Crash Review: Miki

5 STARS. 5 STARS. 5 STARS.

This is not a game.
But it is.
To the Committee.

My father and best friend are in the hospital.
Was the accident bad luck?
Or the Committee trying to teach me a lesson?

The Game, glitching and more frequent.
Lizzie, who's supposed to be dead.
The feeling I'm being watched.

More questions than answers.
Nothing is adding up.
I need answers.

My name is Miki Jones.

Book: Crash (Goodreads)
Author: Eve Silver
Series: The Game
Standing: Book 3 (final)
Setting: Rochester, New York (present day)
POV: first person by Miki, present tense
Genre: YA sci-fi, action

Source: Physical copy
Pages: 368
Favourite line: "It's time for me to be the one to choose, to determine time and place, to determine my own outcomes."

Rating: 5 STARS.





Words cannot--will not--describe my feelings for this book. I'm currently suffering from a book hangover, which includes a lot of wailing about the fact that my favourite series is over. The devastation. Is. Real.

This will be a long post. Which shouldn't come as that big of a surprise, seeing that I've ranted about this series over 8 times within the past few months alone. (Seriously. Go search up "Eve Silver," "Jackson Tate," "Rush," and "Push" in the search engine on the left. I'm not lying. It's EVERYWHERE. Even on the "About Me" page!) I also will not promise you that I won't get carried away. I have too many feelings right now, and I need to get them all out. So fair warning.


Where to start? Crash picks right up where we left off with in Push (review is here) and everything is a mess. Heck, I was in a mess just thinking about it. I was armed with sweaty palms and an over-reactive imagination from start to finish. The number of times I paused to simply scream or flail for a moment before reading again is probably somewhere around 500. And the number of times I physically put the book down, because my mind couldn't come to terms with what just happened? 5 times. 5 times I paced around my house, wailing, flopping on a couch or bed or just the floor, because I was so overcome with emotions. 

Yeah. I might have an issue. But if you've read the book, you'd understand why.

What is this book? It is butt-kicking action. It is swoon-worthy romance. It is very real issues, some which might hit close to home. It is mind-boggling revelations that will leave you breathless and scared for the characters. It is also Jackson Tate. Jackson. Tate. More on him later.

Miki Jones, our fantastic and amazing and downright pure awesome protagonist, faces a lot of adversary in this book. More so than any. It's not just the Game that's making her life difficult, it's herself. Grief, anxiety, depression: they're aspects, consequences, of the Game. And we get to see her battle each and every one of them, and I am truly happy that these battles were included. It makes her character more complex, the entire story more complex, and I loved it. It's not like unhappiness is only when she's in the Game; it's in real life, too. Miki shows fortitude time and time again, pulling through every hardship thrown against her. She's smart, both emotionally and physically strong, strategic, wise, and she has Jackson. (In my opinion, having Jackson is more than enough, but I am merely a love-struck and extremely biased person.)

I did not think that the action in this book could get be better than the books before, but I was proved wrong. It is exemplary. So many missions, so many risks, so many heart-stopping (and heart-breaking) moments. Everyone is fierce, because everyone wants to live. Everyone is determined, because again, everyone wants to live. So it should go without saying that everyone kicks butt.

***And this is where it gets spoilery. So don't read it unless you're read this book!***

ALL. THOSE. PLOT. TWISTS. Okay, okay, to be fair, I did see some of them coming. Just not to that extent. The Committee being evil? Okay, I figured that might have been the case ever since Lizzie appeared in Push. But that evil? Evil in the sense that they've basically engineered the whole human-vs-Drau thing? Raising generations of humans and Draus with the intention of pitting the kids of both species against one another with lies? EVIL TO A NEW LEVEL. It's an evil that surpasses both time and space! And let's not forget the whole rumour about reaching 1000 points. Supposedly, once you do that, you're free, free from the Game. But upon confrontation about whether that is true or not, the Committee answers cryptically that "change" happens with 1000 points is reached. Now, what is this "change" they speak of? DEATH. Hello. That's not change! That's evil! And same how they kill off members who grow too old. No adults are allowed to participate, remember? So for those members who survive, and thus grow to be somewhere over 20? Again, DEATH. That's right. They kill them off simply for surviving. They were going to do that to Tyrone! I just... Does anyone know where I can buy an Anti-Committee t-shirt?

I never considered myself one of those people who has an intense fear of those fraying rope bridges connecting cliffs, but after what happens in Crash, I think my fear has been renewed. Tyrone makes it. Kendra makes it. Lien makes it. Miki makes it. Luka doesn't, and neither does Jackson. Jackson. Didn't. Make. It. Did my heart stop when that chapter ended with Jackson free falling towards the jagged rocks below? Yes. Was this one of the 5 times I put the book down and started pacing and wailing for a good 10 minutes? Absolutely. And there are people who can attest to my moment of "insanity." (If they were reading the book, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have called it "insanity." But since they weren't, they just didn't get it.) So all I will say: Eve Silver knows how to sever my heartstrings. And I also never want to walk on a rope bridge, because it will bring back memories of Luka dying and of Jackson falling. And then I'll have to relive the moment when I thought Jackson had been killed off. *Shivers* Never again, you hear me? Never. Again.

Speaking of Luka...I had my suspicions about him, ever since Push. But I was sincerely hoping that I was being a paranoid reader, and that everyone would make it out all right. HA. How naive of me. Do I feel bad for Luka? Yes. He was a good friend to Miki and Jackson. He decided to give Miki answers when he wasn't supposed to during the first book. And he showed up to keep Miki company when Jackson had to leave her after visiting Miki's dad in the hospital, so that Jackson could go home and pick some stuff up. Luka is a great friend. Should I have mourned him longer? Yes. But, like Miki and Jackson, there's no time to mourn him. There's a Committee to stop, and everyone needs to focus on the real problem. Or, as Miki likes to say, to keep the grey fog of grief at bay. But think about it: the Committee was using him to spy on Miki and Jackson. Basically hijacking Luka's mind. That is twisted and wrong, which is exactly why the Committee needed to be stopped. This is what I meant when I said that the Committee evilness had been upped a level. Luka did not deserve to die, and it's unfair. But I know that one day, the Committee will indeed be put to a stop and Luka's death will be avenged.

I know I mentioned before about internal issues, but I want to bring them up again. In this book, we get a taste of what it's like to go through a few mental issues: anxiety/panic attacks, grief, depression due to grief, alcoholism, guilt, and PTSD. The Game isn't kind; it leaves scars on the mentality of its players. And I think the fact that Miki battles these things is what makes the story realistic. But it's not just Miki. Yes, she's the one who deals with anxiety (see: father in the hospital), depression (no thanks to the Committee, who was trying to get into her head), and grief (aka LUKA). But it's also her father that's dealing with alcoholism, and Jackson who deals with guilt and PTSD. Now, these issues don't take over the plot, but they're there, serving as very real issues that can happen to anyone. And I really liked how they were addressed, and how the characters were able to pull through. And not just pull through alone, but with supporting people that everyone should have. Like I said, it makes them all better people.

JACKSON TATE. From the first day I met (cough, read about) him, he has been right up there on my boyfriend list. The listing changes with my mood, but Jackson is always, always, in my top three no matter what. I don't think it's ever possible for me to read about him without pausing for a moment to sigh or squeal a little in pure giddiness. It happened when I read Rush, it happened again in Push, and it by no means was an exception in Crash. I mean, Jackson makes a whole bunch of sweet declarations for always being there for Miki. Who wouldn't stop to sigh? Dangerous boy who likes cereals with marshmallows in it? Who, being unable to do anything to help Miki get through her grief, declares that the least he can do is to physically take care of her? Who helps Miki battle her panic and anxiety attacks? My heart is melting for this boy. Why isn't he in my life???

I loved the events leading up to the grand finale. Jackson, using his Drau DNA to send out a massive message to make both human and Drau stop fighting? And Miki, being his amplifier? YES. They did it together. That is beautiful. But it kept getting better! The confrontation with the Committee? Lizzie's I-can-and-will-follow-you-wherever-you-go-and-put-a-stop-to-your-plans-once-and-for-all attitude? Again, YES. 

And then the ending. Miki chooses to go back, to enter the Game again. To go though grief, yes, but also to do her part in putting a stop to the Committee. That is the mark of a true hero: someone who will continue on the same path they were on before, because it's right. And also because that's where Jackson is, and to me, that's reason enough to go for it. Again, I might be biased.

I'm really happy that everyone in Miki's team chooses to stay together to form the new rebellion. Tyrone, Lien, Kendra, Miki, and Jackson have been through quite a lot together, and they're a close-knitted team. It would have been sad to see one of them leave. Add Lizzie and the other 10 Draus willing to fight, and I'm more than sure that 26 of them are, without a doubt, going to take the Committee down. The story ends a little open-ended, but I think that allows us, the readers, dream up our own versions of their final triumph. And if anything is certain, it's that the Committee is on the run, and that they don't stand a chance against Miki and her new team.

The last three sentences of the book:
"So what's the game now?
No game. 
It's my life."

*Falls and cries.* The story has come full circle, truly. Miki ends up back at the very first scene in Rush, and ends up making the exact same decision. And the initial question of "What's the game now?", a question that has been asked since Rush, is answered, but instead of it being "This, or the life I used to know?", the answer is simple and clear: "No game. It's my life." The answer this time is a set and definite. One with certainty, one that leaves little room for argument. One that ends the story perfectly.

And so, the beloved The Game series has come to an end. I want to applaud Eve Silver for such a brilliant, beautiful series that has touched my heart on many levels. I loved every line of these three books, and I don't my life will ever be the same after this experience! If Eve Silver ever stumbles across my blog by chance, let me just say to her thank you so much for writing these fantastic books, and that you are amazing.

Okay, I think I've written enough. This is probably the longest post I've done, ever. Jeez, this is practically a mini essay. If only I could write this much for all those university papers...

Add it to your Goodreads here.

Blurb:
A thrilling action/suspense novel for fans of The Fifth Wave about contemporary teens pulled in and out of an alternate reality where battling aliens is more than a game—it's life and death.

Miki’s life is falling apart around her. Her dad and best friend are lying in the hospital. The Game is glitching, making missions more frequent and more deadly. And someone close to her is waiting for the right moment to betray her. 

Miki feels like she’s hanging on by a thread and the only thing keeping her tethered is Jackson’s hand in hers. Yet telling him how much she needs him, how much she loves him, feels like the biggest challenge of all. And if Miki really wants the missions to end for everyone, she’ll have to let go and be ready to fight when the walls between the Game and reality come crashing down. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned, it’s that she’s got a whole lot left to lose.

Crash is the pulse-pounding conclusion to the Game trilogy fans won’t want to miss.