A review by enchantedfiction
Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

2.0

Ready Player One was such a fun experience that I read it physically first, and then got it on Audible to get the listening experience. I also went and saw the movie, and enjoyed that as well. So when I saw that there was a sequel, I got excited. Take me back into the Oasis, let's see what else that future holds. And I hate to say that I was very disappointed in this one. It felt ultimately like a cash grab and not like it was a thought out, cared for story. I became instantly turned off by Wade's change in attitude, and the recycled scavenger hunt idea didn't feel as exciting or high stakes even though we were told to believe that many lives were at stake. I was hoping this would help me come out of the slump I had been feeling with the book I was reading physically, but that was not the case. I ended up speeding up the reading pace just to get it over with. The ending was extremely cringey to me, and the second I figured out what was going on I actually rolled my eyes. I seriously hate to feel like this about a book, but it was just meh. I give it more than one star because the concept was okay, it just didn't feel like the right direction for where the story could have gone, and I would have loved to know more about different characters and to see the story go in a different way.

I wish I had glimmers of parts I really enjoyed to kind of save this, but I honestly can't think of any. This won't make me appreciate Ready Player One any less, I'll just pretend it was a standalone, like I think it was intended to be at first.