Name: Rabbits
ISBN: 9781984819659

Terry Miles

"Conspiracies abound in this surreal and yet all-too-real technothriller, detailing an underground alternate reality game, set in the same world as the popular Rabbits podcast. Rabbits is a secret, dangerous, and occasionally fatal underground alternate reality game, where the prizes are unclear but may involve vast sums of money, NSA or CIA recruitment, or perhaps even the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe itself. Since the game first started in 1959, ten iterations have appeared and nine winners have been declared. No one knows the true identity of these winners--just their now-famous user names. And everyone is waiting for the eleventh round to begin. K is an expert on the game, although he's never played it himself. He runs information sessions for amateurs at an historic, grungy arcade. But when he is approached by billionaire Alan Scarpio--the alleged winner of the sixth iteration--his world is turned upside down. Because Scarpio wants his help fixing the game, which he claims has become corrupted. And if the eleventh iteration begins before the game is repaired, he claims, all hell will break loose. Soon K is in way over his head, chasing down a myserious rabbit hole that is getting stranger and twistier and more perilous by the day. Because, as it happens, he blows the deadline, Eleven begins...and suddenly there is far more than just his own life at risk..."--

Rabbits

I knew I was going to love this book as soon as I saw the endorsement by Cory Doctorow on the front, and I never could have guessed exactly how right that was. Rabbits is incredible. The twists and turns are perfect, with Miles doing a great job of making the reader feel the same sense of discombobulated and confused that K does. The writing is perfect, and the story flows along beautifully. I love it and I'm starting on the second one.....now

Katheryn

Severely disappointed. Could not finish, but I'm going to say that I did simply because the plot was a circle instead of a line, so basically I might as well have finished it by page 100. K literally has no personality other than his OCD brain which is painted to look like he is just quirky and slightly insane. I enjoyed the podcast when it came out, but I think that's because you get to hear and understand events of the narrator. Chloe, being a woman written by a man in the perspective of a man, is literally just there. Like I don't think she does anything. Do not read.

Claire Jorgensen

Matt Litwin

Fun action sci-fi book that rewards familiarity with nerdy shit. 

Don’t miss out on the hidden Morse code clues

Crystal L

Terry Miles has pulled it off again! Full disclosure I was already a fan of the Rabbits podcast and was overly excited to see this book pop up on NetGalley. A real-life game that you can't escape, a missing person, and a book that you can't put down. To explain much of this book beyond the publisher's synopsis would just be a spoiler, and honestly, you don't need spoilers in this rollercoaster adventure. 

5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ethan Hill

I really enjoyed this but I could not tell you a single thing that happened, vibes only.

Harlee K

I read this in 3 days - I haven’t done that in what feels like forever!! It takes place in the same world as the Rabbits podcast which I’ve loved for years. Makes me wanna read more ARG/multiverse books!

Cindy Lieberman

A game that may or may not be in progress, you may or may not be playing, and if you are, you may or may not be in danger. Yes, it’s kind of like that. A bit of Snowcrash and Ready Player One and Inception. I enjoyed being confused during much of the novel because it paid off well at the end.

Micchi von Cross

4.5 stars. 

I had a blast with this book. I am a fan of the Rabbits podcast, and this novel captures the same feel of the podcast while not feeling like a podcast. It's very competently written, and there is an undercurrent of disorientation and unease that makes it impossible to put down. I kept turning pages because I had to know what the next clue was, where the next rabbit hole would lead, who these characters were and how they related to our protagonist, K.

The ending left me with more questions than it answered, but in that satisfying way that Weird Books do. Between this and Bunny by Mona Awad, I'm just convinced that books featuring rabbits on the cover are destined to be weird.

Kelsey Holtaway

Thanks to Del Rey+ Terry Miles for an advanced reader copy of RABBITS in exchange for an honest review. 

This was a good amount of fun! RABBITS is one of those books that sticks with you because reading it is an entire experience. It feels like one of those world shifting books, like you’re reading something seismically different than anything else, and you’re in on something secret, like you’re a participant of the game itself. 

In RABBITS, we follow K as they navigate through the game Rabbits. The game itself is ultra-secretive. You don’t even know if you’re playing, who else is playing, what the stakes are, or what the prize is. There’s rumors of CIA, secret societies, conspiracies, world bending, and more. The game is about connections, coincidences, and puzzles, and the globe is the playing board. But something in this iteration of the game has gone wrong, and it’s up to K to fix it before the end of life as we know it. 

A couple critiques. My first is that at some points the writing just feels a bit...off. A paragraph ending on a weak statement, or the dialogue being a bit choppy. It’s nothing that really turned me off at any point, but it was noticeable. 

My second, and biggest, critique is that the ending is rather disappointing. This is a book where you’re discovering and uncovering until the very last page. But within the last five percent of the book, everything that had been built, explained, explained again, woven, and imagined...gets a lackluster wrap up. I think we could have done without the last few stops on the map of the story to wrap things up in a more concrete way that matches the thoroughness within the rest of the book. 

Ultimately, this felt like MR PENUMBRAS 24 HOUR BOOKSTORE on secret, weapons grade drugs. If you like ultra-weird creepy conspiracy based puzzles and galaxy brained concepts sprinkled with magic science and tied up in non-stop action, this is for you.

Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[drug use, alcohol use, death of a friend, death of parents, grief and loss depiction, car accident, adultery (unintentional) (hide spoiler)]

A hella interesting sci-fi concept that didn't quite land. But if you are looking for a story with the feels of Ready Player One but a little more twisty, this could be the perfect next read. 

Rabbits is about a mysterious underground game, full of patterns, anomalies and old-school pop culture. K is playing the game. It's a story that keeps you hooked, but at times it felt it was being twisty and throwing curveballs just for the sake of it. I was intrigued overall, but honestly the "weirdness" became almost repetitive and kept me from being truly invested in where the story was to end. The same felt true for the characters. Their development and arcs overall were interesting, but something kept me from feeling any real connection throughout the story. 

I have no doubt, for many readers this will be a fantastic story. For me, this didn't quite hit the mark. 


  Note: Review copy received from Libro.FM. This does not impact opinions within this review.


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Happy reading! ❤

Lauren Robinson

Beth Bartholomew

Rachel Lubell

Kellie Rittershausen

A deadly underground game might just be altering reality itself in this all-new adventure set in the world of the hit Rabbits podcast. "A wild ride . . . impossible to put down."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) It's an average work day. You've been wrapped up in a task, and you check the clock when you come up for air--4:44 p.m. You check your email, and 44 unread messages have built up. With a shock, you realize the date is April 4--4/4. And when you get in your car to drive home, your odometer reads 44,444. Coincidence? Or have you just seen the edge of a rabbit hole? Rabbits is a mysterious alternate reality game so vast it uses the entire world as its canvas. Since the game started in 1959, ten iterations have appeared and nine winners have been declared. The identities of these winners are unknown. So is their reward, which is whispered to be NSA or CIA recruitment, vast wealth, immortality, or perhaps even the key to the secrets of the universe itself. But the deeper you get, the more dangerous the game becomes. Players have died in the past--and the body count is rising. And now the eleventh round is about to begin. Enter K--a Rabbits obsessive who has been trying to find a way into the game for years. That path opens when K is approached by billionaire Alan Scarpio, rumored to be the winner of the sixth iteration. Scarpio says that something has gone wrong with the game and that K needs to fix it before Eleven starts, or the whole world will pay the price. Five days later, Scarpio is declared missing. Two weeks after that, K blows the deadline: Eleven begins. And suddenly, the fate of the entire universe is at stake.

A Novel

Brei Bertossi

Jennifer

Jeanne L Collier

Mirella

Lorraine

'Murakami meets Ready Player One' – Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld 'A twisted trip through a cool digital wilderness of a mystery. This book sticks to your brain' – Norman Reedus, star of The Walking Dead What happens in the game, stays in the game . . . Rabbits is a secret, dangerous and sometimes fatal underground game. The rewards for winning are unclear, but there are rumours of money, CIA recruitment or even immortality. Or it might unlock the universe’s greatest secrets. But everyone knows that the deeper you get, the more deadly the game becomes – and the body count is rising. Since the game first started, ten iterations have taken place . . . and the eleventh round is about to begin. K can’t get enough of the game and has been trying to find a way in for years. Then Alan Scarpio, reclusive billionaire and alleged Rabbits winner, shows up out of nowhere. And he charges K with a desperate mission. Something has gone badly wrong with the game and K needs to fix it – before Eleven starts – or the world will pay the price. Five days later, Scarpio is declared missing. Two weeks after that Eleven begins, so K blows the deadline. And suddenly, the fate of the entire universe is at stake. Rabbits by Terry Miles is an electrifying, compulsive read based on the hit podcast from the Public Radio Alliance – perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Black Mirror.