Started this book as a part of my Book Club read. At the onset I felt that this book was aimed at people who like stories about complicated relationships or gamers, and I still went head first into the book because I dwell on complicated relationships, though gaming is something I am far from.

The initial chapters was difficult for me to stay focused. But once I got through with that and read a few more the book quickly became unputdownlable. The characters started coming to life and I could see how wonderfully they were charted.

Now I am not a gamer and have almost never played online games, yet I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed the parts about designing and making video games. In fact, at different stages of the characters' lives I could see how it was getting reflected in the games that they were designing. The way the book talks about games made them feel like stories, where the player can influence the outcome. And that really appealed to me, despite my lack of knowledge of some of the technical jargon.

The story wasn’t perfect, though. With the focus heavily given on Sam and Sadie’s friendship, I didn't quite connect with that aspect, though their individual journeys and how that affected them did gain some sympathy from me. The lack of communication or rather miscommunication dragged on for years and they never really sat down to sort out their concerns. This I found an anomaly since deep down they acknowledged each other's contribution to their own life. The presence of Marx was a breather in the series of complications. And therefore, Marx automatically became the most loved character for me.

The author's writing was too clever at times, using fancy words that detached me sometimes as a reader. But that doesn't seem like an issue with most readers.

As a part of the book club discussion I found that many others love the portrayal of Sam and Sadie’s relationship. Since most of the readers were not into video games, they had trouble associating with the premise. However, despite our different views, we all seemed to enjoy this interesting story, and that’s what matters.

Over all, the book is an interesting, engaging and invigorating book, with quotable quotes sprinkled through the read.