danka66's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Transphobia, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts
_nem_'s review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
I didn't understand all of the 80s references but that didn't take away from the book. Everything was explained so you could know what it was without having come across that media before.
Moderate: Confinement, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent, Violence, Racism, War, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism
wesleyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
(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.
Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, and Fatphobia
jasminrain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I was a bit hesitant to read the book having seen the film, but the storyline was actually quite different to the film adaptation and brought more layers to the story. I listened to the audiobook read by Wil Wheaton and it just really brought the story to life in all the best ways possible.
All this being said, there was some problematic language and transphobia that were left completely unaddressed, which I found really problematic considering the target age and audience of this book. So not a five star but really good read.
Graphic: Gun violence, Transphobia, Cursing, Violence, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Bullying, Fatphobia, Murder, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Racism, Addiction, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
skyejay95's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
It’s also difficult to build tension when for the most part the stakes are limited to a fake world. The mc literally ignores all the major major issues in the real world for a video game and it isn’t really addressed at all. Wade does not grow as a person by the end. He just made me mad
Moderate: Racism and Ableism
Minor: Transphobia and Sexism
ishouldbereading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Cursing and Death
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Racism, Drug use, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Death of parent
sshelbyreadss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
While this book did include diverse characters, it also included homophonic slurs and cultural stereotypes. I haven’t watched the movie yet, but this is an area that filmmakers could improve and expand upon for more accurate and respectful representation.
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Racism, and Homophobia
random19379's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Classism, Confinement, Murder, Violence, War, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, and Transphobia
cianarae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Classism and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Murder, Death, and Violence
Minor: Body shaming, Slavery, Bullying, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racism, and Misogyny
emmykyhil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Abandonment and Racism