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natureinspired's review
4.0
Giannine knew she should be happy it was her birthday. Even more happy her father had actually remembered her birthday on time. But that just wasn't the kind of person Giannine was. Her father's "gift" was a redeemable card to a gaming center. But this is no ordinary gaming center. This is Rassmusen Enterprises. A.K.A. where they hook you up to a video game and you experience it as if it is really happening to you.
As Giannine enters the new world of "Heir Apparent" nothing is supposed to go wrong, everything is gauranteed to be safe. But with Giannine's luck, something bad HAS to happen. Now Giannine is in a race against the unknown clock to beat the game and come back to reality before the system overloads and fries her brain. But again, that is just the story of Giannine's life.
As Giannine enters the new world of "Heir Apparent" nothing is supposed to go wrong, everything is gauranteed to be safe. But with Giannine's luck, something bad HAS to happen. Now Giannine is in a race against the unknown clock to beat the game and come back to reality before the system overloads and fries her brain. But again, that is just the story of Giannine's life.
troacctid's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
I remember reading this as a kid! It holds up really well. I didn't even know there were other books in the series—I'm going to have to go find them at some point!
myleem08's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
3.5
theidlereader's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Classism, Child death, Murder, War, and Violence
forthebookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
somewheregirl7's review
3.0
I'll be honest, I mostly picked up this audiobook because it was narrated by Carine Montreband and I was so in love with the Uglies books by Westerfeld that she narrated that I wanted to hear her voice again. The unconscious mental comparison between Westerfeld's book and this one may be skewing my opinion of it.
Summary: Fourteen-year-old Giannine becomes trapped in the virtual reality game Heir Apparent when an activist group attacks the gaming center where she's playing. Suddenly the safety measures that are supposed to protect her aren't there and every time Giannine dies in the game she edges closer toward a fatal brain overload.
Overall, the story stretched out too long for me and seemed rather thin. It was frustrating how many times Giannine had to start over and the same events repeated. While Giannine faced some tough decisions and lots of machinations, the pacing was just off. There needed to be more action and more happening. Too often it felt like Giannine was just floating along in the game, buffeted by various forces. The fact that none of the characters she was interacting with were real, and the reader knew that, also made it hard to form any sort of attachment to them. The characters were just a program with no personal consciousness and thus no real stake in the outcome of the story.
The dialogue and description are well done throughout and this is a well-written story. It's missing a spark however to take it from so-so to a really good book.
Summary: Fourteen-year-old Giannine becomes trapped in the virtual reality game Heir Apparent when an activist group attacks the gaming center where she's playing. Suddenly the safety measures that are supposed to protect her aren't there and every time Giannine dies in the game she edges closer toward a fatal brain overload.
Overall, the story stretched out too long for me and seemed rather thin. It was frustrating how many times Giannine had to start over and the same events repeated. While Giannine faced some tough decisions and lots of machinations, the pacing was just off. There needed to be more action and more happening. Too often it felt like Giannine was just floating along in the game, buffeted by various forces. The fact that none of the characters she was interacting with were real, and the reader knew that, also made it hard to form any sort of attachment to them. The characters were just a program with no personal consciousness and thus no real stake in the outcome of the story.
The dialogue and description are well done throughout and this is a well-written story. It's missing a spark however to take it from so-so to a really good book.
mm_seachelle's review
5.0
You can help but laugh when you read this book. The situations Giannine gets herself in are funny by themselves but then add in her attitude torwards it all and this book will be your "feel good" book!
mcoleman1250's review
5.0
Even though this novel is probably meant for a middle schooler, I still love it. I've read it many times and enjoy it every time. Its such a fun, comical read and is a nice book to take a break with or read on a car ride. Easy to read in one sitting. I didn't even realize it was in a series for many years and quite a few reads. You don't need to read them in order.