Reviews with content warning for Death - Jogador Nº 1

Wade (main character) is very annoying and almost unbearable at points, but somewhat lovable in an awkward, please-gain-some-self-awareness type way.
It’s a book that’s somewhat about found-family, and fighting for what you believe in- but mainly just an excuse for the author to do a bunch of world-building off of nerd-trivia (greatly appreciated, as I am a massive nerd).
All in all, a fun and exciting book, but not a particularly meaningful one. I see the nostalgia appeal for a lot of people- something I cant relate to though as I am currently a teenager.
I do like a passage towards the end, tough, where a character discusses that even when reality sucks, it’s the only place that’s real and, therefore the best- I really found that quite meaningful, even if not much else in the book was (and the author completely goes back on this point in the sequel)
A great read and one I believe really is deserving of its positive reputation.

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kaitlynnnng's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Many of my students have recommended this book to me, so I finally decided to read it, and I enjoyed it. I listened to the audiobook (at 2.5x speed) and followed along in the physical book, which added to the fast-paced storytelling.

There is a LOT of information and world building in this book. I wouldn’t say it was unnecessary, but I will say, at times, it was overwhelming and took away from the urgency of the hunt. I’m sure I would feel different if I was more into VR and video games.

I saw another reviewer say they liked how, even though most of the story takes place in a virtual reality, the characters still deal with real problems, and I completely agree.

I was definitely rooting for the main characters (the IOI can rot), but I didn’t really connect with any of them. But, again, I realize I might feel differently if I was still a teenager and/or more into VR and video games.

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ruthieelisa's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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hoey_girlboss_queen's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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thefandomphantom's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This could have been so good

<<<SPOILERS(?)>>>

Ok number 1, we’re gonna talk about how all the gunters are like B) look how cool i am i know all these thing and like cool retro things
THATS NOT COOL
YOU LITERALLY DONT HAVE A PERSONALITY
YOU HAVE A COPY OF A PERSONALITY FROM SOME OLD DEAD GUY
oh hey wade? STOP STATING WHAT THE SONGS ARE AND THINKING WERE GONNA BE IMPRESSED- THATS NOT A SPECIAL SKILL
also brosky art3mis was literally like i dont want to date. Like verrrry fucking clearly and u were like cool imma confess my love to you whenever i see u
I was so mad that he was the one to win, like it was super predictable but he literally sat around doing fuck all but moping for like 6 months after the first gate
Also why would you not just like post how to get through the later gates as soon as you get through like? Even if other gunters get to them and the beat you later, like that is still more people to compete against the sixers? So,, stupid
Oh yeah hey wade u dumb bitch? Why may i ask did u spray paint your windows black? Why not, i dont know, get curtains?? Ya lil freak.
Also i know it was kinda on purpose but the challenges were so anticlimactic hahaha no winder they changed them all in the film.
Dude wade was so annoying, like until he mopes about doing - literally nothing- he just like perfectly goes through everything, dude its no fun watching the mc breeze through all of lifes challenges, woulda been so much better from art3mis’ perspective
Oh and why did you have to do that whole omg im so ugly you cant even look at me cry cry cry bit from her, damn, girly is so confident what the hell was that about?? She doesnt need wade to be like no, i dont think so
Also once again I DONT NEED TO KNOW HOW BIG ALL THE GIRLS BOOBS ARE? THAT DOES NOT NEED TO BE IN THE FIRST SENTENCE ABOUT THEM ALL I STG
ok i think im done xx
Oh wait ahah it was so funny how wade literally didnt leave his house looool and also got a bit incel-y at one point
Oh also those like random throw away homophobic comments for no reason at the start???
Oh also its pointless (ha youll get that in a min) that when everyone goes through the gates they always get 100,000 points, like, you might as well get 1 point, that just stupid
Dude either relate things to your plot or leave them out, i dont need to hear you talk about some obscure made up tech reference if it has absolutely no relevance to your plot

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karlybug's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

i'm not saying if you liked this i question your judgment but...

honestly, where to begin with this horrific ordeal? Cline took a fairly interesting premise (the one star is for the idea and the half is for the sheer amount of garbage he wrote; this book is nightmarishly long) and threw it away on gatekeeping nonsense, repetitive, awful writing, very little worldbuilding, weak characters, and page after page of "look what I know" '80s trivia. anytime the action starts up, he has to pause so Wade can explain to us in great unnecessary detail exactly what obscure '80s thing he's studied in order to solve the problem in front of him. also, trigger warnings: transphobia, racial stereotyping, and an endless amount of white men yelling about gatekeeping nerd stuff.

i am genuinely shocked at the lack of reviews mentioning how incredibly monotonous and redundant his writing style is. he literally lists 20 sci-fi authors in a row and every single one of them is a white man. i never read science fiction and even i can name Ursula K. LeGuin! our grand mystical "hero" is an emotionally stunted manbaby who fired people for not knowing obscure references and who stopped speaking to literally his only friend in the world and became a hermit bc he couldn't have the only girl he wanted even though he wouldn't even speak to her. setting it in the future should mean that he has to create his own world even a little bit, but instead, he focuses it so tightly on the '80s that it means he does almost NO worldbuilding. the stacks are honestly the only part of the future landscape that made sense to me and/or required any kind of creativity on Cline's part.

Wade is insufferable as well--he's rude and mouthy (not in a fun way) and insensitive and wildly clueless for someone who supposedly grew up in poverty.

I mean he literally just stands by while his aunt and the other, what, 50 people in his stack are straight-up murdered! after which he shows barely a speck of remorse or guilt?

the final lesson/message is both hit-you-over-the-head heavy-handed and also kind of just like... nonsense speak? honestly, the worst bit is that he managed to create a somewhat interesting character with Art3mis & he threw that away by making her entire arc "but will the boy like me in real life???"

in case you for some reason refuse to believe me, here are some ACTUAL QUOTES:

[Halliday] also had an extreme fixation on the 1980s, the decade during which he'd been a teenager. (3)
A famous eccentric, Halliday had harbored a lifelong obsession with the 1980s, the decade during which he'd been a teenager... (85)

~~see what i mean about repetitive?~~

The 80s was a long decade (ten whole years) . . .

THIS MAN GOT PAID FOR THIS BOOK

"It looks just like Rivendell," [she] said, taking the words right out of my mouth.
I nodded. "It looks exactly like Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings movies," I said, still staring up in awe.

Mansplaining and redundancy, all for the price of poorly-written dialogue!

you can't make this stuff up. i want the last five days of my life back.

also, can you imagine stealing the finale of your 500+ page novel word-for-word from a movie somebody else wrote thirty years ago? Cline & Halliday are basically two of a kind--two old white guys who made their huge amounts of money creating an "adventure" almost entirely by piecing together other people's work. super cool. new york times bestseller. awesome.

i'm furious.

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cianarae's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I liked this a lot! The story was great, the characters were funny, I liked the ‘80s references. I think it could have done a little bit better with the representation of women and people of color. Also I’m not a big fan of the benevolent billionaire trope so that was another thing I didn’t love. Last complaint, a lot of the riddles and things that were supposedly so difficult that no one could figure them out for years seemed really obvious. All-in-all, the writing isn’t perfect but it’s a fun book that I enjoyed reading.

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