Scan barcode
A review by wesleyreads
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
The writing style was very dry, at times cringy, at the level of a teenager. I was bored throughout almost the entire book. Many descriptive words are used and re-used a lot throughout a chapter and the whole book, sometimes even within a page. Often the only description given to a place/thing is that it looks like [insert 80s reference]. The pacing was off, there were large parts of the book where nothing really happened but there were massive detailed unnecessary descriptions that added nothing to the plot or character development. When there were finally scenes that were supposed to drive the plot forward, they were described in a rushed pace without any tension, making them fall flat.
(spoiler warning for this paragraph:)
The characters themselves lacked depth, were unlikable, with the main character being the worst. He was self-involved, arrogant, transphobic and fatphobic, and way too good at 80's pop culture knowledge and playing video games to be believable. Allegedly he had dozens of complete movies, video games and tv shows as well as this whole 'Almanak' memorised. As in, their entire scripts, all the words, in their entirety. He also pulls off some elaborate stunts which are left unexplained (e.g. after being detained at one point he simply hacks into the system of this highly secured building to let himself literally walk out, conveniently avoiding any security). His romance was clumsily done (and included our 'hero' obsessively stalking his love interest) and added nothing to the plot. The deceased inventor of the OASIS, who for some unknown (plot hole?!) reasons after his death set out a competition for all OASIS players to go on a quest and ultimately win ownership of the OASIS, was widely regarded as a hero, yet many of the descriptions of him were about how hard he was to work with and how rude he was?? None of the characters experience any growth. Two Japanese sidecharacters are portrayed as racist stereotypes.
To be fair, I don't know much of the 80's pop culture. But the book is clearly written in order to show off the author's extensive 80s pop culture knowledge as there are so many references per page that it gets extremely repetitive.
The worldbuilding is interesting but since a lot of time is focused on describing OASIS and its technology, the dystopian state of the world is left unexplained.
Overall, this book is just bad. Would only recommend for people who love 80's pop culture or are interested in the way the fictional technology of the OASIS functions.
The characters themselves lacked depth, were unlikable, with the main character being the worst. He was self-involved, arrogant, transphobic and fatphobic, and way too good at 80's pop culture knowledge and playing video games to be believable. Allegedly he had dozens of complete movies, video games and tv shows as well as this whole 'Almanak' memorised. As in, their entire scripts, all the words, in their entirety. He also pulls off some elaborate stunts which are left unexplained (e.g. after being detained at one point he simply hacks into the system of this highly secured building to let himself literally walk out, conveniently avoiding any security). His romance was clumsily done (and included our 'hero' obsessively stalking his love interest) and added nothing to the plot. The deceased inventor of the OASIS, who for some unknown (plot hole?!) reasons after his death set out a competition for all OASIS players to go on a quest and ultimately win ownership of the OASIS, was widely regarded as a hero, yet many of the descriptions of him were about how hard he was to work with and how rude he was?? None of the characters experience any growth. Two Japanese sidecharacters are portrayed as racist stereotypes.
To be fair, I don't know much of the 80's pop culture. But the book is clearly written in order to show off the author's extensive 80s pop culture knowledge as there are so many references per page that it gets extremely repetitive.
The worldbuilding is interesting but since a lot of time is focused on describing OASIS and its technology, the dystopian state of the world is left unexplained.
Overall, this book is just bad. Would only recommend for people who love 80's pop culture or are interested in the way the fictional technology of the OASIS functions.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, and Transphobia