I didn't really enjoy this book too much - I think it was a bit slow and I couldn't follow the story too much so I wasn't particularly intrigued.

I know it's necessary to have differentiation between the age groups for the protection of those who are youngest, but in this case, knowing that this is a child's/ young person's book, may put adults off reading this - and that would be a shame. All of the themes in this novel are very current. Set against the backdrop of a global climate disaster, we see how the displaced are treated: in a word, badly. We see the devastation that global warming wreaks, and the terrifying journey that a 14 year old girl, Mhairi Anne Bain (Mab, for short, which is interesting, as she is a symbol of freedom in Shakespeare and Mab Darogan in Welsh folklore was someone who was prophesied to come and save the Welsh from the English by forcing them out, as the Scots have forced the English out in this story, I suppose. Don't ask me how I remember this kind of information) makes on her own from the Sudan to the Isle of Arran. On her journey, she meets a young boy who doesn't speak, and she finds herself feeling responsible for him. I think he gives her some hope and a reason to keep going, to be honest. She decides to take him home with her, but of course, it isn't that easy. 
Everything in this novel is plausible - the way in which Scotland and other countries decide how to control population, global warming and its consequences, and the resultant mass movement of people affected by drought and flooding. 
I really enjoyed this: Mhairi has a very mature voice, as would any child who had seen and experienced what she had, and she is believable. We don't see all of the horrors she experiences, but they are alluded to, which is probably a very good idea when children are going to be the target audience. To be honest, there are a lot of adults that really don't want or need the gory details. 
This is a timely novel, and one that is important to read. I could see that there would be a lot of discussion arising from this book in a classroom. 
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book to read and to give an honest review.

I adored the first half of this book, but the second half was really, really dull. I don't think I've ever been this divided about the book. The first part is an amazing journey of survival in the face of immigration and guards who will lock anyone up for trying to cross the boarders. The second half though is all waiting and laws and although it was vaguely interesting to see the laws in place in Mhairi's home, I just really didn't need to read it. 

Mhairi's journey across to Scotland though was amazing. It was gripping, suspenseful and full of the ways that Mhairi has had to cope with things she's done and seen, all the trauma that she has to compartmentalise because dealing with it is impossible to do while also trying to keep herself and the boy alive. 

I loved Mhairi' character, her communication with a boy that can't speak. The flashbacks to what happened in her life before she got to Heathrow and the journey that she had to make, avoiding the guards and escaping capture. 

It really was great. It's worth reading just for the first half. I just wish that the second part had been as good.

set in 2049, this is a pertinent and highly insightful account of a world that is faced by the ultimate culmination of global warming. Migration and how to control it is a huge issue.There are those that have and live adequately and those that have nothing and struggle to exist.. Death by the needle at an agreed age has been made lawful to give more people the chance to survive.

The story centres on 2 main characters, 15 year old Mhairi, who was born on the Isle of Arran and has travelled on her own from the Sudan, where she was living with her parents, until they were killed. It has taken her a year to return to the Isle. Whilst on her journey you learn how she has become paired with a young 6 year old mute boy, she has named Mo. Mhairi has papers and can travel, whilst Mo has none, making him an Alien- yet she is compelled to look after him.

They have to travel using all their wits. They encounter hunger, thirst, blistered feet, soldiers, detention camps and we through Mhairi we learn how she sees the world, what drives her to act the way she does. She has become willie and incredibly resourceful. . The relationship between Mhairi and Mo is a mix of practicality, at times frustration, but it is endearing as they learn to trust each other and face what might happen as they travel.. You cannot help but be behind her, willing her to succeed, but also I found myself reflecting in wonder the phenomenal thoughts, insight, and articulation of Mhairi's observations of people, behaviours, their response to threat, the distrust,  and what could offer an insight into future living. Beautiful, emotional, tense and at time brutal and heart wrenching -  An excellent YA/crossover read

Powerful writing,  but such a gloomy subject.  It's another story of refugees and how awful life is for them, with detention centres, unsympathetic guards, soldiers and a population who not only don't care, but hate refugees.  I was beginning to wonder whether humanity had ceased to exist, but then it offers a glimmer of hope.  Only a tiny glimmer, but that still made me wonder whether the human race was worth saving, if this is what it has come to.  However, I don't believe that we are all that bad and there will always be people who stand up for what's right, not just a fourteen year old and a couple of others.  That was why I couldn't give it 5 stars, but perhaps this should be read as a lesson to what will become of us if we adopt these unsympathetic attitudes. Very thought provoking and beautifully written as ever by this author.

Haunting and definitely not an easy read, The Survival Game is a dystopian novel of climate change and its consequences set in a not at all distant future. Mhairi, the heroine, trying to make her way north to Scotland, is a tough human being in a very harsh world. You will come to love her in this compelling novel and live every moment with her.

The Survival Game by Nicky Singer is an intense, dark and heartbreaking young adult novel set in a dystopian world told with maturity and depth. I really enjoyed this book because it had such a strong sense of place and character, and I could feel as though I was in this kind of world, despite never having lived it myself. Singer gives an eerily realistic depiction of the world as it could be if we continue to enforce unrealistic and unhelpful borders all over the world. The Survival Game is out now from Hodder Children’s Books.

The Story
Mhairi is fourteen years old and travelling along the Scottish border to try and make it home to her grandmother. Her parents are gone, as well is everybody she has previously travelled with, until she meets a young boy on the road. He is stealthy and sharp, much like her, but in Singer’s version of reality, this may not be enough. Trapped by a world where papers are passports and the only valid form of identification, and you pay for your crimes by taking years off your life, Mhairi and her new companion must remain undercover until they can get to safety. However, Mhairi’s companion, mostly referred to as Mo, is an illegal immigrant, which causes many more unprecedented problems, especially as she grows to care for him like a brother.

What I liked…
The Survival Game by Nicky Singer is a sharp and well-structured novel. I enjoyed the realistic maturity of Mhairi as she navigates the world, as well as the clarity of the borders being made in this world, contrasting with the vague explanations from the older generations, who understand that it is ever changing and what was the law yesterday might not be today. Singer creates this world in such a way that you can see it happening in reality, complete with Theresa May at the heart of the red stone movement. Mhairi, Mo, Peter and her grandmother are all rather interesting characters and, while I took to Mhairi and Mo rather well, I felt that Peter was a strange personality with questionable intentions. I also did not like Mhairi’s grandmother who, quite frankly, made for a fun villainess but lacked some serious background in my opinion.
Mhairi was a well-developed character, who is misunderstood until a lot later in the novel. Her connection to Mo from the beginning may appear a little odd, but it all comes together to present her as loving and caring in ways beyond her own imagination. Mo comes across well, also, however this may be because of his sheer refusal to speak. All through the novel, I thought that he might just kill Mhairi out of nowhere or something, but his fierce loyalty towards her is a little unnerving in a way that shows how well Singer understands her characters from this novel.
As aforementioned, the sense of place in this novel is excellent. I really enjoyed being put in the woods next to the border, watching the boots of an officer appear before me, as well as the well-described, but not over-described detention facility for them to be held in. I felt that from point A to B, I understood the place I was in, where I had been before and how to navigate this novel simply. This, combined with the beautiful Scottish scenery and the comparison of the bustling city makes this book what it is at the end of the day.

A niggle or two…
The only things I really did not rate about this book were the beginning and Peter’s character. The beginning of the novel starts right in the middle of Mhairi’s journey to Scotland. This is the case for many novels nowadays, but for this one, it would have been a bit less sudden to give some background to the world that she is in. It starts slow with Mhairi quite often referring to ‘Castle’ when she gets bad memories and she is mostly just walking alone, and then with Mo. It only really picked up around the 25% mark.
Peter was not just an unlikeable character; he was creepy and strange and way too emotional towards Mhairi considering their lack of interactions. He is eighteen years old, while Mhairi is fourteen, so I find it very strange the way he is so sexually attracted to her, especially as she is so thin from travelling so far with little food, as this will keep her body prepubescent. As well as this, when she makes her decision, his reaction is a bit too egotistical for me, and I really hope that she doesn’t end up with him if there is another novel. It is as though he is trying to save her when she really doesn’t want or need to be saved.

Overall, I thought this book was mostly good. If there are tweaks to the beginning in the final version, and if Singer makes Peter less of an entitled, ‘oh I can fix everything’ man, then I believe it will be a five star read, as it is clever and intriguing to read. I would recommend this book to readers of dystopian and darker young adult fiction. Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder Children’s Books for my e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A teenage book that has more than enough to keep an adult gripped. Well written. A sad  but intense book. Brilliant

In a crowded speculative fiction market, The Survival Game is a remarkable and original offering. It is more powerful for being a YA novel because the details of some horrendous events are never fully described the relationship between Mhairi and her companion is at the very heart of the book. They find in each other a reason to live and carry on. A tough new order has been created and Mhairi and companion fall foul of it. This was a refreshingly different take on post apocalyptic writing with climate a causal factor. The author’s take on how society regulates and manages its citizens and resources was was definitely feasible. Recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

Couldn't put it down! A great concept, intriguing characters, kept me guessing! I loved it! I have already recommended it to friends!

Amazing from start to finish, I don't know if the author intended to, but this book drags you into the story and you feel part of it,  Imagine the events, the devastation, clinging to what's left of the world, with one goal in mind, Not knowing and wondering what will happen when you reach it

I'm really sorry to say this but this was a DNF for me.

I just couldn't get in to it, which was a bit of a surprise as the premise sounded so good!

This is such an original story and it’s briught to life with a brilliant main character! 

Perfect for fans of Moira Young and Terri Terry

14 year old Mhairi Bain has to make her way unaccompanied from Khartoum in the Sudan to the Isle of Arran in Scotland  at a dangerous time. Many, many people are on the move to escape the effects of climate change and there are new borders to cross where there were none before.
Mhairi has to learn to survive and do things that she would never have dreamed of in the time before. She has to be cold and calculating. She still has compassion, however, guided as she is by her parents. Although her parents are not with her physically we get to know them as she remembers conversations with them.
I've read other books about refugees and immigrants that show what it is like for the peoples from Africa and the Middle East. This story, however, is about one of our 'own' which brings the situation so much closer to home. 
It is rare that the written word moves me to tears but Nicky Singer had me reaching for the tissues with this very powerful and moving book so pertinent to today's world.

I guess I know what the author is saying in the title but this makes it sound like a sci-fi novel. And although it is set in a potential near-future where science and man have produced a bleak new reality, it is definitely not sci-fi.

This is a story about love, relationships and how maturity may come at any age bidden or not. It is a hard story and one that I feel would benefit many (myself included) to contemplate. But it is equally something that I would find hard to share with a reader in the target age range. For although the writing is pitch perfect and the story of immense value is told with a beautiful sensitivity, I could not be the one to cause a child to have to contemplate the issues raised by even such a wonderful book as this.

I wanted to love this book, everything about it screamed Hunger Games, The Darkest Minds, and Divergent but story wise I just never got hooked. I’ve seen many people love this and maybe it was a situation of being over hyped, maybe (and more likely) it was because I really didn’t like the protagonist. THAT BEING SAID and I must stress this point, this WAS NOT A BAD BOOK.
Upon reflection, this book delivered important messages, and given the earth’s current state (if you live in the UK I bet you really believe in global warming now don’t you?) this is completely plausible for a future-world. Personally, it was the gravity of this book which made it a good read in my opinion.
Nearly all of the characters we meet (apart from officials) have endured hardship which most of us could never imagine, yet it is what some people in this world have to withstand everyday. I recently read a book called Butterfly by Yusra Mardini who documents her journey from a teen swimmer hoping to gain a place on the Syrian national team, to a place in the Olympics. Her journey really is extraordinary yet harrowing but I think it is a good parallel to The Survival Game. Though the latter is fictional, I think Butterfly really brings home the refugee message present in The Survival Game, though their reasons for fleeing are different.
So not only does this book address climate and government issues which it could be said; reflect on society today, but also I think outlines significant hardships faced by refugees.
The characters themselves are a mixed bunch, with the protagonist being half-Scottish, half-Sudanese we have a little insight into these cultures due to flash backs and references to her past. However as a person I found Mhairi to be cold, and needlessly aggressive with some selfish tendencies. The latter of which she does admittedly put aside as the book progresses, but her initial interactions with the boy and his companion really put her in a “bad” bucket in my mind.
The pace of this book is pretty good, it keeps the reader engaged, and due to the nature of their journey they are never in the same place very long. Despite the frequency of quick transition between locations I still think the author does well in terms of descriptions of new places without taking away from the story and overloading on explanations.
Overall I'm going to award this book 4*/5. In terms of storyline I enjoyed it but it didn't blow me away. The main downfall was the fact that I really just couldn't get along with the protagonist. However, this book contains some really important messages and parallels to our present-day world situation, and therefore I've bumped it up from the 3* I was going to give it, to the 4* I am giving it. Also the other interactions between characters, and the ending OMG the ending have definitely improved on the rating. I have known lots of people to love it so I think it's a personal preference when it comes to the reader's opinions of the main character.

Global warming is affecting the world and Mhairi Anne Bain is with her parents in Sudan. But when they get asked to leave the country, Mhairi ends up on a journey that puts her life in danger.
The majority of the story follows Mhairi as she is tries to get to her Grandma’s house in the Isle of Arran in Scotland. However, throughout the book more of Mhairi’s perilous journey from the Sudan is revealed. Whilst I was reading this story I kept forgetting that she was only 14 as the things she had done made her seem so much older. To stop her getting further hurt, she had put up a wall, but once she found the young orphan boy she began to soften and even though it was only slight she did begin to care. The relationship between Mhairi and Mo was perfect and was just like being brother and sister. 
Not only did Mhairi had to worry about getting home, the political problems was also a concern and the author added an interesting concept for culling the population. People could only live till 74, you could give away years to someone you love or get them taken off you if you do wrong.  All this was recorded in your papers, which were more valuable than gold. If you lost your papers you were more likely end up in a detention centre.
The story is evenly paced. The tension is built up near the end as more is known about Mhairi’s past and as I was reading this I wanted to shout that she was a child and that she should be treated as a child. I am not going to say much about the end but I am still thinking about it know whilst I am writing this review.  The story was beautifully written and I am going to recommend this to all my friends who like a dystopian read.  
This story will make you think about the what ifs especially as here in the UK were are getting a very unnatural heatwave and global warming is mentioned more on the news. A good dystopian read, which even though it is tagged for children, is a good read for teenagers or adults alike.

I have already recommended this book to people. Literally, finished reading and Snapchatted it to friends and ex-students whilst still having tears streaming down my face from the ending. 

This is a quick read, but I wouldn't say it's easy, especially not the end. It's hard hitting and deals with a number of difficult topics, including allusions to rape, death, murder, violence, and refugees. 

I don't want to say too much because it will give away spoilers, but The Survival Game is a rollercoaster of emotion. It's not often that I cry whilst reading a book, but I was actually sobbing.

This is a wonderful novel, set in 2049, when the earth has heated up and migration has hit new highs. There are also new rules in place and the world is a harsher place as countries try and stretch their resources to feed their growing populations. The story follows Mhairi, who was born on the Isle of Arran and has travelled on her own from the Sudan, where she was living with her parents, until they were killed. It has taken her a year to find her way back to the north of the UK, where we pick up her journey, when she meets a five year old boy.

I loved the writing. I really loved the wisdom behind the writing, and the way Mhairi explained her new way of thinking. I especially liked her concept of time, given that she didn't have a watch. That was really special. As was her understanding that some things are solid, like thirst and hunger and some things are slidy, like truth and justice. 

The book tackles such a difficult subject with a young person's mindset and I think that was so well done. Honestly, I cannot praise this book enough. Loved it, just loved it and it is one of a very few books that I would definitely read again.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Mhari is travelling north through Scotland for her survival. She meets a young mute boy and wants to protect him. Her travels are dangerous and survival is everything. 

To be fair I am not a lover of YA Dystopian novels but I have it a go and I’m glad I did. It was a brilliant read and very well written!