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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Do you feel that the average book has too much conflict and risk for the protagonist to work at overcoming, or would you prefer a solution to be presented in the same paragraph in which a challenge appears? Do you like reading Wikipedia plot synopses in your spare time? Do you think a human being's worth is best measured by the pop culture they like, and how much they know about it? Do you think most girls don't like sci-fi or video games, but the cool ones do? Do you use the word "poser" unironically? How about arguing about pop culture—not like debating, but like going "nuh-uh" "yuh-huh" for two pages—is that your jam? If you have answered yes to any of the foregoing, this is the book for you!
If the reader starts to feel like stakes have been raised in the plot, the first-person narrator protagonist will helpfully and instantly explain that he finds out later that the risk wasn't really a risk. Or a threat will be made and then instantly be either carried out or utterly nullified, because we can't let any of that pesky tension stuff into the narrative.
And the puzzles—I mean, I like the movie WarGames so what I really want to read is someone telling me literally a line-by-line and action-by-action recap of it. If this book were a person at a party, I would be nodding politely while desperately looking for an excuse to move away from them. The problem isn't the geekiness; I'm a huge geek, but the act of referencing something witty or clever or cool does not thus bestow those qualities themselves upon the person doing the referencing.
Cool premise, shitty writing, bland characters, subtle misogyny—but wait, that can't be right, because the protagonist has a crush on a girl who weighs more than 120 lbs, and he totally, like, doesn't even mind when.
Not great, Bob! (Am I doing this right? You can tell I'm cool because I awkwardly shoe-horned in a pop culture reference, right?)
If the reader starts to feel like stakes have been raised in the plot, the first-person narrator protagonist will helpfully and instantly explain that he finds out later that the risk wasn't really a risk. Or a threat will be made and then instantly be either carried out or utterly nullified, because we can't let any of that pesky tension stuff into the narrative.
And the puzzles—I mean, I like the movie WarGames so what I really want to read is someone telling me literally a line-by-line and action-by-action recap of it. If this book were a person at a party, I would be nodding politely while desperately looking for an excuse to move away from them. The problem isn't the geekiness; I'm a huge geek, but the act of referencing something witty or clever or cool does not thus bestow those qualities themselves upon the person doing the referencing.
Cool premise, shitty writing, bland characters, subtle misogyny—but wait, that can't be right, because the protagonist has a crush on a girl who weighs more than 120 lbs, and he totally, like, doesn't even mind when
Spoiler
his best friend turns out to be an overweight gay black girl who like totally lied to him about it. And why would he mind, because now he's made sure we know that he's definitely interacted with a person of color and a queer person so those boxes are, like, totally checked and the audience all know he's a good person. (Dropping the snideness for a moment, this really stood out to me because, in a virtual world in which people can take on ANY form, this is the ONLY time Cline mentions skin color; the rest of the time we're left to assume everyone is white, because that's the default, right? I mean, I guess he tried? But yeeshNot great, Bob! (Am I doing this right? You can tell I'm cool because I awkwardly shoe-horned in a pop culture reference, right?)
Filled with so many awesome references to 80s pop culture and different nerd subcultures. Definitely recommended!
funny
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
La verdad que habiendo visto la película me esperaba otra cosa, y habiéndolo leído me gustó mucho más que la película. Uno de los puntos que en la película me confundían más es que todo el mundo prácticamente llevaba personajes conocidos y no personajes custom, pero, por lo que veo es algo directamente hecho para la película para hacer tantos cameos. Por lo demás me gustó la historia y como utilizan la cultura pop en general, me enganche muchísimo con la aventura.
Solid YA high-speed roller-coaster of a novel. Crammed to the gunnels with '80s popular cultural references, you get the distinct impression that we are witnessing the author indulging his own personal love for the decade. I haven't seen the movie, but imagine it would transfer to the screen with ease. The deja vu I got from reading the first dozen pages of Artemis (his next novel) at the end were enough to convince me I don't need to read any more, but I enjoyed burning through this one.
I loved this book start to finish. Loved. Will be reading again