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elizabethtrue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
jayjayre's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I read this book when the hype first started and it was popular in the sci fi / fantasy recommendations, and I absolutely detested it.
I hate the main character, the plot was horrible, predictable, repetitive. It's not because it's gamified, I've read litrpg that was enjoyable. This is like a smarmy nerd playing through a game they've mastered while ranting about how great they are and winning despite being the most unlikeable mess of a person. I want to throw tomatoes at the main character while he slips on banana peels every day.
I cannot imagine anyone but young boys who want to read a messy power-fantasy enjoying this, the misogyny and other forms of bigotry baked in by the author's awful views gives this a hateful undercurrent that repeatedly pulled me out of the story, even when I tried to go along with it just to finish the book.
This is the type of main character and story I will dislike to my dying days. I sincerely regret spending time reading this book.
I hate the main character, the plot was horrible, predictable, repetitive. It's not because it's gamified, I've read litrpg that was enjoyable. This is like a smarmy nerd playing through a game they've mastered while ranting about how great they are and winning despite being the most unlikeable mess of a person. I want to throw tomatoes at the main character while he slips on banana peels every day.
I cannot imagine anyone but young boys who want to read a messy power-fantasy enjoying this, the misogyny and other forms of bigotry baked in by the author's awful views gives this a hateful undercurrent that repeatedly pulled me out of the story, even when I tried to go along with it just to finish the book.
This is the type of main character and story I will dislike to my dying days. I sincerely regret spending time reading this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Ableism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Body shaming, Violence, Ableism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
megnut's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Murder
Minor: Sexism and Racism
oliverreeds's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.25
Good book; the portrayals of Shoto and Daito are a little racist; the main character is a pick-me boy and while he does experience some growth, most of it is because of a woman (sexist) and that whole subplot is honestly ridiculous. Like it suits the character but christ it’s a little excessive and he never faces any repercussions for his obsessive nature. We also never see a developing care for the outside world which realllly makes the love interest feel like a moral hospital for a promising young man. The world building is exceptional and the characters are all believable. I think the theme of race really gets trampled on//doesn’t get enough attention in the novel. It felt like an after thought, like the character was made to develop Wade into his final form. He’s the hero but he also sucks a lot. Also, there’s a paradoxical idolization of the creators or OASIS (rich) who honestly do and did so little to help the real world despite their vast sums of money (the reason why some characters want to win the game in the first place — to save the world). idk. the whole thing felt half-baked in terms of ideology but very strong in terms of character personas but weak in terms of character development
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Grief, War, Classism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Murder, Body shaming, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Vomit, Racism, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, and Bullying
melle_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-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? Yes
4.25
A fast, fun read for video game lovers, especially if listened to. Wade and his friends are endearing and have you rooting for them on their quest for the Egg. Wade’s teenage qualities are amusingly apparent in his strong confidence in his abilities, as well as how hard he falls for Art3mis and how down bad for her he becomes lol. It’s a simple tale that wraps up neatly at the end. Not sure if I’ll read the sequel as I feel satisfied by the first book, although more could be explored in the lead-up to Ready Player One’s events. 4.25 stars :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Racism
The antagonist organization commits violent crime in attempt to thwart the heroes’ journey, murdering their loved ones. The organization’s influence allows them to frame it as accidental/suicide and disguise their involvement, which to me is very dystopian.ecn's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Overall it was fine. Exactly what you’d expect. I’m knocking points off bc it’s not my style of book, but mostly bc of the handful of racist/homophobic/transphobic comments from the MCs. The situations where the comments were made were absolutely not called for to advance any plot or give any purpose to the story - they’re disgusting throwaway comments which… hmm wonder what that must say about the author
Content Warnings
Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Violence
danka66's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Transphobia, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts
_nem_'s review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
This is my go to book whenever I'm in a reading slump. I can just whizz through the pages and it gets me excited about reading again. I like how there are almost two stories running in parallel with real life and the world inside the OASIS. The world building is amazing and could be expanded on so much as well. I like the puzzle aspects as well and how it isn't immediately obvious to the characters what the solution is.
I didn't understand all of the 80s references but that didn't take away from the book. Everything was explained so you could know what it was without having come across that media before.
I didn't understand all of the 80s references but that didn't take away from the book. Everything was explained so you could know what it was without having come across that media before.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent, Violence, Racism, War, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism
wesleyreads's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
The writing style was very dry, at times cringy, at the level of a teenager. I was bored throughout almost the entire book. Many descriptive words are used and re-used a lot throughout a chapter and the whole book, sometimes even within a page. Often the only description given to a place/thing is that it looks like [insert 80s reference]. The pacing was off, there were large parts of the book where nothing really happened but there were massive detailed unnecessary descriptions that added nothing to the plot or character development. When there were finally scenes that were supposed to drive the plot forward, they were described in a rushed pace without any tension, making them fall flat.
(spoiler warning for this paragraph:)
The characters themselves lacked depth, were unlikable, with the main character being the worst. He was self-involved, arrogant, transphobic and fatphobic, and way too good at 80's pop culture knowledge and playing video games to be believable. Allegedly he had dozens of complete movies, video games and tv shows as well as this whole 'Almanak' memorised. As in, their entire scripts, all the words, in their entirety. He also pulls off some elaborate stunts which are left unexplained (e.g. after being detained at one point he simply hacks into the system of this highly secured building to let himself literally walk out, conveniently avoiding any security). His romance was clumsily done (and included our 'hero' obsessively stalking his love interest) and added nothing to the plot. The deceased inventor of the OASIS, who for some unknown (plot hole?!) reasons after his death set out a competition for all OASIS players to go on a quest and ultimately win ownership of the OASIS, was widely regarded as a hero, yet many of the descriptions of him were about how hard he was to work with and how rude he was?? None of the characters experience any growth. Two Japanese sidecharacters are portrayed as racist stereotypes.
To be fair, I don't know much of the 80's pop culture. But the book is clearly written in order to show off the author's extensive 80s pop culture knowledge as there are so many references per page that it gets extremely repetitive.
The worldbuilding is interesting but since a lot of time is focused on describing OASIS and its technology, the dystopian state of the world is left unexplained.
Overall, this book is just bad. Would only recommend for people who love 80's pop culture or are interested in the way the fictional technology of the OASIS functions.
The characters themselves lacked depth, were unlikable, with the main character being the worst. He was self-involved, arrogant, transphobic and fatphobic, and way too good at 80's pop culture knowledge and playing video games to be believable. Allegedly he had dozens of complete movies, video games and tv shows as well as this whole 'Almanak' memorised. As in, their entire scripts, all the words, in their entirety. He also pulls off some elaborate stunts which are left unexplained (e.g. after being detained at one point he simply hacks into the system of this highly secured building to let himself literally walk out, conveniently avoiding any security). His romance was clumsily done (and included our 'hero' obsessively stalking his love interest) and added nothing to the plot. The deceased inventor of the OASIS, who for some unknown (plot hole?!) reasons after his death set out a competition for all OASIS players to go on a quest and ultimately win ownership of the OASIS, was widely regarded as a hero, yet many of the descriptions of him were about how hard he was to work with and how rude he was?? None of the characters experience any growth. Two Japanese sidecharacters are portrayed as racist stereotypes.
To be fair, I don't know much of the 80's pop culture. But the book is clearly written in order to show off the author's extensive 80s pop culture knowledge as there are so many references per page that it gets extremely repetitive.
The worldbuilding is interesting but since a lot of time is focused on describing OASIS and its technology, the dystopian state of the world is left unexplained.
Overall, this book is just bad. Would only recommend for people who love 80's pop culture or are interested in the way the fictional technology of the OASIS functions.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, and Transphobia
jasminrain's review against another edition
adventurous
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
I really enjoyed this book. I think it's a very beautiful portrayal of the gaming community and an ode to pop culture. It was researched really well and it was just an absolute joy to immerse myself to the story even though I have little to no connection to the world.
I was a bit hesitant to read the book having seen the film, but the storyline was actually quite different to the film adaptation and brought more layers to the story. I listened to the audiobook read by Wil Wheaton and it just really brought the story to life in all the best ways possible.
All this being said, there was some problematic language and transphobia that were left completely unaddressed, which I found really problematic considering the target age and audience of this book. So not a five star but really good read.
I was a bit hesitant to read the book having seen the film, but the storyline was actually quite different to the film adaptation and brought more layers to the story. I listened to the audiobook read by Wil Wheaton and it just really brought the story to life in all the best ways possible.
All this being said, there was some problematic language and transphobia that were left completely unaddressed, which I found really problematic considering the target age and audience of this book. So not a five star but really good read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Transphobia, Cursing, Violence, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Bullying, Fatphobia, Murder, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Racism, Addiction, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts