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paigehf's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Death
Moderate: Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Blood
Minor: Rape
aseel_reads's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Like the first book, the info dump of 80s pop culture is annoying, but when take that all away, the plot is okay and I did like the Tolkien and prince worlds, cool premise
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Cancer
kelly_e's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Title: Ready Player Two
Author: Ernest Cline
Series: Ready Player One #2
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: November 24, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Imaginative • Adventurous • Disappointing
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday's contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.
Hidden within Halliday's vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous--and addictive--than even Wade dreamed possible.
With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest--a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize.
And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who'll kill millions to get what he wants.
Wade's life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I absolutely (and surprisingly) loved Ready Player One, so I was excited when I found out there would be a sequel. Unfortunately, this one didn't have the same impact as the first one did.
Some of the ideas and quests were interesting, yet as the story progressed I found it harder and harder to stay invested in what was happening, which was the opposite in book one. Oddly, as the stakes got higher, I found myself caring less. It's quite possible that there's just too much content that I didn't know about or relate to. Wade's character arc shows a lot of development from start to finish, something we didn't get in book one. The focus on a group of friends working together to solve the quests was appreciated.
Ready Player One is one of those books that would have been better off left as a stand-alone. I can understand some readers are really going to be drawn into it if they have an interest in all of the pop culture references. Again, I'd highly recommend the audio narrated by Wil Wheaton as he does a fantastic job.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• 80/90s babies
• science fiction fans
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Human beings were never meant to participate in a worldwide social network comprised of billions of people. We were designed by evolution to be hunter-gatherers, with the mental capacity to interact and socialize with the other members of our tribe—a tribe made up of a few hundred other people at most. Interacting with thousands or even millions of other people on a daily basis was way too much for our ape-descended melons to handle. That was why social media had been gradually driving the entire population of the world insane since it emerged back around the turn of the century."
Author: Ernest Cline
Series: Ready Player One #2
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: November 24, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Imaginative • Adventurous • Disappointing
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday's contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.
Hidden within Halliday's vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous--and addictive--than even Wade dreamed possible.
With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest--a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize.
And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who'll kill millions to get what he wants.
Wade's life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I absolutely (and surprisingly) loved Ready Player One, so I was excited when I found out there would be a sequel. Unfortunately, this one didn't have the same impact as the first one did.
Some of the ideas and quests were interesting, yet as the story progressed I found it harder and harder to stay invested in what was happening, which was the opposite in book one. Oddly, as the stakes got higher, I found myself caring less. It's quite possible that there's just too much content that I didn't know about or relate to. Wade's character arc shows a lot of development from start to finish, something we didn't get in book one. The focus on a group of friends working together to solve the quests was appreciated.
Ready Player One is one of those books that would have been better off left as a stand-alone. I can understand some readers are really going to be drawn into it if they have an interest in all of the pop culture references. Again, I'd highly recommend the audio narrated by Wil Wheaton as he does a fantastic job.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• 80/90s babies
• science fiction fans
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Human beings were never meant to participate in a worldwide social network comprised of billions of people. We were designed by evolution to be hunter-gatherers, with the mental capacity to interact and socialize with the other members of our tribe—a tribe made up of a few hundred other people at most. Interacting with thousands or even millions of other people on a daily basis was way too much for our ape-descended melons to handle. That was why social media had been gradually driving the entire population of the world insane since it emerged back around the turn of the century."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Confinement, Drug use, Grief, Addiction, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, and Stalking
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Ableism, Cursing, and Body shaming
overdoseishouldbereading's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Death
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Addiction, Torture, and Kidnapping
Minor: Stalking, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
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
5.0
This was so much fun!
Ready Player One was unlike any other book I'd ever read. It seamlessly meshed together adventure and pop culture in a way that just had me coming back for more. My husband and I listened to the audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton on a road trip and it made the time fly!
When I heard there would be a sequel, I didn't know what to expect. It felt as if the story had ended. I wondered if there would be another cast of characters or a completely different world or what?! If we're being really honest, I didn't go into this one with high expectations because I didn't think anything could capture my attention as the first book had.
I was wrong. This is how you write a sequel, people! Once again, I chose to listen to the audiobook (because no one narrates quite like Wil) and it was phenomenal from beginning to end. Action-packed and quick-paced, never a boring moment!
There were two tiny elements that I didn't adore and those were: the back-and-forth between avatar names and character names. It got confusing when the narration didn't stick with just one of them so at first, I couldn't even remember who "Samantha" was and it wasn't until she was titled "Artemis" that I was able to recall who they were speaking of. In addition, I didn't like Wade and Samantha's relationship. It was all so dramatic and chaotic. I realize that it was fundamental to the plot, but for most of the story, it didn't feel like that was the case and I kept getting frustrated with their immature tendencies.
I really loved the ending. It was not at all what I expected, but it was super cool and the epilogue really fascinated me. It felt like it was totally wrapped up and there couldn't be any more story... but maybe there could be? Could we have a story for just the Low Five in the future? We'll see, I guess!
Ready Player One was unlike any other book I'd ever read. It seamlessly meshed together adventure and pop culture in a way that just had me coming back for more. My husband and I listened to the audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton on a road trip and it made the time fly!
When I heard there would be a sequel, I didn't know what to expect. It felt as if the story had ended. I wondered if there would be another cast of characters or a completely different world or what?! If we're being really honest, I didn't go into this one with high expectations because I didn't think anything could capture my attention as the first book had.
I was wrong. This is how you write a sequel, people! Once again, I chose to listen to the audiobook (because no one narrates quite like Wil) and it was phenomenal from beginning to end. Action-packed and quick-paced, never a boring moment!
There were two tiny elements that I didn't adore and those were: the back-and-forth between avatar names and character names. It got confusing when the narration didn't stick with just one of them so at first, I couldn't even remember who "Samantha" was and it wasn't until she was titled "Artemis" that I was able to recall who they were speaking of. In addition, I didn't like Wade and Samantha's relationship. It was all so dramatic and chaotic. I realize that it was fundamental to the plot, but for most of the story, it didn't feel like that was the case and I kept getting frustrated with their immature tendencies.
I really loved the ending. It was not at all what I expected, but it was super cool and the epilogue really fascinated me. It felt like it was totally wrapped up and there couldn't be any more story... but maybe there could be? Could we have a story for just the Low Five in the future? We'll see, I guess!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Death, and Violence
Minor: Racism and Homophobia
shadyeglenn's review against another edition
0/10 Just Plain Bad
Straight, white, cis man writes self-indulgent and philosophically bankrupt piece of nostalgia porn featuring racist, sexist, and homophobic ideologies.
For a good SF book written by a white man with similar-ish SF tech, I would recommend:
-An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
For all around excellent SF to get the homophobic/sexist/racist taste out of your mouth:
-The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
For hard SF:
-The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken
For thrilling SF that is a great catharsis for releasing anger (with a satisfying ending):
-The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
Please value your time and read something other than this book, see above suggestions for a valuable use of your time.
Straight, white, cis man writes self-indulgent and philosophically bankrupt piece of nostalgia porn featuring racist, sexist, and homophobic ideologies.
For a good SF book written by a white man with similar-ish SF tech, I would recommend:
-An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
For all around excellent SF to get the homophobic/sexist/racist taste out of your mouth:
-The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
For hard SF:
-The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken
For thrilling SF that is a great catharsis for releasing anger (with a satisfying ending):
-The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
Please value your time and read something other than this book, see above suggestions for a valuable use of your time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, and Misogyny
abithereader's review against another edition
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.0
This is easily the worst book I have ever read, and managed to be even worse than the first book. 2/3 of this book is just info dumping and the actual plot of the novel is crammed into the remaining third. Cline has tried to improve on the tokenism and transphobia of RPO and made it so much worse. Every living and relevant female character in the series uses the OASIS to hide part of their identity, these do not exist to add to the characterisation of women, instead these are used to demonstrate Wade's positive reaction to these being revealed to show how supposedly progressive and changed he is.
I read this for my dissertation on literature featuring women with birthmarks, I hoped that Cline would develop Art3mis' backstory and emotions about her birthmark and how this influenced her decision to hide it. Very little time is given to this, Art3mis says in an interview that she hated her birthmark growing up and that is it, suggesting that Cline has given zero thought to why a person with a birthmark might want to hide that they have it.
The whole point of the quest is to bring back an AI version of Kira that a rouge AI of Halliday made without her consent so that she can choose to be destroyed or remain an AI. Once this is achieved, Wade gains the power to create AI avatars of people who've used an ONI headset and immediately produces AI avatars without their consent, which is portrayed as a good thing, love to see a book that has zero moral framework.
I read this for my dissertation on literature featuring women with birthmarks, I hoped that Cline would develop Art3mis' backstory and emotions about her birthmark and how this influenced her decision to hide it. Very little time is given to this, Art3mis says in an interview that she hated her birthmark growing up and that is it, suggesting that Cline has given zero thought to why a person with a birthmark might want to hide that they have it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Transphobia and Homophobia
kaylamoran's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was worried about this book when I heard about it, because I felt like Ready Player One was one of those books that should remain a standalone. After reading this, I think I was right.
Ready Player One was, in my opinion, better than this book in every single way. It was paced better, the story was more exciting, more happened (this one felt repetitive, like it was the same thing over and over with very little variety). It was funnier, and the characters had more personality. There weren't many surprise twists and big reveals. All in all, I'm left feeling disappointed.
I didn't hate this by any means. I still give it 3 stars. But, given that the first book was much better, and Cline had the better part of a decade to write this, I had hoped for a lot better.
Ready Player One was, in my opinion, better than this book in every single way. It was paced better, the story was more exciting, more happened (this one felt repetitive, like it was the same thing over and over with very little variety). It was funnier, and the characters had more personality. There weren't many surprise twists and big reveals. All in all, I'm left feeling disappointed.
I didn't hate this by any means. I still give it 3 stars. But, given that the first book was much better, and Cline had the better part of a decade to write this, I had hoped for a lot better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Violence, Medical trauma, and Kidnapping
Minor: Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Terminal illness
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