Book Review: The Gauntlet

Book: The Gauntlet (The Gauntlet book #1) by Karuna Riazi

Cover Illustration by Mehrdad Isvandi
Cover Design by Krista Vossen
Interior Design by Hilary Zarycky

Edition: Hardcover

Description:

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that’s a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Eastern flair.

Nothing can prepare you for The Gauntlet…

It didn’t look dangerous, exactly. When twelve-year-old Farah first laid eyes on the old-fashioned board game, she thought it looked…elegant.

It is made of wood, etched with exquisite images—a palace with domes and turrets, lattice-work windows that cast eerie shadows, a large spider—and at the very center of its cover, in broad letters, is written: The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand.

The Gauntlet is more than a game, though. It is the most ancient, the most dangerous kind of magic. It holds worlds inside worlds. And it takes players as prisoners.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

The Gauntlet was a fun, exciting, suspenseful, fast-paced and a well-written read from the beginning to the end. I really enjoyed reading this story as it follows Farah Mirza who is celebrating her 12th birthday. It's a small party at her house with some of her new classmates from her new school but also her two best friends Alex and Essie from her old neighborhood in Queens. However, most of her time during her party was spent playing games with her little brother Ahmad. Due to Ahmad's ADHD, he has a very intense love of playing games and mainly only wants to play with Farah. To give her a little break from playing with Ahmad, her Aunt Zohra tried to spend some time with her nephew. Now with a little free time, Farah and her two best friends Alex and Essie decided to go upstairs and open up the present her aunt had got for her. However, when the trio went to the guest room where her aunt was staying they found Ahmad holding her present and wanting to open it. Somehow he had gotten away from Aunt Zohra but the matter at hand was Farah wanting to open up her present which she quickly took from her little brother.

And when she opened it, she found a board game, The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand. However, it wasn't just any old board game, it felt like it was alive. Not being able to play the game, Ahmad left the room. And the trio did the same by going to Farah's bedroom to play it. Setting up the game had Farah having doubts playing it because something felt odd and the more they continue to set up the game the weirder it became. At one point when something really strange happened, they were unaware that Ahmad was in Farah's room. And before the three best friends could start playing the game, Ahmad grabbed a game piece and ran towards the game but the strangest thing happened, he got pulled into it.

During all the commotion, Aunt Zohra went to Farah's room and found out what happened. She couldn't believe they found that game because for one thing that board game was not Farah's present. Somehow, the mysterious game has a way of luring kids to play it. This game loves to trap kids and make them play which Farah, Alex and Essie are going to have to do in order to get Ahmad back. Aunt Zohra explained how the game had very difficult challenges and how she was once trapped inside it along with a friend of hers. Going into the game sent the trio to a very interesting world that was full of beautiful eye-catching buildings and a busy city square that had a lot of stales covered by colorful canopies. It was if they were in one of the Middle Eastern cities that Farah has once visited with her parents. It's hard to believe that they were in a game. But they were and needed to figure out how to play it and find Ahmad or they might be trapped there forever.

I really loved reading this story, because the trio were determined to complete the challenges even though they were becoming more difficult after each one they won. And at times the pressure was definitely getting to them. Because not only were they trying to play the game but they were also trying to find Ahmad. If they lose even just one challenge, the game was over and as I mentioned above they will be trapped there. What I found interesting is that they did get some help within the game but with the challenges they had to win those on their own. Despite, the ones who could provide a little help they still had to be wary of who they could trust. Because not everyone wanted them to win.

On nearly every page, there is plenty of action, adventure and suspense but also a good story as Farah, Alex and Essie go through their challenges. However, there's also a bit of a mystery as to who is behind the game. This really was a good read for me. I loved the characters because everyone had a distinct personality and it was interesting getting to know a little more about Farah, Ahmad, Essie and Alex as the story went on. After reading this, I can't wait to read the second book but for now, I am so happy I finally got around to reading this book.