Review: WICK by Matt Doyle

What defines a person’s life and drives them to keep moving forward? When a game grows to reflect a society struggling to hang on, are some lives more valid than others? Can an AI ever truly be alive?

WICK was a pretty unique read for me. This Slice of Life/Science Fiction novel’s got everything: artificial intelligence, action, an original dystopian setting, and deep characters. The plot follows a digital card game they play, and throughout the book questions come up – what is real? what is digital? what’s the difference?

The book is written using a few points of view, and as the story unfolds, we learn more and more about the characters and how they ended up at the Tournament. I liked their diversity and realistic conversations, and the multi-dimensional POV made this book so much richer. The characters’ age makes the book a young-adult read, and considering that one of them is lesbian and another is bisexual, it can be put onto the LGBT shelf. See, I wasn’t lying when I said this book’s got everything!

Honestly, when I read the blurb and reviews, I was a bit worried about how the author would combine all these genres together with action and characters’ development. And how I, the person who’s always reluctant to get into a new world, would see it all in my head. But the author’s style makes it easy; there’s no fact-dumping and the characters evolve naturally through the story. Imagining it was as easy as breathing, and the original idea of the book has left a solid imprint on my mind. It’s not something you can forget or mix up with some other book.

Overall impression: a solid debut novel that’s a must read for those who are interested in the digital reality, technology, and the dystopian genre.

#review #fantasy