Review: Arena by Holly Jennings

Arena by Holly Jennings

Published April 5th 2016

Every week, Kali Ling fights to the death on national TV. She s died hundreds of times. And it never gets easier…

The RAGE tournaments the Virtual Gaming League s elite competition where the best gamers in the world compete in a fight to the digital death. Every kill is broadcast to millions. Every player leads a life of ultimate fame, responsible only for entertaining the masses.
And though their weapons and armor are digital, the pain is real.
Chosen to be the first female captain in RAGE tournament history, Kali Ling is at the top of the world until one of her teammates overdoses. Now she s stuck trying to work with a hostile new teammate who s far more distracting than he should be.
Between internal tensions and external pressures, Kali is on the brink of breaking. To change her life, she ll need to change the game. And the only way to revolutionize an industry as shadowy as the VGL is to fight from the inside

I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected I would.
I loved the concept and the world building was really interesting. I love the idea of VR becoming such a massive “sport” and the whole book felt futuristic yet obtainable. With VR becoming more readily available, I can definitely see gaming jumping to a whole new level.
I really loved Kali and I though she was a very complex character. I really appreciated how the author included Kali’s struggles with being a women in a man dominated industry. I liked how the sexism towards Kali and her fellow women gamers was shown and not swept under the rug. I also really appreciated how Kali didn’t let it stop her from gaming.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was very different from anything I’ve read before and I loved the concept. If you’re into video games or sci-fi, I think you might want to check this book out.