LIVE [Psychological · Dystopian Game · Social Commentary]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

In 2035, justice has become a spectacle, and Rebecca is the newest player inLive, the world's most infamous reality show.

The rules are simple: win over the audience with your social media posts or face deadly battles in the arena, broadcast live for the world to see.

Rebecca doesn’t know how to navigate this brutal mix of survival and performance. Then she meets Reese, a self-made pop icon whose charisma and cunning have made him a fan favorite.

At first, he offers her an alliance. But as the show pushes them to their limits, their bond shifts into dangerous territory, caught between attraction, strategy, and betrayal.

Now they face something neither expected: genuine, raw emotion, exposed before an audience hungry for degradation. In Live, where love is just another weapon, their connection might save them or break them beyond repair.

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This story starts quiet. It doesn’t stay that way.The more you read, the more violent, twisted, and unhinged it becomes.If you're under 18 or looking for comfort, don’t read this.

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What to Expect:

• A character-driven psychological thriller

• Slow-burn, emotionally intense romance

• Morally gray leads and manipulation games

• Surveillance, control, and emotional warfare

• Less action mechanics, more internal conflict and power shifts

A story about performance, punishment, and the dangerous desire to be seen.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2025
Author: LuciaDeLaCal

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.9/ 5.0
Followers: 65
Views: 30,719

Chapters(76 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(8)

gggggddddwRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This opening immediately grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go. From the very first line, I was drawn into Rebecca's suffocating nightmare—a dystopian game show that's part Hunger Games, part Black Mirror, and somehow even darker than both. The atmosphere is so vividly claustrophobic, I could almost feel the sterile light, the cold tiles, the eerie silence before the chaos. And the surveillance? Chilling. The constant pressure to perform—to survive not just physically but socially—adds an unsettling twist that feels horrifyingly plausible.
Rebecca is incredibly compelling. Her vulnerability is raw, yet beneath that is this simmering resilience I couldn't help but root for. Watching her navigate humiliation, fear, and flickers of strength—especially as she rediscovers movement and hope in her body—was oddly beautiful. The idea that healing can come from a monstrous system is terrifying, but also raises interesting questions about agency and identity.
And then there's Reese. Charismatic, dangerous, unpredictable. Their dynamic is electric—equal parts attraction and mistrust—and I loved every tense exchange between them. I never knew if I should fear him, admire him, or both.
This novel doesn't just explore survival—it dismantles it, broadcasts it, and turns it into entertainment. The voyeurism is grotesque, and yet I couldn't look away.
It's unsettling. Unflinching. Addictive.
I'm terrified for what's coming next—and desperate to keep reading.
Samson ChuiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Really well-written book. It feels like a mix between The Running Man and Squid Game. Tight narrative, fast-paced, and super engaging. If you’re into female protagonists, dystopian futures, and twisted game shows, this one’s definitely for you.
The descriptions are spot-on, with lines like: “Rebecca sips the provided nutrient paste, its flavorless sludge doing little to ease the nausea twisting in her gut.” You really feel pulled into the scene.
100% worth reading. Five stars all the way. Can’t wait to see where it goes next.
StrawberryRainRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Lovely prose and wonderful introspection. Interesting characters with a strong psychological kick who are enjoyable to break down and watch build themselves up again. The dynamic between Rebecca and Reese is thrilling in so many ways, and the foreshadowing is immaculate. Making characters feel real in a death game (or anything adjacent) is always a tricky task, especially knowing what's to come and how quickly the field will clear. As such, this is twice as impressive. Excellently done--and even more fun to theorize about.
KonstantinKRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of the few pieces of literature on this website that has sucked me into its narrative so successfully. Every chapter makes the reader even more addicted, making them wonder if we suffer from the same social sickness the viewers of Live do. Now on to the detailed review:
Style Fast-paced, precise, and sparing the reader from unnecessary details. Every single sentence aims to pull you into the action, no matter its consequences. It is so easy to read style-wise, contrasting with the mature and raw themes that carry the weight of the story.
Grammar Finally! A present-tense story on this website from an author who knows how to do it. Really a breath of fresh air.
Story I had so much trouble writing this portion of the review. Whatever I say, it won't do justice to the efforts of the writer. I will try: Rebecca's struggles within the prison of LIVE feel real and surreal at the same time. You worry for her, sometimes you even want to stop reading to save her from the next Chapters, but you cannot. "Surely humanity would not fall so low," you find yourself thinking desperately - but then at every new Chapter, you get more and more convinced that the story itself is proof that brutality and romance can balance perfect entertainment; and LIVE sells it in an excellent way. Okay, what can I say? I like the story a lot!
Characters Besides Rebecca and Reese, the other characters fade naturally into the background, providing a sense of humanity (or demonstrating the loss of it when they enter the arena). I am just so damn curious for the back story of some of them - like the twins, or the child-selling mother, but... The author keeps their cards close to their hearts. The audience of LIVE gets to know all about them, but we, the readers, are here to follow Rebecca, and we are limited to masterful glimpses of the other characters on a need-to-know basis. Clearly, the author knows what they want us to see and treats all of the characters with respect.
P.S: Oh, Reese. I
Rowdha Al SolRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall, this is some pretty good sauce. I recommend it for people looking for a fast-paced sci-fi read that spares excessive prose. The good thing about this sort of content is that it doesn't self-indulge/ insist upon itself. It has all the elements of a standard GameLit presented in an easy-to-consume way.
Do I find some elements strange or jarring? Yes. Particularly the writing itself. Most of the time it's good and easy to follow, and then at other times the paragraphs seem questionable in their originality. I feel like I've read some of the paragraphs elsewhere before. Not that that matters. It's probably just a coincidence.
The story is pretty standard, as I say. A reality show where contestants are forced into violent confrontations. Kind of like Squid Game and Hunger Games but more sci-fi. Not much has progressed in terms of literal plot yet so it's hard to tell if this will break records any time soon, but from what is currently available, it's a neat intro into a hybrid concept.
Characters are okay. I mean Reese is a bit weird all in all, especially after the events of Ch. 4 Pt. 2 that, as a woman, added some distaste. Not sure if this was intentional or not or what it's supposed to say about Reese. Rebecca is pretty cool and reminds me of a lot of dystopian female protagonists who are level-headed but can spike depending on the emotional beat.
Grammar, I have pretty much no complaints except for the abundance of em dashes. They're pretty much in every paragraph at this point and they do not look nice.
Style is heavy on the descriptive and literary cadence side, which is nice. It's easy to slip into and not so beige as to be boring. It hits a nice lilt.
Will be keeping an eye on this one.
M.E. CheRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Live is a dystopian, social media-driven death game story told from the perspective of Rebecca, a protagonist navigating a high-stakes competition. Written in a clear and introspective third-person limited perspective, the narrative explores themes of survival, morality, and identity in a high-pressure environment. With its strong pacing, unique premise, and unlikable yet compelling characters, this story offers a fresh take on the dystopian genre.
Engaging Premise: The social media-driven death game is a unique and intriguing concept that sets the story apart.
Strong Pacing: The short, digestible chapters keep the narrative moving quickly, making it an easy and enjoyable read.
Introspective Narrative: The third-person limited perspective allows readers to connect with Rebecca’s thoughts and observations.
Complex Characters: The Complex characters, such as Rebecca or Reese, add a unique dynamic to the story and make it stand out.
I recommend Live to fans of dystopian fiction, death game narratives, and stories with morally complex characters. If you enjoyed The Hunger Games or Battle Royale, this story offers a fresh and engaging take on similar themes. The world-building is initially minimal, but what we do see of the setting is impactful. The strong premise and pacing make it a worthwhile read for fans of the genre.
cursedclarkeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Not a book that tries to make you feel good. It doesn’t offer catharsis or easy answers. It offers discomfort. It offers humiliation as structure, pain as pacing, and survival as spectacle. It builds a story not around victory, but around how long a person can be disassembled on camera before the audience gets bored. And that’s exactly what makes it excellent.
The novel’s protagonist, Rebecca, is not a heroine. She doesn’t deliver speeches or lead rebellions. She survives quietly. Her power is restraint, not dominance. Her defiance is internal, barely visible, and all the more compelling because of it. She’s not here to be a symbol. She’s here to live, and the fact that this book never lets her stop performing makes her one of the most brutally honest characters in dystopian fiction. She knows she’s watched. She knows her suffering is being packaged, edited, and sold. And she chooses, moment by moment, how much of herself to lose. It’s not a rebellion. It’s a calculation. She’s trying to keep enough of her identity intact to still recognize herself when it’s over, and the tension in that is almost unbearable.
The structure of the story is built to collapse around her. This isn’t a plot with clean arcs. It’s an experiment in how long a human being can be suspended in a hostile environment without breaking. The real antagonist isn’t a person. It’s the gaze. The constant surveillance, the silent judgment, the monetization of fear and desire. The horror of this book isn’t violence. It’s optics. Contestants don’t die because they fail a task. They die because they fall out of narrative relevance. They get downvoted. They get edited out of existence. And that kind of erasure is more chilling than any physical threat because it mirrors how real-world media chews through people. What makes LIVE horrifying isn’t that people suffer. It’s that their suffering gets a soundtrack.
There is also no excess in this writing. Every scene is clean, cold, and intentional. The prose has
WritingUnderTheStarsRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Really enjoyed the story! The concept is gripping, and the tension keeps the stakes high.
One small suggestion—some of the descriptions between dialogues could be trimmed down a bit to keep the flow snappier.The dialogue itself is strong, so letting it carry more of the momentum might make the pacing even sharper. Overall, a great read!