Review: Time to Play (Apocalypse Parenting Book 1) by Erin Ampersand

Time to Play (Apocalypse Parenting Book 1) is a LitRPG book about a mother thrust into an apocalyptic game-like situation with her three kids. One minute she's worrying about driving them to their sports lessons and the next minute the electricity stops working and an announcement informs her - and everyone else - that earth has just become the site of some alien game-show and they're now the unwilling contestants in this game. It's such an excellent premise with some great characterization that grounds it and makes it very, very real. I flew through this book in about two days because it was such a page-turner.

One of the main draws that kept me turning the pages is the main character Meghan's realistic struggles and reactions as a mother of three. In a way, it's a book where monsters suddenly spawn and the characters can collect points and have to figure out how to survive, but it's also really just a book about the struggles of parenting, because it's not like her three year-old daughter understands the dangers or is able to go adventuring with her. Meghan's got to keep her kids safe, but she's also got to contend with the fact that they, too, are players in the game and they're able to make choices without knowing the consequences. She has to guide them as well as ensure they have things to eat and are safe from the monsters. 

As you would expect with a book focused on a mother of three, it doesn't get too too dark, but that's not to say it doesn't portray danger at all. There are deaths shown/described on page and Meghan has to both deal with them and also shield her children from the horrors as much as she can. When their entire world suddenly becomes part of this game and monsters come out of nowhere, there are many people that aren't able to survive and the book doesn't shy away from portraying that. It both illustrates the real danger that they're in and shines a light on some of the callous ways that death is sometimes dealt with in videogames and fantasy books.

If you're not used to the LitRPG genre, I would still recommend you check out this book. I think it works well as an intro to the genre, with the menus and points being easy to understand and working well within the story. The only think I would say to watch out for - and this was the case with the other book in the subgenre that I've read - is that it just ends. That's not to say it's not satisfying enough on its own, but the main issue of being in the game is certainly not resolved and there are more dangers ahead. One major problem that they have does get solved by the end of it - and just because of their game progress we know they're better able to cope with whatever's coming, but it's not a complete story or even a complete story arc as you might expect from a book 1 in another genre.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. An excellent story that stands out as a deserving Semi-finalist in the SPSFC3 and I'm very glad to have discovered it as part of my judging for Team Peripheral Prospectors. I look forward to checking out the second installment once it comes out! This review is only my own thoughts on the book and doesn't reflect any final decisions regarding the book's progress yet. Any such decisions will be made by the team as a whole once we've all read our assigned semi-finalists. I look forward to discovering more great reads!