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.