Blog Tour: Playing Tyler Review

Playing Tyler by TL Costa

Paperback, 304 pages

Published: July 2nd, 3013 by Strange Chemistry

Source: Publisher

When is a game not a game?

Tyler MacCandless can’t focus, even when he takes his medication. He can’t focus on school, on his future, on a book, on much of anything other than taking care of his older brother, Brandon, who’s in rehab for heroin abuse… again.

Tyler’s dad is dead and his mom has mentally checked out. The only person he can really count on is his Civilian Air Patrol Mentor, Rick. The one thing in life it seems he doesn’t suck at is playing video games and, well, thats probably not going to get him into college.

Just when it seems like his future is on a collision course with a life sentence at McDonald’s, Rick asks him to test a video game. If his score’s high enough, it could earn him a place in flight school and win him the future he was certain that he could never have. And when he falls in love with the game’s designer, the legendary gamer Ani, Tyler thinks his life might finally be turning around.

That is, until Brandon goes MIA from rehab and Tyler and Ani discover that the game is more than it seems. Now Tyler will have to figure out what’s really going on in time to save his brother… and prevent his own future from going down in flames.

Playing Tyler is about Tyler and Ani.  We get the POV of both of them but Tyler is most definitely the main character as it's more focused on him.  Each time it switches it's clearly labeled and easily distinguishable between the two.  Tyler has ADHD and at times his sentences are more choppy, reflecting how he's truly thinking and feeling. While this may not work for everyone, this is a style that I really appreciate and enjoy.  It makes me feel like I'm truly in the head of the person and feeling what they feel.  I think it works extremely well in Tyler's case and gives a true portrayal of ADHD and how they think.

Ani is only 16 and already in college at Yale.  It's clear she feels a little out of her element and she's a bit intimidated by it all.  When her and Tyler meet it's clear they have a bit of a connection even if Ani is denying it.  Tyler may be a bit starstruck at first since she's a legendary gamer, but he seems to truly like her and he doesn't give up.  I admired this quality in him, he may have come across pushy or annoying in some cases, but he didn't stalk her, he just starts with friendly emails.  Ani finds she can't stay away.  For me the romance was very sweet and I loved their time together.  We didn't get a lot of detail, for this reason it's one that should work good for guys who don't care for romance.  Tyler is super sweet to Ani but he's a little awkward.  It's sweet seeing as they both gain footing around each other.  We know they kiss and other stuff, but it's not on the page much, so like I said, perfect for the boys as well.

Tyler has a bit of a rough home life.  His mother is really absent, and while we know she loves him, she just can't deal with stuff.  His brother is in rehab and Tyler just really, really wants him to get better.  The brief time we see the two together we see how much Tyler loves his brother.  And it's clear that Brandon loves him too, but kicking the drug habit is not really so easy.  It's frustrating at times, but that's really how it is, and I felt this portrayal of a person with a drug habit was true.  It's hard to read about, but it's real.  Tyler has a sort of father figure in Rick, a guy selected from a big brother-like program.  It's clear him and Rick are close and he's excited when Rick hooks him up to test out a new video game, which becomes a main plot point for this story.

I enjoy all the characters immensely, particularly Tyler.  But the thing that frustrated me a little was his denial once he figured some stuff out.  I felt like he should have known better.  At the same time it's understandable, so I felt like I had to forgive him, and in the end he most definitely redeems himself.

I kind of wish that the description didn't have so much detail and that it wasn't so obvious what was going on with the game.  So while Tyler is clueless, we know, or at least are pretty freaking positive we know, and I just wish there had been a tad more mystery to it.  I'm not exactly sure if that could be done though, so maybe that's being nitpicky.   The story was a fast one, it was easy to keep reading even if at times I didn't feel a particular urgency to do so.  I was happy to see how things unfolded and the last quarter was constant action, I didn't put the book down once.

Overall this was a very enjoyable read and I recommend it to fans of contemporary fiction, particularly those who are gamers or enjoy a touch of realistic sci-fi.

Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.