This Gorgeous Game

Wow. Seriously, this story was just...wow. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down. I was reading this book while eating at a restaurant by myself and I ate my food slowly because I didn't want to get up and interrupt my reading. I don't think I've ever read a book like this before. It's an uncomfortable read. You are not going to walk away from this book feeling happy go lucky. But you will be moved. Olivia is a high school student who's just won a prestigious writing award and will get to study with a famous author mentor. She's very excited about this and is the envy of everyone else. However after a few meetings with Father Mark, her attitude begins to change. Unfortunately she can't confide in anyone else. That was the scary part for me. To think that she felt so helpless and no one could understand or believe what she was going through. It's scary to think that an adult in a position like Father Mark uses his power to act this way. While this book does make one uncomfortable, there are never any graphic scenes in the book. Sometimes, just power and mind tricks can be more scarier than physical acts. The story is written extremely well and is from Olivia's point of view so the reader experiences everything, every emotion, every feeling directly from her. The only qualm I had was that we're never really clear as to what happens to out Father Mark. The reader is never told exactly what Olivia did in revealing the truth to the authorities. Of course we can speculate and it is obvious that she did tell. I personally would have liked him to have died a horrible, painful death for all the trauma that he has inflicted on Olivia. The scary part is that she was probably not the first one who had to go through this and will probably not be the last one. This book does not blame the church or even religion at all. Faith is actually a huge part of the story as it is pretty much what gets Olivia through all this. As I said earlier, there is nothing graphic or even sexual in the relationship. Just obsessive behavior that is unwanted and inappropriate for someone in Father Mark's position. You cannot walk away from this story without feeling something from it (unless you have no emotions at all). It's an extremely powerful read and one that teens AND adults should read. I will have to go back and read more from Freitas because she really got a hold of me through this book. HIGHLY recommended.

Olivia was such a strong character, I can't believe all that she went through and has to experience. I also like how she questioned her faith. I loved how her life was slowly unraveled by Father Mark. She begins to fear every gift and letter. Her wonderful life begins to fall apart and she loses the spark that she once had. Her mother and sister Greenie were star sturked by Father Mark and weren't able to see the personal hell that Olivia was living in. Jada and Ash were great best friends and added fun to such a dark and twisted novel. The romance between Olivia and Jamie was really sweet. I loved that Jamie was able to see past all the charms that Father Mark had. The plot of This Gorgeous Game is captivating from the first page. Instead of the relationship being about anything sexual, it is about what attention could do to someone and totally change their life. I really liked how genuine this book was. It was also well paced and written. Freitas is a fantastic writer with a great voice. I also enjoyed her last book, The Possibilities of Sainthood. I would recommend this book to fans of Sara Zarr, Melina Marchetta, R.A. Nelson, and Lisa Levchuk.

This was a great book and one that I kept thinking of after I was finished with it. Stalking is a serious situation that a lot of people don't think about. Donna Freitas story, The Gorgeous Game gives us a look into the world of a person being stalked, it is quit a chilling story. I really enjoyed the character of Olivia. She is a very smart, beautiful girl who enters her story into a writing competition and wins. She is over joyed when she learns that she won and that is going to be working with a talented writer, Father Mark. When the story takes off you can tell that there is going to be something big that will happen later in the book, and it leaves you waiting for the big moment. I have to say that if I was Olivia and was getting texts, e-mails and phone calls all the time from a much older man I would be very scared, and she was in the book. But she didn't want to talk to anyone about it, for the reason that she didn't think anyone would believe her since Father Mark was so liked. This was just an all around great book. And it shows that when you think you are alone in the world, there is always loved ones there to catch you if you fall.

What a haunting, frightening, and all too true story of the abuse of power and reality of being stalked. First of all, you should read the review Angie did at her blog, Angieville, because it sums up pretty perfectly how I feel about this book. The emotions packed into This Gorgeous Game are breathtaking. Donna Freitas masterfully shows us each agonizing detail of Olivia's life after she wins Father Mark's writing contest. It makes me wonder if Ms. Freitas has had some kind of personal experience related to stalking. I want to share a few lines that were particularly poignant. Before Father Mark returns to whatever wisdom he was about to offer me, his ever-willing supplicant, on the plotting of the short story, I blurt, "So do you know Jamie Grant?" I do nothing to hide the enthusiasm and interest in my voice because I assume Father Mark will get a kick out of the fact that I have a crush and because I am also imagining that this revelation might break the ice, that I can be the schoolgirl with a crush and suddenly Father Mark will laugh an appropriately fatherly laugh and give me advice about college boys like I am his daughter, feeling protective and expressing concern about the fickle boys who attend his university, like any other father who is not also a Father would. I assume wrong. I loved this passage because it is one sentence. One long sentence full of hopes, dreams, and desires. And it is cut short by the short, rude, and soul-crushing sentence that follows. It is not often that a contemporary novel really stands out to me. This book was a very strong exception. Olivia was good. She is a good girl who does not deserve what happens to her. Frankly, even if she had been a whiny brat, she wouldn't have deserved what happened to her. And, the perfect foil for Father Mark is Jamie. Jamie is the one that shows Olivia the goodness in men. Thank goodness for Jamie.

This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas is a remarkable and powerful story about attention, expectations, faith, and trust. It's about the power of authority, and the abuse of that power. It's also about the love of writing, and of family and friends. Most importantly, it's about speaking up when you know something is wrong. In the spring of her junior year of high school, seventeen-year-old Olivia Peters is informed that she's won a creative writing scholarship awarded by Mark D. Brendan, a famous novelist who also happens to be a priest and a professor at a local college. As the winner of the contest, she not only will be given a $10,000 scholarship for the college of her choice in a year's time, but she also gains admittance to Father Mark's writing seminar - and his undivided attention. Getting his opinion on her story and working with him one-on-one makes Olivia incredibly happy. At first, she feels fortunate to know him and flattered by how invested he seems to be in her short story. Soon, though, his attention begins to make her feel uncomfortable. He attempts to contact her multiple times a week, then multiple times a day. He leaves notes at her school and at her home, calls her on the phone, sends her emails and even text messages. Though most of his messages are related to her writing or to his, or trying to make arrangements for them to meet and work on their writing, and though most of his notes and in-person meetings are without any overtly romantic intent or threats, Olivia knows that something's not right about what he's doing. What she doesn't know is how to tell someone about it. She doesn't want to seem ungrateful or disrespectful. She doesn't want to lose this opportunity or this scholarship, but she doesn't want Father Mark as her mentor or call her or come by any more - but he is, and he does, and he does, even when she doesn't answer the phone or the door or the emails. As his interest in her grows, Olivia shrinks. Little by little, she withdraws from her usually lively life, preferring to stay at home rather than go out with her friends and her boyfriend, not saying anything about the situation to her mother or her older sister, who attends and lives at the nearby college. The supporting characters in this book are richly drawn. Olivia's mother, who publishes mystery novels under a pseudonym, raised two daughters by herself after their father left over ten years ago. Olivia's sister, Greenie, is going to Holy Mary University full-time and is involved in her first serious relationship with a gentle boy named Luke. Impulsive Ash and bouncy Jada, Olivia's two best friends and classmates, are supportive of her endeavors and read her story before anyone else, but they also have their own interests and hobbies. Then there's Jamie, the sweet college guy who shares Olivia's faith and her interest in writing. I'd love to read stories featuring any one of them as the protagonist and narrator. While there are other novels about the