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abicaro17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
HOLY SHIT. Well gooddamm. So this is probably one of the best books I have ever read (well listened too but same difference). Wade Watts is a socially awkward poor 18 year old boy living in the year 2045. In this not so distant future, a immersive reality video game has taken over most of the planet. The Oasis was invented by James Haliday and Oggden Morrow. When Haliday died, his will revealed that he will leave all of his fortune and the entire Oasis game in the hands of the player who can find the egg he hid. Wade, and most of the Oasis population, has been searching for the first key for 5 years and when he accidentally stumbles upon the answer everything changes. This is a beautiful tale of love, friendship, perseverance, and ambition along with the message that reality is better than even the best recreations. I definitely thought this would be a boy book, based on the movie (which I have seen and can safely say this is almost nothing like it), but it pleasantly surprised me with how entertaining and emotionally deep Cline goes. This is a fantastic read/listen and I will be rereading this soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
sonjaelisee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Interesting ideas but doesn’t really say anything. Protagonist is definitely a teen boy from the early 2000s… who has never had a single meaningful female friendship in his life. That said, I did enjoy the quest/adventure… as long as I don’t think too hard about anything and breeze past some (all) of Wade’s problematic views. I am choosing to believe that Wade was written this way as satire/commentary on the classic incel nerd stereotype (even though I know he wasn’t)
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death of parent
rebekah_creates's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is one of my favorite re-readers! I love the focus on nerdy lore, from D&D to video games and everything in between. The only reason I didn’t rate it higher is because the character tends to be very whiny and self-centered, and he doesn’t grow much as a person throughout the book. The experience was positive in spite of the main character, rather than because of him.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, and Death of parent
jaklindberg's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
1980s' nerd porn
gatekeeping
incel
agoraphobic
recluse
gaming addiction
escapism
depression
masturbation
identity theft
low self-esteem
seeking social approval
stalking
misogyny
ableism
hyperfocus
There are many ways to describe this scary dystopian novel, which serves as a warning against relying too much on computers and how people become the humanoids from WALL-E, the 2008 Pixar film, by making connecting to the internet their sole aim in life. This got two stars because the storyline was easy to read/understand.
"In real life, I was nothing but an antisocial hermit. A recluse. A pale-skinned pop culture-obsessed geek. An agoraphobic shut-in with no real friends, family, or genuine human contact. I was just another sad, lost, lonely soul, wasting his life on a glorified videogame."
"You know you've totally screwed up your life when your whole world turns to shit, and the only person you have to talk to is your system agent software."
"I'd been offline for eight whole days- a personal record."
"...an obsessive-compulsive geek with no life."
"...I never felt at home in the real world. I didn't know how to connect with the people there. I was afraid for all of my life. Right up until I knew it was ending. That was when I realized that, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it's also the only place to find true happiness. Because reality is REAL."
gatekeeping
incel
agoraphobic
recluse
gaming addiction
escapism
depression
masturbation
identity theft
low self-esteem
seeking social approval
stalking
misogyny
ableism
hyperfocus
There are many ways to describe this scary dystopian novel, which serves as a warning against relying too much on computers and how people become the humanoids from WALL-E, the 2008 Pixar film, by making connecting to the internet their sole aim in life. This got two stars because the storyline was easy to read/understand.
"In real life, I was nothing but an antisocial hermit. A recluse. A pale-skinned pop culture-obsessed geek. An agoraphobic shut-in with no real friends, family, or genuine human contact. I was just another sad, lost, lonely soul, wasting his life on a glorified videogame."
"You know you've totally screwed up your life when your whole world turns to shit, and the only person you have to talk to is your system agent software."
"I'd been offline for eight whole days- a personal record."
"...an obsessive-compulsive geek with no life."
"...I never felt at home in the real world. I didn't know how to connect with the people there. I was afraid for all of my life. Right up until I knew it was ending. That was when I realized that, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it's also the only place to find true happiness. Because reality is REAL."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, and Sexism
a_novi's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
For the first time in my life I was actually glad I watched the movie before I read the book. The move adaptation absolutely changed EVERYTHING about the challenges and so many huge details of the story. If I had read this book before the movie came out I would have been FURIOUS in the theater. This book is awesome. The futuristic dystopian concept is fascinating and scarily metaphorical for reality at times. There’s mysteries, puzzles, romance, suspense, and emotion. This is a book that I would read over again to catch even more detail the second time around. Good movie. Even better book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
madeline_m's review against another edition
I wanted to like it. Truly, I tried. The cool pop culture references felt more like aggressive gatekeeping. Any buildup or suspense was killed by main character VERY quickly figuring out the answer.
I guess I was expecting to follow an adventure and solve puzzles along side the characters. Not what the story is interested in. Oh well.
I guess I was expecting to follow an adventure and solve puzzles along side the characters. Not what the story is interested in. Oh well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Addiction
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
excellent! i haven't had that much fun in a while.
even though i'm a little too young (or too little of a game nerd) to understand most of the niche 80s game references, i still enjoyed them all.
the world—the stacks, the OASIS, etc.—is so incredibly interesting and made my video-game (and reality-hating) heart do flips of joy.
10/10, so much better than the movie.
even though i'm a little too young (or too little of a game nerd) to understand most of the niche 80s game references, i still enjoyed them all.
the world—the stacks, the OASIS, etc.—is so incredibly interesting and made my video-game (and reality-hating) heart do flips of joy.
10/10, so much better than the movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Grief, and Outing
lenorayoder's review against another edition
adventurous
3.0
I might have rated this 4 stars because I do think the world is cool, but the teen boy of it all gets to be a bit much, especially by the end of the book. At first I thought the main character was just an accurate portrayal of teen boyness, warts and all, but it becomes obvious as the book goes on that Wade can do no wrong (and actually those aren’t warts at all!) once he’s learned the Moral of the Story. Cline also really hits you over the head with said moral. And let’s not forget the clumsy exposition that continues throughout the novel. I can tolerate that at the beginning of a book, but the entire thing?? Also “rubenesque”. More than once. Kill me.
Kind of a bummer, because I think this book had a lot of potential. I still liked it though, and I’ll probably check out the sequel. I can definitely see why this was adapted into a movie and I’ll be checking that out too.
Kind of a bummer, because I think this book had a lot of potential. I still liked it though, and I’ll probably check out the sequel. I can definitely see why this was adapted into a movie and I’ll be checking that out too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia
oliverreeds's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.25
Good book; the portrayals of Shoto and Daito are a little racist; the main character is a pick-me boy and while he does experience some growth, most of it is because of a woman (sexist) and that whole subplot is honestly ridiculous. Like it suits the character but christ it’s a little excessive and he never faces any repercussions for his obsessive nature. We also never see a developing care for the outside world which realllly makes the love interest feel like a moral hospital for a promising young man. The world building is exceptional and the characters are all believable. I think the theme of race really gets trampled on//doesn’t get enough attention in the novel. It felt like an after thought, like the character was made to develop Wade into his final form. He’s the hero but he also sucks a lot. Also, there’s a paradoxical idolization of the creators or OASIS (rich) who honestly do and did so little to help the real world despite their vast sums of money (the reason why some characters want to win the game in the first place — to save the world). idk. the whole thing felt half-baked in terms of ideology but very strong in terms of character personas but weak in terms of character development
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Classism
voldycat's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, and Death of parent