Single Player was a delight. It’s a story about the importance of finding someone who has our back, who sees the real us, and understands us. At the same time, it’s also about the sexism within gaming spaces and the bravery to try again. Keep reading this book review of Single Player for my full thoughts.
Summary
Cat Li cares about two things: video games and swoony romances. The former means there hasn’t been much of the latter in her (real) life, but when she lands her dream job writing the love storylines for Compass Hollow—the next big thing in games—she knows it’s all been worth it. Then she meets her boss: the infamous Andi Zhang, who’s not only an arrogant hater of happily-ever-afters determined to keep Cat from doing her job but also impossibly, annoyingly hot.
As Compass Hollow’s narrative director, Andi couldn’t care less about love—in-game or out. After getting doxxed by internet trolls three years ago, Andi’s been trying to prove to the gaming world that they’re a serious gamedev. Their plan includes writing the best game possible, with zero lovey-dovey stuff. That is, until the man funding the game’s development insists Andi add romance in order to make the story “more appealing to female gamers.”
Forced to give Cat a chance, Andi begrudgingly realizes there’s more to Cat than romantic idealism and, okay, a cute smile. But admitting that would mean giving up the single-player life that has kept their heart safe for years. And when Cat uncovers a behind-the-scenes plan to destroy Andi’s career, the two will have to put their differences aside and find a way to work together before it’s game over.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Single Player is a combination of awful meet cutes, workplace rivals, and the advice to never meet your heroes. This dual POV romance allows us to not only see the misconceptions we have of people, but also to appreciate the character journey of both Andy and Cat. We can see how hard Cat is trying, but also how guarded Andy is. How much Andy is afraid to let people see them and, at the same time, how much Cat wants to be seen. We see these misunderstandings that just pile up between two people who are so similar.
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Natalie Naudus is one of my absolute auto-buy narrators so this was an instant add to cart for me. It’s actually the reason I picked this up and I love how Naudus was able to infuse the vulnerability in Andy’s character. Andy is very much still impacted by the events of the past and so for Andy, there’s this sense of fear and vulnerability to each movement. Single Player is a must read if you love video games, but also stories where characters just want so desperately to be chosen for once. There’s so much to love in this one and I absolutely inhaled it. Find Single Player on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.