This Gorgeous Game Review

Seventeen-year-old Olivia peters has long dreamed of becoming a writer. So she's absolutely over the moon when her literary idol, the celebrated novelist and much-adored local priest Mark D. Brendan, selects her from hundreds of other applicants as the winner of the Emerging Writers High School Fiction Prize. Now she gets to spend her summer evenings in a college fiction seminar at the nearby university, where dreamy college boys abound and Father Mark acts as her personal mentor.

But when Father Mark's enthusiasm for Olivia's writing develops into something more, Olivia quickly finds her emotions shifting from wonder to confusion to despair. And as her wide-eyed innocence deteriorates, Olivia can't help but ask - exactly what game is Father Mark playing, and how on earth can she get out of it?
Taken from GoodReads.

This Gorgeous Game follows the story of teenage Olivia, an aspiring author whose life is becoming the stuff of dreams when she wins the chance to work and spend time her literary idol, Father Mark. She learns new tips and tricks, becomes confident in her skills, and believes she is the luckiest girl in the world to win this sort of one-on-one tutelage from the literary master. Then things start becoming odd...Father Mark starts to pay a lot of attention to her, calling at all hours, wanting to see her, and sending her presents. Olivia doesn't know where the attention turned into obsession, but she's trapped, and she needs to understand his game.

I had a WoW for This Gorgeous Game way back when, and I don't know why, but I never seemed to find the time to get my paws on this one, but I'm truly glad that I did. Donna Freitas is a master storyteller, weaving intricate characters, a haunting story line, and brilliant prose into a story that will send shivers down your spine and make you think for hours after finishing it. This Gorgeous Game is definitely a book that will stick with me.

I'd be lying if I said there were a few things that troubled me about This Gorgeous Game. First of all, I felt that at times, the characters' cluelessness was a little...off, shall we say. It also took me a little while to connect with Olivia because her character was a bit bland until the story got going. After some time though, she redeemed herself, and her character became raw and real and someone I could believe and feel for. The ending also redeemed the minor plot lags and satisfied my storytelling appetite.

Honestly, I think that This Gorgeous Game was a wonderful read. Eerie and a bit dark, blending a chilling tale with a coming-of-age story, it has the ability to resonate with multiple generations of readers. I give This Gorgeous Game a very strong 4 out of 5, and I'd recommend it to fans of YA fiction, as well as fans of contemp fiction.