Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Ready Player One

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

7 reviews

jayjayre's review

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.

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buela22's review against another edition

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Overt stereotyping especially of ND people, misogyny, and I can't even imagine for a moment that it would pass the bechdel test even in one single paragraph.

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skyejay95's review

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adventurous informative lighthearted medium-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? No

3.5

I thought the world was fun but overall, there wasn’t that much happening and I hated the main character. Really didn’t like being in the head of an 18-year-old incel. Also, didn’t like the way the Japanese characters were painted like stereotypes. I’m not that well versed in the culture but I doubt they bow as much as they do in this book.

It’s also difficult to build tension when for the most part the stakes are limited to a fake world. The mc literally ignores all the major major issues in the real world for a video game and it isn’t really addressed at all. Wade does not grow as a person by the end. He just made me mad

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