[email protected] reviewed Small Game by Blair Braverman
Gripping, right til [5 pages before] the end
4 stars
Content warning Meta-discussion about the ending; no details
I absolutely loved Braverman's debut, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube, and while I don't consider myself one of her die-hard online #uglydogs fans, I've followed her on Twitter for years & admire her work & life.
A few years ago, she & her husband Quince Mountain both [separately] participated in the reality survival series Naked and Afraid, and it's those experiences which fuel the best parts of her debut novel, Small Game, which is set in a survival reality show somewhere Up North.
I loved the character development, the pacing, the closely observed detail . . . pretty much all of it, right up to the last few pages. As though she ran out of steam, she kinda TL;DRs what I would have hoped to have been a final couple of chapters down into a page or two.
Nevertheless, it was great fun, and for me, at least, the abrupt ending didn't undercut my enjoyment much.