*Gizmos Book Reviews* Push (The Game, #2) by Eve Silver

**I received this book from Edelweiss / Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

*MY Thoughts*

Push is the second novel in The Game series by Eve Silver. The story picks up right where Rush left off with 16-year old Miki Jones and her teammates Luka, Tyrone, Kendra, and Lien returning home from their mission to Detroit, but leaving behind a mystery about the fate of Jackson. Is he alive, or was he killed off?

When Miki's best friend Carly says she remembers Jackson, it gives readers hope that Silver wouldn't just kill of an important character like Jackson this soon in the series. It also throws Miki into a mad scramble to find out what happened to him from the mysterious Committee who we've met, but don't truly know enough to say if they are the good guys or the bad.

Push switches between realities once again but with a different sort of twist that hits close to home. In the real world, teenagers are chosen to participate in The Game based on the fact that they may have some alien DNA within their family tree and the fact that they've recently died. The teens are respawned into The Game where they are expected to kill alien predators known as the Drau. Apparently, if you reach a certain plateau of points, you are free to return to your lives.

Miki has grown on me as a character over the course of two books. Although I still roll my eyes a bit when she gets in over her head, or puts herself into difficult situations where a mysterious stranger appears and saves her life. Having spent years Kendo training, Miki does have some skills, and moves that help hold off the Drau. Miki, though, has some family issues that certainly needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. I guess you could say this goes to strength of character that she has to deal with her own panic attacks, her fathers alcoholism, the Committee, and her relationship with her best friend, and a potential romance with Jackson.

Push is a bit on the slow side in some parts, but that is absolutely fine with me. There are times you don't want constant bloodshed and action. You need the characters to be able to wind down, and have some fun or it becomes a bit unrealistic. Kind of like 24 where Jack is screaming and hollering and kicking the bad buys ass, but never seems to be able to take a break to recharge his batteries, or eat, or have a serious relationship with anyone.

I am definitely eager to read Crash, the next installment in The Game. Push ends on a whopper of an ending, leaving lots of questions to be answered, and the fate of several characters in the balance. I would also love to see how Silver explains away the appearance of the mysterious character who leaves Jackson with a pretty prophetic statement about the Committee and the Drau.

Title - Push (The Game # 2)
Author - Eve Silver
Published by Katherine Tegen Books
Released: June 10, 2014
Genre: YA, Science Fiction-y
Format: E-Book 352 pages