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khrox 's review for:
In Real Life
by Cory Doctorow, Jen Wang
In Real Life was a beautiful story that forced me to question the consequences my actions have on others in the world. The illustrations were fantastic, and the authors did an excellent job of suggesting further aspects of the story without flat-out describing them to the reader. However, just because a graphic novel can extend a short story into a 175-page read doesn't justify skimping on the meat of the narrative. In Real Life could've been longer and more detailed, but instead it felt like I was reading a children's novel. For example, I wasn't quite clear on the farming mechanics and paid missions in the world of Coarsegold Online. A little bit more effort could've been given towards explaining exactly how these aspects function, and what other characters' roles in the game are.
This novel was very successful at getting inside my head and sticking with me, and I believe it was a valuable read, but I wanted so much more from it. I would likely only recommend it to young girls, because I believe that its content is too sparse to really appeal to a higher reading level. Not to say that older readers won't enjoy In Real Life, but I expect more from a story before I recommend it to that demographic. Young girls will hopefully love and learn from this book, and feel more confident about their place in the world.
This novel was very successful at getting inside my head and sticking with me, and I believe it was a valuable read, but I wanted so much more from it. I would likely only recommend it to young girls, because I believe that its content is too sparse to really appeal to a higher reading level. Not to say that older readers won't enjoy In Real Life, but I expect more from a story before I recommend it to that demographic. Young girls will hopefully love and learn from this book, and feel more confident about their place in the world.