Virtual Reality by Kitty Cox and Auryn HadleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Heat Gets Turned Up For The Gamer Girls
I’d probably give this book 4.5 stars if I could.
The third book in this series continues within a year or so of the second book. It includes a lot of the characters from the first two books, but it mainly focuses on Iceman who was in the second book and a new character Lithium/Kate.
Kate is on the verge of being divorced from a man who wouldn’t let her work, disparaged her daily, cheated on her regularly and ran up $10,000s of debt. He also beat her, and that was when she walked away. The trouble is that her ex doesn’t want Kate to walk away with anything and is fighting her hard.
One of the things her ex said she would never be able to do was join in with an FPS game and be any good at it. So whilst she was looking for a job she decided to give it a go, after reading an article about the Support Class in a game she’d heard about. She dropped into the game and started offering support and instantly made friends with Iceman, a good guy who was friends with QQ (a successful female gamer) in the last book.
Iceman and Lithium become friends pretty quickly during their first long gaming session and within days she’s been signed up to his outfit, which includes QQ.
In the same week she manages to land an interview for a chain of hotels as a receptionist. The big boss, Adam decides to suggest she might be a good fit for the assistant to the Head of Marketing, otherwise known as his adoptive mom. Kate lands the job, falls in love with it, bonds with her new boss and starts to hesitantly get to know Adam, otherwise known as the sexy, rich and successful owner of the business she works for. All the while this new life is starting for her, she is building up friendships online with her outfit and in particular Iceman.
Kate has to face a lot of stuff in this book and then she picks herself back up again. She has to learn to lean on other people, something she hasn’t been able to do for years. She also seems to have two men interested in her, and both seem pretty interesting guys.
I really liked Kate. I thought she was a fabulous character. I love that she was a beginner at FPS games and that she just kept trying even when she didn’t start out great. I like that she was determined that her ex wouldn’t keep on hurting her and was willing to accept help in order to make that happen, even when she was reluctant to do so. I love the relationship she has with her immediate boss as she seems like a crazy lady who knows how to have fun and also terrify those who mess up.
I love how the authors have taken things that have happened to female gamers in the real world and translated them into this fictional one in a way that is sensitive and terrifying at the same time. I love that they use the word cisgender, followed by the phrase “google it” when the other characters look confused, in exactly the same way I first encountered the definition. I also like that some of the guys within the group really didn’t get why some descriptors of gender are not acceptable and had to have it drummed into their heads until they got it.
This book opens up the world of gaming in relation to gender stereotypes and prejudice and the dangers that are faced by those who are non cisgendered or people of colour. The authors do this in a way that isn’t preachy, but it is informative and it is important to the plot.
This is an excellent series, and I’m glad to see it it isn’t over yet.
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