thelauramay's review
4.0
This book was really cute. Tbh it made a lot of references I didn't quite get - I don't think I play the same games as the author - but still really enjoyable. I'd definitely recommend to anyone who likes gaming-based romances (hahaha and other people, too).
stacybethi's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book with many references to geek culture even though I am not a gamer and not familiar with those references. Basically a story about a group of college students on a video game quest over the holiday break with romances betw several couples in the group. A lot of bad language and sexual references, so parents be warned.
momwithareadingproblem's review against another edition
5.0
I can honestly say that I have never laughed so hard while reading a book. I literally woke my husband up from a dead sleep because I was laughing hysterically!
Backward Compatible: A Geek Love Story by Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark takes a spin on romance and blends it with the gaming world and those who follow it. Katie is a hardcore gamer who while trying to buy a video game at a midnight release (which also included some cosplay) gets the game snatched out of her hands by George who happens to be a guy version of Katie (in my humble opinion).
I loved these characters and the alternating POV! Katie and George are both home from college for their Christmas breaks and with a new game release plan to spend the break beating this game. When the unfortunate turn of events leaves them fighting over the game (Katie won, playing dirty I might add), a very awkward relationship begins. Katie is awesome! She is awkward, never having dated much, but she is very comfortable in her own skin, not seeming to care what others think and an excellent gamer. George is definitely the insecure guy who has never socialized much, if at all, except for those he knows through Xbox live. In addition to the main characters there are some pretty awesome ancillary characters, such as Lanyon, George's best friend who reminds me a lot of a friend of mine growing up. He is constantly coming up with one liner jokes and bless him he doesn't know when to stop.
The plot of this story is fairly simple and two-fold. 1) Beat the mega-hidden-boss in new video game and be the first group to do it & 2) Get the girl. If you are not a hardcore gamer, that's ok. You will still understand some of what is happening in this book. If you are a hardcore gamer, you will not only understand what is going on but also get all the hidden jokes and similes which are quite funny. One of my favorite parts is where George, in a sleep-deprived state, decides to write a poem to Katie that basically equates her and his feelings for her to several different games (and I was quite proud of myself that I got them all!) And as a true geek/nerd myself, I think I may have found a new book boyfriend when George crafted Link's heart and gave it to Katie (((sigh)))
Is this your typical women's lit romance? Absolutely NOT!!! However, it is enough of a romance to fall into that category. Will you enjoy it? I did. I loved it! But I am also a geek/nerd/former-gamer myself so the jokes, the guy humor, and the all-out pop-culture references to things like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars I totally got and loved. This book must have been written for me because the authors nailed it, in fact I think this would be hilarious (if the authors were involved that is) on the big screen. Awkward at times and laugh so hard you snort this book is well worth the read.
Backward Compatible: A Geek Love Story by Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark takes a spin on romance and blends it with the gaming world and those who follow it. Katie is a hardcore gamer who while trying to buy a video game at a midnight release (which also included some cosplay) gets the game snatched out of her hands by George who happens to be a guy version of Katie (in my humble opinion).
These are my kind of guys, and I am a girl in a game store. Since I know it won't result in actual violence, I have no problem playing the boob card. -Katie
I loved these characters and the alternating POV! Katie and George are both home from college for their Christmas breaks and with a new game release plan to spend the break beating this game. When the unfortunate turn of events leaves them fighting over the game (Katie won, playing dirty I might add), a very awkward relationship begins. Katie is awesome! She is awkward, never having dated much, but she is very comfortable in her own skin, not seeming to care what others think and an excellent gamer. George is definitely the insecure guy who has never socialized much, if at all, except for those he knows through Xbox live. In addition to the main characters there are some pretty awesome ancillary characters, such as Lanyon, George's best friend who reminds me a lot of a friend of mine growing up. He is constantly coming up with one liner jokes and bless him he doesn't know when to stop.
"Feel my openhanded rage, you petulant nad nibbler," he taunts me. We're educated college students. And this is how we spend our nights. Pretty sweet really. -George
The plot of this story is fairly simple and two-fold. 1) Beat the mega-hidden-boss in new video game and be the first group to do it & 2) Get the girl. If you are not a hardcore gamer, that's ok. You will still understand some of what is happening in this book. If you are a hardcore gamer, you will not only understand what is going on but also get all the hidden jokes and similes which are quite funny. One of my favorite parts is where George, in a sleep-deprived state, decides to write a poem to Katie that basically equates her and his feelings for her to several different games (and I was quite proud of myself that I got them all!) And as a true geek/nerd myself, I think I may have found a new book boyfriend when George crafted Link's heart and gave it to Katie (((sigh)))
Is this your typical women's lit romance? Absolutely NOT!!! However, it is enough of a romance to fall into that category. Will you enjoy it? I did. I loved it! But I am also a geek/nerd/former-gamer myself so the jokes, the guy humor, and the all-out pop-culture references to things like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars I totally got and loved. This book must have been written for me because the authors nailed it, in fact I think this would be hilarious (if the authors were involved that is) on the big screen. Awkward at times and laugh so hard you snort this book is well worth the read.
nixwolfwood's review against another edition
5.0
My review: http://www.platypire.com/3/post/2014/01/backward-compatible.html (I will post it here when I get on a computer. I thought it was already here)
piperbunny's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you Netgalley for a humorous... slightly predictive book.
Firstly this book must be taken with a pinch of salt, it's essentially a chick-litty love story... for gamers with a lot of swearing and innuendos and tons of references that I probably didn't get all of them (especially as I don't play MMORPGs!) - I think that's right?! But it is a funny, feel good book.
I liked the main character, a female gamer who can stand up on her own two feet, not sure about her in the start of the book, how she uses her female qualities to get what she wants and the 'stereotypical' male gamer response :/ And the one reference about women being in the kitchen but then the fact that they said it wasn't a sexist remark those were the only two people who could make sandwiches and then actual used the sentence 'in the kitchen' hmmm...
Apart from that the book kept me wanting to read, kept me interested... even the game they all played sounds so familiar - although I'm guessing it's based on WoW or Final Fantasy or something like that (which I've never played myself!) but the whole culture of gaming with friends, on mic... falling asleep on mic... eating snacks and gaming until the early hours of the morning is all very familiar. :) I did enjoy it more than what I thought I would.
And seeing as I'm writing this gone midnight having stayed up to finish the book I'm going to stop rambling and go to sleep.
Firstly this book must be taken with a pinch of salt, it's essentially a chick-litty love story... for gamers with a lot of swearing and innuendos and tons of references that I probably didn't get all of them (especially as I don't play MMORPGs!) - I think that's right?! But it is a funny, feel good book.
I liked the main character, a female gamer who can stand up on her own two feet, not sure about her in the start of the book, how she uses her female qualities to get what she wants and the 'stereotypical' male gamer response :/ And the one reference about women being in the kitchen but then the fact that they said it wasn't a sexist remark those were the only two people who could make sandwiches and then actual used the sentence 'in the kitchen' hmmm...
Apart from that the book kept me wanting to read, kept me interested... even the game they all played sounds so familiar - although I'm guessing it's based on WoW or Final Fantasy or something like that (which I've never played myself!) but the whole culture of gaming with friends, on mic... falling asleep on mic... eating snacks and gaming until the early hours of the morning is all very familiar. :) I did enjoy it more than what I thought I would.
And seeing as I'm writing this gone midnight having stayed up to finish the book I'm going to stop rambling and go to sleep.
jessidee's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, here's the thing. I'm not the target audience for this book. I thought I was (I'm a geek, I'm [relatively] young, I'm a fan of all those things listed in the synopsis, I picked up on almost every single reference in this book, etc), and yet I really didn't relate to the characters in this book. For one thing, they are REALLY immature. When they talked about being in college, I didn't believe them. I teach high schoolers with better socialization skills than these kids. For another thing, they are REALLY mean. And not just to the random mean girls who show up towards the end and harass one of the main characters; George and Lanyon, supposedly the best of friends, spend most of their conversations trading insults. When they game as a group, they gang up on one player in particular (a "hipster douche" who had the temerity to grow a goatee IRL) and constantly attack him verbally and kill him virtually. The two main geeks are pretty one-dimensional: Katie likes to game and has boobs! George also likes to game and he also likes boobs! Neither one of them really has much personality, and they don't really know anything about each other. Katie seemed like she was getting some characterization and growth (she appears borderline-agoraphobic and admits to feeling depressed and anxious about her budding relationship with George), but that is magically dealt with when he - no joke - pulls a Spider-Man-esque stunt and cheers her up. George, for his part, spends a lot of time quoting Shakespeare (along with literally HUNDREDS of pop culture references) and reading books, so of course he's an English major. I felt like these were stock "geek" types rather than being fully fleshed-out people. There was no need for George and Lanyon to constantly allude to Star Wars, Portal, WoW, etc. And some of the allusions didn't make sense! Sephiroth's forehead compared to a bright light? Seriously? And can we please, for the love of all that is holy, drop the "That's what she said!" jokes? There were other minor things that bugged me as I was reading (ripping on The Hobbit sequel, referring to it as The Hobbit 2, sexual harassment during said movie, Katie's vehement anti-girly agenda), but honestly I'm getting more annoyed now as I'm thinking about it.
Which is not to say that it was all bad. There were parts that I liked - the "secret boss" of the video game and what it entails reminded me of Ready Player One, but I really enjoyed the twist in this book. It's also got some humor, although a lot was lost on me because it involved insulting someone's mom or threatening violence or rape. Ultimately, it's a lighthearted romance that just didn't work for me.
Which is not to say that it was all bad. There were parts that I liked - the "secret boss" of the video game and what it entails reminded me of Ready Player One, but I really enjoyed the twist in this book. It's also got some humor, although a lot was lost on me because it involved insulting someone's mom or threatening violence or rape. Ultimately, it's a lighthearted romance that just didn't work for me.
charlottejones952's review against another edition
5.0
This story is told from two different people’s perspectives, Kate and George. I really loved that you got to see both character’s lives separately, even though they are obviously linked, and their personalities felt very true to life. The way George and his best friend Lanyon talk to each other seems very true of teenage boys and I found it refreshing to read about geeky characters rather than the usual hipster girl falling for the jock.
The involvement of video games in this book is immense, with names and films being referenced throughout. I have to admit that I didn’t understand some of the references but whenever I came across one that I did recognise, it made me feel a little more connected to the characters and the story. Also although the characters do swear and discuss inappropriate things, it is still a Young Adult novel and is suitable for older YA readers.
The game in this story was really interesting and I enjoyed the interactions that happened between the characters whilst they were playing. I must say that the game itself took centre stage for a lot of the novel but I really enjoyed it and found it was realistic. I loved the relationship between George and Katie and think that it was a realistic portrayal of a young couple, especially one of the geeky persuasion.
I woud definitely recommend this geeky new release to anyone, especially if you are interested in video games. I couldn’t put this down and I would thoroughly suggest that you pick this up.
The involvement of video games in this book is immense, with names and films being referenced throughout. I have to admit that I didn’t understand some of the references but whenever I came across one that I did recognise, it made me feel a little more connected to the characters and the story. Also although the characters do swear and discuss inappropriate things, it is still a Young Adult novel and is suitable for older YA readers.
The game in this story was really interesting and I enjoyed the interactions that happened between the characters whilst they were playing. I must say that the game itself took centre stage for a lot of the novel but I really enjoyed it and found it was realistic. I loved the relationship between George and Katie and think that it was a realistic portrayal of a young couple, especially one of the geeky persuasion.
I woud definitely recommend this geeky new release to anyone, especially if you are interested in video games. I couldn’t put this down and I would thoroughly suggest that you pick this up.