Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Status: The Game by Vincent Robert Annunziato is an exciting story, original in its concept with a great story line. Bob Brooks is an inexperienced high school teacher who becomes popular with his students with the help of an online game. Bob Brooks has an ulterior motive of becoming rich too, but he finds that it is not going to be easy. The game Status is a dangerous online game, but it might make you famous. Now who wants to play this game?

The plot is exhilarating and it targets an audience of all age groups. Bob's character as that of an Technology teacher and a gamer is relatable and the original story line will have readers hooked on the book. The story is a bit slow initially and then it becomes interesting. It is a perfect plot for the age we live in where children as well as adults are hooked on online gaming. It is indeed a refreshing idea to use this theme as the story line. I just fell in love with the plot and the characters. The hazards of technology and online gaming, and the harm that it causes have been captured by the author. Status is a book that tells us about what is going to come as we live in a world filled with technology and social websites. It teaches us a good lesson and I am sure readers will want to read the sequel when it comes out.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most uncomfortable books I’ve ever read; it was BRILLIANT. October 17, 2014

By The Kindle Book Review

Format:Kindle Edition

Status: The Game is the story of a young school teacher who plans to use a social-networking computer game to teach his high school class, and make a fortune at the same time. Little does he know, his students are already playing. When Bob steps foot in his classroom he is actually stepping into the middle of a battlefield where the stakes are deadly.

From almost the first page I despised the main character. Bob was shallow, selfish and lacked any semblance of self-control. It took me a few chapters to realize that his insecurities made him the perfect character to get sucked into a game like Status. The author did a brilliant job creating Bob. There were moments between him and Charlotte that I was so uncomfortable I actually had to put the book down! It takes a brave author to write a main character who is so pathetic and easily manipulated, but Vincent Annunziato nailed it.

I have rarely read a book that developed secondary characters so well. While Bob was obsessing over Timmy and Charlotte, I was falling in love with Jenny, Donny and John. I could easily relate to them and how easy it would be to let a fun game slip through your fingers and turn into something deadly. Timmy’s role as the mastermind surprised and impressed me, and the identity of his investor surprised me even more. Every single character in this book played an essential role in the development of the plot and I was sucked into every individual story.

My absolute favorite part of this book was the football scene against the badgers. I cannot think of any other book where so many individual stories wove together so perfectly at one pivotal moment. The climax was suspenseful and brilliantly satisfying.

Vincent did a fabulous job creating the game. It was well described, I could picture it in my head. The conflict between the characters wove seamlessly between the game and real life. The characters were well developed, each with compelling stories and agendas. And the book overall showed a painfully realistic picture of the hierarchy of teenage politics. I would recommend that every high school student be required to read this book. It shows the danger of being constantly connected through social media and the danger of placing too much weight in popularity and consumerism.

I did have a few small complaints. I wasn’t sure what the intended age group was, it felt too old for young adult but too young for adults. There was a bit too much exposition and backstory as the book opened up. There were a handful of spelling errors that were a little distracting. And Bob was naive enough that at times it was a bit unbelievable. But none of these were problem-enough to detract from the overall quality of the book.

A must-read for every high school student. Well done Vincent, you brought me nightmares of high school all over again!

-Lindsay Hiller, from The Kindle Book Review
Author of bestselling Young Adult novel, Reaper

“The Kindle Book Review received a free copy of this book for an independent, fair, and honest review. We are not associated with the author or Amazon.”

By J C (Retired Jr/Sr High reading teacher)

5 stars for the the book called Status: The Game by new new author Vincent Robert Annunziato. It's a powerful and exciting page-turner written with a unique style all his own. Status: The Game will capture your very soul and you will soon find yourself immersed in a shadowy world of deceit, greed, power and maybe.... murder. You will be shocked to learn what the characters will do to obtain power over others. Could this happen in the real world? Is is happening now? You be the judge. You decide. Is it really just a game?
I believe this author with his talent for creating a strong and terrifying plot for his readers will soon be among our best-selling authors such as David Baldacci, James Patterson, Michael Connelly and many others. It's a great book and hard to put down.

By 

Jessica Outer

This review is from: Status: The Game (Kindle Edition)

From the second I picked up Status The Game, I couldn't put it down. It was the perfect book to chose to read on vacation. It took me back to high school and the "status game" that we all went through in the early 90's. The writing was pretty much flawless and the characters were defined so well that I felt like I knew each one personally. Each page kept me engaged and I was incredibly sad when I finished the book. I want MORE!! I hope a second book is in the works. The plot definitely has movie potential and I hope the success of the story sends it in that direction.