ARC Netgalley: Player vs Player by Amelia C. Gormley

My rating: 3 stars

Synopsis from GR:

Pushing for change can be dangerous when change starts pushing back.
Video game writer Niles River loves the work he does at Third Wave Studios: creating games with mass appeal that feature women, people of color, and LGBTQ characters. To make his job even better, his best friend is his boss, and his twin brother works beside him. And they mostly agree that being on the forefront of social change is worth dealing with trollish vitriol—Niles is more worried about his clingy ex and their closeted intern’s crush on his brother than he is about internet harassment.
But now the bodies on the ground are no longer virtual, and someone’s started hand-delivering threats to Niles’s door. The vendetta against Third Wave has escalated, and to make matters worse, the investigating detective is an old flame who left Niles heartbroken for a life in the closet.
No change happens without pain, but can Niles justify continuing on with Third Wave when the cost is the blood of others? If he does, the last scene he writes may be his own death.

*ARC courtesy of NetGalley*

Player vs Player is quite difficult to review for me: it has a non-fiction vibe - and that's not a genre I read often - since the romance or the mystery storylines are, in order of importance, way beyond the socio-political one.
As it was pointed out by other readers, I often got the impression reading this story of being lectured by the author and, while I get the importance of showing the wrongness about sexism, misogyny and homophobia, I also think the author went a little overboard in this case.
Rosie and Niles, most often than not, seemed Amelia C. Gormley's spokespersons rather than their own characters: I didn't get to really know them, as well as I didn't get to feel any attachment for Niles and Tim and to their relationship.

The reason I'll still give 3 stars to this book is the following: Player vs Player is different from most books I usually read and still I liked it enough to end it. It's not an easy read and if you're not into video games - and that's my case - it could be tedious at times, but if you enter it without too much expectations about the romance part it also could be an interesting experience.

At last, I'd like to thank the author for the chance to read her book through NetGalley; I hope she appreciates my honest review.