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garethframe's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
ethias's review against another edition
1.0
I’d give this 0 stars if I could. Worst book I’ve ever read. Sexist, middle school boy’s wish fulfillment, filled to the brim with badly done references that grated on me pretty quickly, to be honest I don’t understand why anyone likes this let alone why it’s so popular.
stephtherose_'s review against another edition
5.0
This book was so much fun to listen to. Wil Wheaton did a fantastic job reading this novel. I loved the world, loved the characters, loved the story!
zaneworlf's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
justanothermegan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
tamtamcracker's review against another edition
5.0
Looooooved this book and all the nostalgia it brought with it. Was a blast to read. I can't believe someone else in the world has played Zork. Dumbest game ever but I rented it every week from the library at the time. haaaa ha ha hah What a fun and fantastical read.
leftyphive's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent book. Got it as a gift from my brother, and was amazed at how engaged I became in it. Very easy to follow, even for those that aren't super into video games.
lilliebear's review against another edition
5.0
This book just wouldn't allow me to put it down. I picked it up from the library (really, was I the only person in the whole city requesting a book for once?) and quite frankly I was rather put off by how unpopular it seemed. Don't get me wrong, I will give any book a chance, but from what I was reading online, and then I was able to get it in the matter of a day? Hm. That was my only reservation. However, once I began, well I just couldn't stop! I started the book and couldn't put it down until it was done, took part of a day. Having played video games of all sorts for most of my life, I was extremely hooked by the geekiness. Making friends and falling in love online? All geeks have done it at least once. Going on a 3 part quest and completing it with the ones you love? Nothing better! I'm a 90's kid (1991, not 1999 thanks) so the 80's culture references I actually found interesting, I learned quite a bit. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone that's ever stayed up all night grinding levels, that's ever felt sucked into the internet, that has felt like an outcast to society.
daybreakreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Does this live up to the hype? No. Did I want to hang my head on the table for the first 50-60% of this book? Repeatedly. I was *convinced* this was a surefire 2-star, and was absolutely dreading the slog through what remained of the 15+ hours of audio.
The first chunk of this book is just geeky kids trying to one up each other in their narcissism-fueled obscure 80s trivia. I say this as a nerd who in high school helped design a hexagonal chessboard over my lunch breaks so that three people could play at once and have more of my nerd friends be included. It read more like endless lists of useless information as opposed to much plot or character building.
Finally we got a shift to actual plot, and I began to actually enjoy it more, but it was probably because of the contrast between the terrible opening. There’s bits of this that are honestly really great; I enjoyed the major theme and focus of detaching from the digital world to live in the real one (side note/shameless rant: I finally deleted all my social media accounts and my mental health drastically improved, as well as many interpersonal relationships, so I fully agree with this messaging). Favorite line from the book: “No one in the world ever gets what they want, and that is beautiful.”
I didn’t like the random stock characters. The villain guy was so boring and unoriginal that I can’t even remember his name, and H was a plot twist I saw from a mile away that made me groan anyways because it was just to prove some last minute “diversity” points.
A lot of the big plot twists were predictable. I also didn’t really like the random political rambling interspersed throughout; I feel like if the characters and plot had been better developed from the get-go, the reader would be better able to draw our own conclusions as opposed to being force-fed them.
Not a bad read, in the end, I did enjoy the second half for the most part. Could it have been improved upon? Absolutely.
The first chunk of this book is just geeky kids trying to one up each other in their narcissism-fueled obscure 80s trivia. I say this as a nerd who in high school helped design a hexagonal chessboard over my lunch breaks so that three people could play at once and have more of my nerd friends be included. It read more like endless lists of useless information as opposed to much plot or character building.
Finally we got a shift to actual plot, and I began to actually enjoy it more, but it was probably because of the contrast between the terrible opening. There’s bits of this that are honestly really great; I enjoyed the major theme and focus of detaching from the digital world to live in the real one (side note/shameless rant: I finally deleted all my social media accounts and my mental health drastically improved, as well as many interpersonal relationships, so I fully agree with this messaging). Favorite line from the book: “No one in the world ever gets what they want, and that is beautiful.”
I didn’t like the random stock characters. The villain guy was so boring and unoriginal that I can’t even remember his name, and H was a plot twist I saw from a mile away that made me groan anyways because it was just to prove some last minute “diversity” points.
A lot of the big plot twists were predictable. I also didn’t really like the random political rambling interspersed throughout; I feel like if the characters and plot had been better developed from the get-go, the reader would be better able to draw our own conclusions as opposed to being force-fed them.
Not a bad read, in the end, I did enjoy the second half for the most part. Could it have been improved upon? Absolutely.