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diazona's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Ready Player One took a few pages to get going, but once it did, I was hooked! This is the first book in a long time, not counting rereads, that got me to stay up late reading when I should have been sleeping.
Ernest Cline does a great job of immersing readers in the fantasy world he's constructed. The writing style is comfortable and easy to follow, and the characters feel real and relatable for the most part. They're unnaturally good at what they do, sure, but it's no different than you get in any "chosen one" story - although to its credit, this isn't a "chosen one" story; our main character Wade got where he is through talent and dedication, and a little bit of plot armor. The world of the novel, as well, feels different enough to be exciting but familiar enough to be understandable - and here I'm talking primarily about the virtual world of the OASIS where most of the action takes place, rather than the dystopian "real" world, which has little to do with the story. Granted, I'm a nerd; I suspect someone who isn't might find all the references to video games and old movies a bit too much, but you pretty much know what you're in for right from the beginning.
Given how well the world and characters drew me in, it's no surprise that I found myself getting heavily emotionally invested in Wade's quest. It's an exciting one, with almost nonstop action, so at every turn I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. And I could feel the enormity of the stakes, which is something that not a lot of authors can pull off. Tolkien of course does this masterfully in LOTR; Robert Jordan in Wheel of Time; J.K. Rowling in Harry Potter; and Ready Player One is right up there with the same ability to convey just how much is riding on the outcome. I will note, though, it was really refreshing to read what is essentially an epic fantasy set in a futuristic world as opposed to a historical one.
The one thing that detracts from the experience of reading this book is that sometimes it will drop in to pages-long expository monologues. It's somewhat understandable since Wade is kind of a loner - in fact one of the themes in the book is how little real human interaction he gets much of the time - so things that would otherwise be demonstrated by the interactions between characters might have to get explained explicitly. But the exposition kind of drags on for a while. I think some of it could be left out. These are just a few isolated parts of the story though, and they do at least provide relevant information, so I don't mind that much. It doesn't take away a whole lot from the overall reading experience.
All in all, it just comes back to the fact that I haven't been this excited to read a new book in a long time. I'm definitely keeping this one around for a future reread.
Ernest Cline does a great job of immersing readers in the fantasy world he's constructed. The writing style is comfortable and easy to follow, and the characters feel real and relatable for the most part. They're unnaturally good at what they do, sure, but it's no different than you get in any "chosen one" story - although to its credit, this isn't a "chosen one" story; our main character Wade got where he is through talent and dedication, and a little bit of plot armor. The world of the novel, as well, feels different enough to be exciting but familiar enough to be understandable - and here I'm talking primarily about the virtual world of the OASIS where most of the action takes place, rather than the dystopian "real" world, which has little to do with the story. Granted, I'm a nerd; I suspect someone who isn't might find all the references to video games and old movies a bit too much, but you pretty much know what you're in for right from the beginning.
Given how well the world and characters drew me in, it's no surprise that I found myself getting heavily emotionally invested in Wade's quest. It's an exciting one, with almost nonstop action, so at every turn I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. And I could feel the enormity of the stakes, which is something that not a lot of authors can pull off. Tolkien of course does this masterfully in LOTR; Robert Jordan in Wheel of Time; J.K. Rowling in Harry Potter; and Ready Player One is right up there with the same ability to convey just how much is riding on the outcome. I will note, though, it was really refreshing to read what is essentially an epic fantasy set in a futuristic world as opposed to a historical one.
The one thing that detracts from the experience of reading this book is that sometimes it will drop in to pages-long expository monologues. It's somewhat understandable since Wade is kind of a loner - in fact one of the themes in the book is how little real human interaction he gets much of the time - so things that would otherwise be demonstrated by the interactions between characters might have to get explained explicitly. But the exposition kind of drags on for a while. I think some of it could be left out. These are just a few isolated parts of the story though, and they do at least provide relevant information, so I don't mind that much. It doesn't take away a whole lot from the overall reading experience.
All in all, it just comes back to the fact that I haven't been this excited to read a new book in a long time. I'm definitely keeping this one around for a future reread.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, War, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
razkat's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
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
melist6's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, and War
Minor: Slavery
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
caitlaird's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Before I get into this I should state I did actually enjoy this book a lot. The word building is amazing and so well done. I can truly see how realistic of a possibility this world could be. It’s an amazing take on how media and video games can take over and rule society, especially in a world ruined by capitalism, overconsumption, and environmental destruction; and how much easier it is to try and escape from it all rather than facing it.
The use of 80’s media was truly the best part of it all, made for such a cool and fun world.
That being said (possible small spoilers ahead but warnings any moral person might want).
This book is an incels wet dream of a y/n - self insert action hero whatever, complete with casual usage of transphobia and homophobia to really finish it off. Specifically the phrase “twinked out” when talking about people who are just dancing at a club (that he’s at no less!!) and multiple instances of blatant transphobia that you’d hope and think wouldn’t exist in 2045. Also every inspiration listed in this book is a male creator. Science fiction wouldn’t be what it is without women, Mary Shelly, Ursula Le Guin, I could go on. Do men just not think of women? Honestly curious.
I would put this book at the top of my list “so obvious it was written by a man it’s actually physically painful”.
The character Artemis is a queen amongst men. She is however a victim of the manic pixie dream girl ideal but that’s NOT her fault. She is the one voice of reason in this whole book and it feels like that might be the only reason she’s there, other than to be something to lust after and prove that the “nerd” boy can actually get the girl.
That being said Wade is obsessed with her and is totally in love with her so at least he gets one thing right. (This isn’t a spoiler he says it like in the first chapter okay).
And shoutout to Aech, who is just the coolest best friend of all friends.
I kept waiting for Wade to learn the lesson that was the real world is essential to truly living , something you don’t need to read the book to know I think. But he might actually just be the most dense man that’s ever existed ever. At one point, he admitted that he’s an agoraphobic geek and hates it but then changes absolutely nothing about his life. Also why does he have to make such a point that he’s not a fatty. Like realistically he’d be fat. That’s okay. What’s with the fat phobia my guys?
This feels like an Incel boys Bible of what you should do to be the main character. He is a very bad friend to his best friend and he doesn’t even get better. It’s very much a scary look into the mind of a man.
I originally rated the book 4 stars so it’s not that bad I guess, but zoo wee mama it’s like a punch in the gut sometimes. I really have to pause sometimes and go “huh, I know you didn’t just say what I think you did”, but of course he did.
And after a few days processing what I read I actually decided this book deserves 2.75 stars. How can a book be 4 stars when the protagonist is literally the worst person in the world.
Like any other character would’ve been a more interesting protagonist, especially Artemis, not that I want Ernest Cline to write a book from a woman’s pov. The only thing worse than wades pov would be a woman’s pov written by Cline. I think he would really benefit from reading some books written by women with female protagonists.
And after a few days processing what I read I actually decided this book deserves 2.75 stars. How can a book be 4 stars when the protagonist is literally the worst person in the world.
Like any other character would’ve been a more interesting protagonist, especially Artemis, not that I want Ernest Cline to write a book from a woman’s pov. The only thing worse than wades pov would be a woman’s pov written by Cline. I think he would really benefit from reading some books written by women with female protagonists.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence
Minor: Body shaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
phantomgecko's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
If you don't think about this book critically at all, it's fun. That's why I finished it.
But dang dude I hated this. It's listening to a Redditor gatekeep mediocre media for 300+ pages. The most accurate word I can think for this would be masturbatory. I know that the author =/= narrator necessarily, but tbh I can't imagine why he would write this book in this specific way unless he personally just gets right off on it. This had v strong self-insert Mary Sue vibes.
For example, having to describe in detail all the (fake) tech used or having to talk about every article of clothing anyone puts on.
Also, obvs pop culture references are the whole book, but like, my dude. You don't need to explain every reference. This isn't Dora the Explorer.
My facetiously favorite line, paraphrased was 'it's their fault they don't have all the words to Schoolhouse Rock memorized' as if that's a normal thing. Like, bro, yeah, I know. Dissecting everything in Halliday's life is essentially their job, but the condescension and superiority complex that goes along with it is such a toxic part of fandom culture.
I kinda thought the narrative would loop around, and everyone would acknowledge that Halliday was psycho and not worthy of adoration or study. Wah wah wah, whiny piss baby can't forget pathetic childhood. But no. How silly of me.
Also, willing suspension of disbelief and all, but NO. It's just not possible for a kid to have read/watched/listened to/played all the things he has in 3 years. No amount of "that's all he does for 12 hours a day" can convince me that it's possible. He didn't just have 4 screens going at once on double speed. He claims to have consumed the media in a way that he apparently can remember every single thing in all of it. Every sound byte from every obscure snippet of media from a decade. He straight up says he's watched some movies over 100 times. There is simply not time for that. I cannot and will not get over this egregious stretch of the imagination.
And another thing...looking down on Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Enterprise instantly lowered my opinion of Cline.
Science fiction in particular from the 80s is rife with sexism, and you can tell Cline triiiied to subvert that. But it was done in classic "nice guy" fashion. Sexism with a different face.
Oh, almost forgot about the atheist rant at the beginning. It honestly felt like a fourth-wall-breaking diatribe that didn't fit? Like, wah wah wah, I'm alive and anything good anyone has ever told me is a lie, the only point of life is to end and everyone dies, wah wah wah.
Do not recommend. Tbh, the movie was better.
But dang dude I hated this. It's listening to a Redditor gatekeep mediocre media for 300+ pages. The most accurate word I can think for this would be masturbatory. I know that the author =/= narrator necessarily, but tbh I can't imagine why he would write this book in this specific way unless he personally just gets right off on it. This had v strong self-insert Mary Sue vibes.
For example, having to describe in detail all the (fake) tech used or having to talk about every article of clothing anyone puts on.
Also, obvs pop culture references are the whole book, but like, my dude. You don't need to explain every reference. This isn't Dora the Explorer.
My facetiously favorite line, paraphrased was 'it's their fault they don't have all the words to Schoolhouse Rock memorized' as if that's a normal thing. Like, bro, yeah, I know. Dissecting everything in Halliday's life is essentially their job, but the condescension and superiority complex that goes along with it is such a toxic part of fandom culture.
I kinda thought the narrative would loop around, and everyone would acknowledge that Halliday was psycho and not worthy of adoration or study. Wah wah wah, whiny piss baby can't forget pathetic childhood. But no. How silly of me.
Also, willing suspension of disbelief and all, but NO. It's just not possible for a kid to have read/watched/listened to/played all the things he has in 3 years. No amount of "that's all he does for 12 hours a day" can convince me that it's possible. He didn't just have 4 screens going at once on double speed. He claims to have consumed the media in a way that he apparently can remember every single thing in all of it. Every sound byte from every obscure snippet of media from a decade. He straight up says he's watched some movies over 100 times. There is simply not time for that. I cannot and will not get over this egregious stretch of the imagination.
And another thing...looking down on Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Enterprise instantly lowered my opinion of Cline.
Science fiction in particular from the 80s is rife with sexism, and you can tell Cline triiiied to subvert that. But it was done in classic "nice guy" fashion. Sexism with a different face.
Oh, almost forgot about the atheist rant at the beginning. It honestly felt like a fourth-wall-breaking diatribe that didn't fit? Like, wah wah wah, I'm alive and anything good anyone has ever told me is a lie, the only point of life is to end and everyone dies, wah wah wah.
Do not recommend. Tbh, the movie was better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry
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
lyssa_winegar's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.75
i hated this book. i think it sucked and it was painful to finish for book club.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Lesbophobia
jayjayre's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I read this book when the hype first started and it was popular in the sci fi / fantasy recommendations, and I absolutely detested it.
I hate the main character, the plot was horrible, predictable, repetitive. It's not because it's gamified, I've read litrpg that was enjoyable. This is like a smarmy nerd playing through a game they've mastered while ranting about how great they are and winning despite being the most unlikeable mess of a person. I want to throw tomatoes at the main character while he slips on banana peels every day.
I cannot imagine anyone but young boys who want to read a messy power-fantasy enjoying this, the misogyny and other forms of bigotry baked in by the author's awful views gives this a hateful undercurrent that repeatedly pulled me out of the story, even when I tried to go along with it just to finish the book.
This is the type of main character and story I will dislike to my dying days. I sincerely regret spending time reading this book.
I hate the main character, the plot was horrible, predictable, repetitive. It's not because it's gamified, I've read litrpg that was enjoyable. This is like a smarmy nerd playing through a game they've mastered while ranting about how great they are and winning despite being the most unlikeable mess of a person. I want to throw tomatoes at the main character while he slips on banana peels every day.
I cannot imagine anyone but young boys who want to read a messy power-fantasy enjoying this, the misogyny and other forms of bigotry baked in by the author's awful views gives this a hateful undercurrent that repeatedly pulled me out of the story, even when I tried to go along with it just to finish the book.
This is the type of main character and story I will dislike to my dying days. I sincerely regret spending time reading this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, and Misogyny
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Violence