A review by librarianryan
Otaku by Chris Kluwe

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 Otaku is a Japanese word for someone to whom fandom is life.  They live their fandom day to day, in and out.  It is everything, so much so that it can damage and even eradicate their social life.  And it’s the perfect title for this book.  Take Ready Player one, and mix it with Warcross and you get this book.  The game is life.  Most people play and even work within the game.  Most everyone is in Candyland, but only the best can climb the ladder for all the fame and glory.  However in future Florida  (now called the Southern Protectorate) where society is based on religious rules, being a woman is somehow less than being a man, and being a woman at the top of the leader boards makes you target for those who want you put in your place.  But the game is really just training missions to make better soldiers, and only the best can take over the world.  Overall I really enjoyed this read.  The ending was totally predictable, but the ride to get there was fun.  I loved the kick ass females.   I loved all the diversity, it didn’t feel forced. However, I wish it was more prominent that the lead was Black.  It was almost buried and easily skipped over.  You can not tell from the cover that the character is Black, and with an Asian world title it would not have been an easy guess.  Other than that, no complaints.  A fun escape read.