Endgame: The Complete Training Diaries audiobook

I'm glad I read this book. Good insight on the struggles of the characters, training for this brutal game.

I was ON A ROLL reading this book. And then there was Sarah's story which was.... The best way to describe it would be that it sounded like it was written by one of those "pick me" girls. You know how I read super slow? Yeah well I barely even skimmed that one. In a sense, James Frey was smart not to make his readers suffer by ending the book with the worst story so we won't have to reread the whole endgame trilogy again. I really enjoyed the other stories, but it's really hard to focus on that when the ending is SUCH A DOWNER.

I'm glad I read this before starting the actual series so I have more insight into all of the players.

This review can also be found on A Thousand Lives Lived, check it out for more! *3.5 star rating* Endgame: The Calling stands as one of the best books I've read this year (at least from what has been published in the past) and to this day, I can't stop fidgeting and thinking about the game and mysteries that lie behind the actual story. I'm captivated to download the app (which I'll probably be addicted to) and figure out the puzzle by myself. When I saw that a complete novel of novellas from the characters before they were taken into the game was released, I would've sold my soul to grab a copy. The truth is that they weren't good as the real story itself. You shouldn't feel obligated to read this book if you even enjoyed the first book. It's something extra that's definitely not needed, but it's here if you want to read it. There aren't that many people who have read it, either, so that kind of kicks a punch into my guts, too. If I had to go back in time, there's a huge chance that I wouldn't have chosen to read it or borrow it from the library. Why do I have to feel that the series has gotten worse when deep down I know that the sequel will surely and completely please me?"For Marcus, climbing is everything. It's a fusion of mind and matter, the perfect way to channel all that frenetic energy that has him bouncing off the walls most of the time. It takes absolute focus, brute force, and a fearless confidence that comes naturally to Marcus, who feels most alive at 1,000 meters, looking down." (4)So now that I've been through this and read all twelve stories, I can't even remember which ones pleased me. It was pretty bunched up and quick, and I can't really put everything together. But from what I do remember, I know that I would give it 3.5 stars. There were boring stories, more racing ones like Marcus's, and ones that don't even make sense and aren't needed. Not all of the Twelve had special lives before they were Called and chosen, y'know. The author just can't make up some awesome life for each of them when the Endgame actually saved some. It's nice to read about some of the most kick and badass characters that modern-day dystopia fiction has ever held: Chiyoko, Marcus, Jago and Sarah. They're my favourites, at least. Then some secrets were spilled that we never knew of from the first book, leaving me in a state of shock. But the sequel will surely mention those secrets, as the obligation thing comes to mind again."This is the Player she chooses to be, one who will do anything for her people and for this most important person, one who will make her own decisions and Play by her own rules, one who will temper ruthlessness with mercy, one who will make mistakes, and do what she can to fix them. One who will never let herself forget what it is to feel love or anger or pain. One who will never forget what it is to feel human." (130)These training diaries are something that you should read at your own risk. Just don't blame me if they ruin your whole experience or opinion of this series! But at the same time, they still hold that enchanting thing that Frey has called: his writing. And the shockers and heart-racing moments are still included. So in the end, there are pluses and minuses.

An Liu deserved much more than this, you know?

I really liked this book. I liked learning the backgrounds of all the lines and the characters and learning why they are who they are and why they made the decisions they did in the actual series. It adds a lot of depth to all the characters and is a quick, interesting read.

I need to read more short story collections.

How they became the players.

It's a shame that I liked those prequel novellas much more than the third book of the trilogy. (Which honestly wasn't too hard.) I wasn't sure if I even wanted to read something that had anything to do with this book series, but I'm glad that I did, because I kinda got the same exciting/fascinating feeling from those stories as I got from the first 2 books of the trilogy. (Idk what went wrong with the last one.)Those storys were a great addition to the trilogy and show the backgrounds of the characters - how they grew up and became the players we get to see in the main books. It was very interesting to see how each bloodline has their own "system" to pick their player.

Endgame was a really good book and I when I knew a prequel will be out, I freaked out!In this book, we get to know the 12 players' background stories. In Endgame, they all seem like warriors, without regrets of killing or making choices. What this book taught me is that they were all born as people. Normal people as you and me, but because of their inheritance, they have to maturate at a very young age (even when, some of them, didn't want to). Some of the stories really shocked me (like Alice's, Kala's, Jago's, An's, Shari's, Maccabee's and Sarah's), which made me change the perspective that I had of these characters and made me like some of them, when I hated them on Endgame.Other stories (Marcus's, Chiyoko's and Baitsakhan's) made me hate these characters. They were bad people since the beginning and, in Endgame, they were even worse. I kind of get Chiyoko's behaviour, but I still despise her a little. Finally, two stories (Aisling's and Hilal's) dindt get to me at all. I find these characters boring and I just can't bound with them. I don't think that when I read Sky Key my feelings will change, but we will see.Nonetheless, this book was really great and I can't wait to continue reading the entire saga.

This book was a prequel, filled with short stories about the players' training.When I read The Endgame, I had wanted to know more about certain players' backstories, like An's and Sarah. But there were others who I couldn't care less about. The backstories were short, and didn't provide very much information. Some of them were at a fine length, like Marcus', but I wasn't satisfied ith most of them. They either were completely pointless, like Hilal's (I think that's his name at least?), or there wasn't enough, like Sarah's. There were so many of them, that they all just blended together. I don't really remember much of any of them. I think this book would've been better if James Frey just cut out the pointless people's backstories that nobody really cared about, and elaborated more on the ones that were actually interesting because I wasn't completely satisfied with some of them, but that's just my opinion.

Reading this several years after finishing the Endgame trilogy, which I fell in love withh, felt like revisting dear old friends. For that reason alone, I adored this prequel. For several more as well, including the feeling of justice given to each characters. Chiyoko Takeda, An Liu and Kala Mozami, which were all my favourite characters since day 1, but those who were not, or those I even disliked, too. Even when I desperately wanted to skip ahead and read only the stories of characters I loved, everything about the novel made me unable to put it away.In one or many ways, this was more heartbreaking than the sequels, because there was little to anticipate other than pain, death, agony and the breaking up with one's humane side, for mere survival reasons. And so, I love it enthusiastically.

So clearly this isn't as exciting and action packed as the calling but it's still a pretty gripping read. It's a good background insight into the lives of the players and what made them who they are and into human experience in general. It gives you a good view of the extent that the players lives are changed by being a part of endgame and into the traditions of the different lines. Overall, not as good as as calling but still an enjoyable read with a fair amount of action.