Publisher: Penguin Teen Canada, September 14th 2021

Format: ebook

Pages: 296

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

An Indigenous teen girl is caught between two worlds, both real and virtual, in the YA fantasy debut from bestselling Indigenous author Wab Kinew. Perfect for fans of Ready Player One and the Otherworld series.

Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she’s a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.
Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.
But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual. 

My Review:

Thank you Penguin Teen Canada for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: science fiction that takes place in the future, video games.
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Bug is a successful gamer, but in the real world, she is a self-conscious Indigenous teen. Throughout the novel she tries to reconcile her online persona with her real world personality, all while battling personal and family trauma.
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I loved how the author incorporated traditional elements into the video game, and that the reason Bug was so successful in the game was because she knew how to love and respect the land and the animals. The book also looks at the impact the pandemic had on Indigenous populations.
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The book also includes a character named Feng, who moves from China. His family was impacted by the Uyghur genocide in China.
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CW: sexism, racism, body image issues, bullying, cancer/illness of a family member, white supremacy, Uyghur genocide, and pandemics.