Choose a Video Game, Get a Book with the Same Energy

<section><h2><h2><p><strong>Choose a Video Game, Get a Book with the Same Energy</strong></p></h2></h2><p><p>A video game is nothing without a good story attached to it! They&rsquo;re obviously fun because you get to control the narrative, but if that narrative sucks, it&rsquo;s hard to get invested, and it definitely won&rsquo;t end up being one of your favorite games. All the best games have compelling characters, complex storylines, and a certain energy that keeps you coming back for more. The same can be said for books! If you&rsquo;re seeking some entertainment that gives off the same vibe as your favorite video games, look no further! Enjoy these YA novels that are equally as fun to experience and require half the effort.</p></p></section><section><h2><h2><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/camp" target="_blank">Camp</a> by <a href="https://www.thenovl.com/lcrosen" target="_blank">L.C. Rosen</a></strong></h2></h2><p><p><em>Animal Crossing</em> is a social simulation game where a human character moves into a quaint little village full of anthropomorphized animals! It&rsquo;s pretty open-ended, no objectives just vibes and you can go around doing activities like decorating, fishing, bug catching, and hanging out with other villagers. Sounds a lot like summer camp to me which is why <em>Camp</em> is a great pairing! In this contemporary romance, Randy&mdash; or &ldquo;Del&rdquo; as he has re-nicknamed himself&mdash; returns to the LGBTQ+ summer camp he&rsquo;s been attending for years. But this year he&rsquo;s leaving behind musical theater and nail polish, to become the &ldquo;straight-acting&rdquo; type that his crush and known f-boy, Hudson, would like. But while his plan seems to be working, Randy has to ask himself how much he is willing to change for love. And is it really love anyway if Hudson doesn&rsquo;t know who he truly is?</p></p></section><section><h3><h2><p><strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30223025-dread-nation" target="_blank">Dread Nation </a>by Justina Ireland</strong></p></h2></h3><p><p>I mean it&rsquo;s pretty obvious that zombies are the common denominator here. In <em>The Last of Us </em>a weathered smuggler must escort a teenage girl across a post-apocalyptic United States riddled with mutated humans who want to devour them. But what makes this game so lovable is the tender bond between the two unlikely friends as they learn to care for and protect each other. If you love that dynamic, then you should check out the frenemies to friends to maybe-something-more? dynamic in <em>Dread Nation! </em>Jane Mckeene is a young Black woman in an alternate post-Civil War United States where the war didn&rsquo;t really end&hellip; dead soldiers rising up and attacking the living kind of just brought things to a pause. Now, Black and Indigenous girls are sent to combat schools to learn how to protect the wealthy. And there she meets the insufferable Katherine. Her enemy turned ally as they get caught in the middle of a conspiracy and fight for their lives against powerful enemies and the restless dead.</p></p></section><section><h3><h2><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/thedivinersseries" target="_blank">The Diviners</a> by <a href="https://www.thenovl.com/libbabray" target="_blank">Libba Bray</a></strong></h2></h3><p><p>We love our girls with powerful gifts! <em>Life Is Strange</em> follows the exploits of 18-year old Max Caulfield, a high school senior who learns she has the power to rewind time when she saves her childhood friend, Chloe Price, from being killed. Now *loosely* apply the cool superpower element of that video game to a 1920s New York City setting and you have <em>The Diviners</em>. It&rsquo;s 1926, and Evie O&rsquo;Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.</p></p></section><section><h3><h2><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/wolfbywolf" target="_blank">Wolf by Wolf</a> by <a href="https://www.thenovl.com/ryangraudin" target="_blank">Ryan Graudin</a></strong></h2></h3><p><p>It&rsquo;s off to the races with these two competition-based storylines. Mario, his brother Luigi and his classic friends are all in a race to challenge each other and see who's the best racer in the Mushroom Kingdom. There is drama, there is sabotage, and there are ALWAYS sore losers&hellip; not me though I lose with grace. <em>Wolf by Wolf</em> has this same energy, but one could argue that the stakes are a little higher and a lot more deadly. It&rsquo;s 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their Great Victory, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler. Yael, a former death camp prisoner, has the power to skinshift and plans to kill Hitler by impersonating last year&rsquo;s only female racer, Adele Wolfe. But as Yael grows closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?</p></p></section><section><h3><h2><p><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/thegreatbigone" target="_blank">The Great Big One</a> by <a href="https://www.thenovl.com/jcgeiger" target="_blank">J. C. Geiger</a></strong></p></h2></h3><p><p>Okay, these two might seem like they don&rsquo;t have the same vibe at all but hear me out! In the original <em>Fortnite</em> gameplay, <em>Save the World</em>, players takes on hero roles with the task of fighting against &ldquo;The Storm&rdquo;(zombie creating clouds in the sky because&hellip; science?), rescuing Survivors, building structures, and expanding a Shield Device to protect the area. The few survivors left are in serious danger, but you know who wouldn&rsquo;t be caught slipping at a time like this? Griff and the Lost Coast Preppers from <em>The Great Big One.</em> Everyone in Clade City knows the Great Big One is coming--a tsunami guaranteed to decimate the West Coast and sink their small coastal town. If they manage to live that long. Nuclear strikes seem increasingly likely. Wildfires. Solar flares, and a growing chance of apocalyptic horsemen. So, the Lost Coast Preppers will be ready. Canning. Stockpiling. Monitoring radio signals. To survive, one must expect the unexpected. I truly don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s more unexpected than clouds that precipitate zombie creature. I&rsquo;m very curious to know if Griff has anything prepared for anything like that.</p></p></section><section><h3><h2><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/itendsinfire" target="_blank">It Ends in Fire</a> by <a href="https://www.thenovl.com/andrewshvarts" target="_blank">Andrew Shvarts</a></strong></h2></h3><p><p>One of these players is not like the others&hellip; In Among Us, a crew of people are working on a spaceship together. But in a freaky turn of events, one crewmate has been replaced by an alien shapeshifter that wants to eliminate the rest of the crew before the ship reaches home. This alien Impostor will sabotage the ship, sneak through vents, deceive, and frame others to remain anonymous and kill off the crew. Minus the alien bit, this imposter sure does sound like Alka Cherazi from<em> It Ends in Fire</em>. On a quest for revenge, Alka is deep undercover at the most prestigious school of magic in the Republic: Blackwater Academy. It&rsquo;s a place where status is everything, where decadent galas end in blood-splattered duels, and where every student has their own agenda. To survive, Alka will have to lie, cheat, kill, and use every trick in her spy's toolkit. And for the first time in her life, the fiercely independent Alka will have to make friends in order to recruit the misfits and the outcasts into her motley rebellion. Luckily, us readers know exactly who the infiltrator is from the beginning which makes a really fun perspective to read from!</p></p></section><section><h3><h2><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/incendiary" target="_blank">Incendiary</a> by <a href="https://www.thenovl.com/zoraidacordova" target="_blank">Zoraida Cordova</a></strong><p>&nbsp;</p></h2></h3><p><p>An ancient setting, rebel spies, and memory magic? This video game and book pairing could basically be siblings with how much they radiate the same energy! Long story short: Assassin&rsquo;s Creed follows a centuries-old struggle between assassins and an oppressive regime and uses genetic memory science that allows descendants to travel back to a time where their ancestors lived.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s a battle of free will vs. domination, which is exactly what Renata is fighting for in <em>Incendiary</em>. Years after being kidnapped and used as a weapon by the corrupt king of an alternate Spain, Renata uses her power as a memory thief to help a rebel group take down the crown. Renata must return to the palace and complete a top-secret mission. But can she keep her cover, even as she burns for vengeance? Her life and the fate of so many others depend on it.<strong></strong></p></p></section><section><h3><h2><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/thecoldestgirlincoldtown" target="_blank">The</a></strong><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/thecoldestgirlincoldtown" target="_blank">&nbsp;Coldest Girl in Coldtown</a> by <a href="https://www.thenovl.com/hollyblack" target="_blank">Holly Black</a></strong></h2></h3><p><p>What sounds like a better time than spooky towns full of creatures who want to hurt you or eat you? If that sounds like a great time to you, you&rsquo;ve probably enjoyed the latest installment in the Resident Evil series and you&rsquo;ll also enjoy <em>The Coldest Girl in Coldtown</em>. Take the killer creatures and eerie setting of RE, add more humor and an immortal hottie or two, and you get this super refreshing vampire story! Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. And of course, she ends up having to venture into one to save those she cares about. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.</p></p></section><section><h3><h2><strong><a href="https://www.thenovl.com/elysiumgirls" target="_blank">Elysium Girls</a> by <a href="https://www.thenovl.com/katepentecost" target="_blank">Kate Pentecost</a></strong></h2></h3><p>Things can get pretty intense in the wild, wild&hellip; Midwest? Okay, the setting might be a little off since Elysium Girls takes place in Oklahoma, but this book has major Western vibes! I mean just look at that gorgeous cover! But it&rsquo;s even better because this story has witch girl gangs, demons and an impending apocalypse. So, in the spirit of the American Frontier, I paired it up with Red Dead Redemption which follows a former outlaw whose wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a hired gun.</p></section><section><h2><h2><strong>Choose a Video Game!</strong></h2></h2></section>