I needed something a little lighter after reading American Gods. Something to clear my head a bit. My husband found the perfect solution for me the other day when we went out shopping – the sequel to one of my favorite childhood books, The Egypt Game.

The Gypsy Game was published in the late 90s, decades after The Egypt Game, but picks up, literally, on the very next line of the story. The founding members of the Egypt Game, Melanie and April, decide they might want to study gypsies instead, now that everyone knows…well, I won’t spoil the first book either. The two of them consult the other four members of the Egypt Game, and most of them are pretty enthusiastic. Very little time on the book is actually spent studying about gypsies and designing the game. Most of the focus turns onto one of the other members of the game, Toby, who has major family problems and doesn’t want to confide in anyone. Throughout the book, the members of the Gypsy Game learn a lot about loyalty, discrimination, poverty, family, and love.

I can’t say I enjoyed this book as much as The Egypt Game, or even as much as The Headless Cupid. It seemed, somehow, less atmospheric, I suppose. The Egypt Game takes place many decades ago, and while these were the same characters picking up in the same place and the book only lasts for a couple weeks, it didn’t feel like the 60s. It also felt a little more like I described Jeanne DuPrau’s follow-up books in the Ember series – like Snyder was writing to kids, rather than writing for them. Some of the writing fell a little flat. I didn’t feel like she understood the characters the same way she did when she wrote The Egypt Game.

Now of course, part of this is probably just my biases and hangups regarding the first book of the duo, but I don’t think that’s all. I do think the first is better written. Looking around the bloggernet, I think that’s a common sentiment. If you haven’t read any of Snyder’s books before, I wouldn’t recommend starting with this one.