I like strong female leads, not little girls with mommy, daddy, brother, second-cousin-twice-removed issues.

• Reid - He was called the Wolf in the book but there was never any real reason behind it. I guess he was meant to be this cold killer who had no feelings for anyone other than disdain. Instead we got a golden retriever who treated everyone like they walked on water. How could he have such a harsh reputation with so many people in the know of him being completely different? It didn't make sense. I did like Reid more than Vaasa. He may have been a good boy deserving of pets and treats but at least he was pretty consistent about it unlike Vaasa.

Writing:

The author really enjoys worldbuilding. I mean really enjoys worldbuilding. To the point where there is more worldbuilding then there is actual world in the story. She would wax on for page after page after page of describing the beauty of the world, the structures, the towns, the people, the color of the sky, the texture of the grass, the smell of the sea, and so on. It went on for ages to the point where I would read the book just to get to sleep at night. I started skimming the book whenever they were traveling to a new area, which they were doing a lot, because I was so tired of all the description. I wanted more character development in the writing and was sadly disappointed.

Overall:

I thought about finishing the story. I got to 80% and only had less than 100 pages left to read before I was finished. But after skimming forward in the book to see if there was any developments between Vaasa and Reid and being let down, I couldn't bring myself to finish the story. I didn't care enough to find out what happened with Vaasa's brother, her magic, her marriage, the political climate, etc. The desire to see what happened next left me and I had to let it go. It would have been better to potentially lean further in the story and less into the romance because I could feel that author was a little uncomfortable writing it.