Review | A Game in Yellow by Hailey Piper

A Game in Yellow by Hailey Piper
4 ⭐

The Gist

A Game in Yellow follows Carmen as she struggles to keep her relationship afloat and, well, sexually active. Plagued by a complete lack of sex drive that no amount of kink can seem to resurrect, her girlfriend, Blanca, thinks she's found the solution. Enter Smoke and the mysterious play she carries in her bag called A King in Yellow. Read in bits and pieces, the play can cause extreme euphoria that gives Carmen the lust that's been lacking. However, as time goes on and more scenes are read, Carmen's worldview begins to warp and change in ways that she can't explain.

The Thoughts

This was absolutely incredible! Unreliable narrators are some of my absolutely favorite to experience, and I'm woman enough to admit that I wasn't 100% sure what was going on throughout the novel. AND I LOVED IT! There were points where I felt the need to reread parts or go through paragraphs at a slower pace because I wasn't following. However, I don't think this was a fault of the writing - in fact, I think it's a compliment to the writing.

Why is this a compliment? Because the writing made me desperate to know what was coming next. I needed to get to the next sentence, paragraph, page, chapter, just to know what the hell was going on. The definition of the word 'sinister' is "giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen," and I think that may be the perfect way to describe A Game in Yellow.

From the very beginning, you're already on edge and anxious by being placed in Carmen's head. She's intense, fast-paced, and impulsive. Half of the time, she's not even sure what she's doing when she does it, and that causes so many issues for her. And you're just strapped in for the ride! This novel was the reading equivalent of watching the final girl open the creaking closet door to the hidden serial killer and screaming at the TV for her to run. The last 30% of the novel flew by, and I genuinely felt breathless and unnerved reading the ending. I kid you not, I felt like there was constantly someone hovering right behind me, breathing down my neck.

You're probably wondering though - if I'm singing this novel's praises this much, why only 4 stars? The answer is that there were times where I wasn't sure how what I was reading related back to the overarching storyline and I still had some unanswered questions at the end of the novel that I wish I knew the answer to. To keep this a spoiler-free review, I've summarized a few of these moments/questions into one to two word bits. If you haven't read A Game in Yellow, you won't get what I'm talking about. If you've read the novel, I hope you know what I'm talking about. If you've read the novel and don't know what I'm talking about, that's my bad. Anyway, here they are:

• Natasha

• Diet Girls

• Catskills Retreat

• Smoke History

• Raspberry Swirl

This book is perfect for people who like messy characters, even messier relationships between characters, and freaky little reads. Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press, and Hailey Piper for the eARC! This published on August 12, so buy it wherever you get your books!