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a_novi's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
For the first time in my life I was actually glad I watched the movie before I read the book. The move adaptation absolutely changed EVERYTHING about the challenges and so many huge details of the story. If I had read this book before the movie came out I would have been FURIOUS in the theater. This book is awesome. The futuristic dystopian concept is fascinating and scarily metaphorical for reality at times. There’s mysteries, puzzles, romance, suspense, and emotion. This is a book that I would read over again to catch even more detail the second time around. Good movie. Even better book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Classism, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Stalking, and Violence
theaceofpages's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Honestly, this book was okay. It was a quick read and although the experience wasn't a bad one, I felt very meh about it. The world was the strongest point by far. With the way the world is crumbling around us it makes a lot of sense that people want to escape into into a virtual one and surround themselves with nostalgia. The concept of the OASIS is a cool one as well. The plot was okay although it didn't always make sense so much happened because Wade is the main character and main characters are special even when they shouldn't succeed - it was interesting enough. But I didn't like the characters. Wade was annoying and uninteresting and everyone else existed to serve him. Art3mis was so much better (major spoiler: And deserved to win so much more ) but ended up being reduced to being an object of Wade's affection. And as a somewhat related note?: I really don't like how that gotcha moment about Aech was handled. Very much felt like tokenism since it was revealed and then immediately pushed aside so Wade could keep doing his thing - if you want to do something like this you should ay least deal with it properly
While the reading experience was pleasant enough I didn't actually like this book. I would love to see something more nuanced done with this idea, but I do get why others love it so much.
While the reading experience was pleasant enough I didn't actually like this book. I would love to see something more nuanced done with this idea, but I do get why others love it so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Classism, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing and Gun violence
Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent
londravr's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I'll be honest my first time trying to read this book was a little boring. I DNFed it, but because I love the movie so much I decided to give it another shot. This time I listened to the audiobook and wow was I wrong about it the first time. I loved the characters then hated them when they all went through their funk but when they finally got back together I was so happy. It was action packed and a roller coaster for sure.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Death of parent
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
excellent! i haven't had that much fun in a while.
even though i'm a little too young (or too little of a game nerd) to understand most of the niche 80s game references, i still enjoyed them all.
the world—the stacks, the OASIS, etc.—is so incredibly interesting and made my video-game (and reality-hating) heart do flips of joy.
10/10, so much better than the movie.
even though i'm a little too young (or too little of a game nerd) to understand most of the niche 80s game references, i still enjoyed them all.
the world—the stacks, the OASIS, etc.—is so incredibly interesting and made my video-game (and reality-hating) heart do flips of joy.
10/10, so much better than the movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, Addiction, Confinement, and Cursing
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Outing, Body shaming, and Grief
lpdx's review against another edition
Too much immature, obnoxious teen boy character dialogue
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Bullying, Death of parent, and Classism
shirarweiss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had more knowledge and/or excitement about video game history and 80s culture. It took a long time for anything to really happen; there was so much world building- which was necessary to understand this highly detailed world- but it felt like sometimes the plot stopped entirely in favor of a long explanation of the world and its history or a cultural reference. Sometimes time just suddenly jumped in a confusing way. The way Wade talked about women and gender was… uncomfortable. And strange. The book did make me think about the blurred lines between reality and technology, which is fascinating and frightening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Gore, Violence, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
hilarylouise's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
hazeleyeddreamer's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Trafficking, Classism, Slavery, Police brutality, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Child abuse, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Fatphobia and Confinement
I put mass shooting and fire and injury but it's actually a bombing.lenorayoder's review against another edition
adventurous
3.0
I might have rated this 4 stars because I do think the world is cool, but the teen boy of it all gets to be a bit much, especially by the end of the book. At first I thought the main character was just an accurate portrayal of teen boyness, warts and all, but it becomes obvious as the book goes on that Wade can do no wrong (and actually those aren’t warts at all!) once he’s learned the Moral of the Story. Cline also really hits you over the head with said moral. And let’s not forget the clumsy exposition that continues throughout the novel. I can tolerate that at the beginning of a book, but the entire thing?? Also “rubenesque”. More than once. Kill me.
Kind of a bummer, because I think this book had a lot of potential. I still liked it though, and I’ll probably check out the sequel. I can definitely see why this was adapted into a movie and I’ll be checking that out too.
Kind of a bummer, because I think this book had a lot of potential. I still liked it though, and I’ll probably check out the sequel. I can definitely see why this was adapted into a movie and I’ll be checking that out too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent