A review by shirarweiss
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had more knowledge and/or excitement about video game history and 80s culture. It took a long time for anything to really happen; there was so much world building- which was necessary to understand this highly detailed world- but it felt like sometimes the plot stopped entirely in favor of a long explanation of the world and its history or a cultural reference. Sometimes time just suddenly jumped in a confusing way. The way Wade talked about women and gender was… uncomfortable. And strange. The book did make me think about the blurred lines between reality and technology, which is fascinating and frightening. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings