The Game

The Game ***
by Diana Wynne Jones
Book Type: Child, Fantasy
Summary: Hayley’s parents disappeared when she was a baby. Since then, she has been raised and homeschooled by her grandparents. Grandad is overworked and travels a lot; Grandma is much too strict and never lets her meet any children her own age. When Hayley does something wrong—she is not quite sure what—they pack her off to her aunts in Ireland. To Hayley’s shock, her family is much bigger than she thought; to her delight, the children all play what they call the game, where they visit a place called the mythosphere. And while she plays the game, Hayley learns more about her own place in the world than she had ever expected. This original novella by Diana Wynne Jones is sharply funny, fast-paced, and surprising until its very end—like all of this acclaimed author’s work.
summary found on goodreads
My Review: I LOVE Diana Wynne Jones. Usually. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Howell's Moving Castle and I enjoyed the Chrestomanci series, but this book was kind of disappointing. It is supposed to be some sort of twist on Greek mythology. I love Greek mythology and this book was just not up to par for me. It fell flat. The concept behind it was very strange and I didn't quite understand where Jones was going with it. The Greek mythology employed in the story was very strange, I recognized only a few of the names and the ones I did recognized were done very poorly. Greek mythology is not pretty, it is not nice. This book is happy and frilly and nice. This is a fun children's book, I suppose. But I didn't exactly love the way that Jones developed the characters or the plot. Such a bummer. I still love Diana Wynne Jones. And I will happily try out most of her other books. But this one was a major disappointment for me!