oliverreeds's review against another edition

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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

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ecn's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Overall it was fine. Exactly what you’d expect. I’m knocking points off bc it’s not my style of book, but mostly bc of the handful of racist/homophobic/transphobic comments from the MCs. The situations where the comments were made were absolutely not called for to advance any plot or give any purpose to the story - they’re disgusting throwaway comments which… hmm wonder what that must say about the author 

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gandalf_a's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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marie_1's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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reneegrac1009's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful tense fast-paced
  • 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

5.0


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olive_lol's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.0

To me, one of the biggest appeals of this book is the world it creates. It intertwines old video games and futuristic technology in a compelling way. If you're a fan of references to 80s pop culture and classic video games, you'll probably like this book.

A few parts in the middle felt like they were rushed over to maintain the story's momentum, but other than that the pacing is pretty good.
The ending wrapped the story up nicely. It might be a bit too clean for some, but I still enjoyed it.
Overall, I liked the story and loved the world it's set in.

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danka66's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

4.75


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hcop's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-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

4.0


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bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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_nem_'s review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

This is my go to book whenever I'm in a reading slump. I can just whizz through the pages and it gets me excited about reading again. I like how there are almost two stories running in parallel with real life and the world inside the OASIS. The world building is amazing and could be expanded on so much as well. I like the puzzle aspects as well and how it isn't immediately obvious to the characters what the solution is. 

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. 

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