Ready Player One Review

Hey Everyone! So, another review, I know, so many this week, it makes for a boring read. I’m sorry! But I’ll have a different sort of post tomorrow! I just really wanted to finish this so I could focus on my eARCs. [Especially Descendant of the Crane] Not to mention I really wanted to see what was going to happen next. I would say if I was giving it a harder look I’d give it a half instead of full rating on my last planet. And that’s because of a few issues that really just kind of kept jumping out at me. So, know, I enjoyed this 4/5 but I’m giving it 3.5/5 on this review so I can point out the flaws I think are important to note.

So here we go again, me being a cynic, but Parzival and Art3mis just didn’t gel well for me. I just feel like Art3mis felt more animosity than affection which is within her right all the way, but, it doesn’t make for a great romance when it’s like that through like 89% of the book.

Aech was definitely my favorite, I mean, hands down as their avatar and in real life, Helen was amazing. I also felt it was heartbreaking that in order to do well in even a virtual reality world, Helen became Aech and hid the color of her skin. But, the reasoning is sadly logical from the point of where her Mother was coming from in advising her to do that.

I freakin loved the 80s references, I’m an 80s baby which means my early life is plagued by 80s, and even now my hair naturally looks like I’m from an 80s hairspray commercial, which is…sad, but you know, what you can do. My nickname at Uni was Flashdance (no, I didn’t strip, I just like to wear legwarmers, probably could have paid off debt if I had decided to strip.)

But, let me break this down in my usual style.

Pros:
– 80s, 80s everywhere
– The connection of living a slightly isolated life made me feel for the protagonist and his buds more.
– There is a sharp hint of today’s society in that our world is crumbling around us and we are seeking refuge in the only places we can. So good job Cline, and this has only gotten even more realistic since published in 2011.
– The OASIS is awesome, and I love the idea of having haptic chairs that can move and the treadmills as well, it makes for a much better visual of what it was like when you were reading
– Halliday at the beginning was amazing in his video to announce the contest, it made me want to go watch a Hughes movie
– Art3mis really kicked butt and was super smart (as long as we kept her away from Parzival where she then became either catty or mushy and it was, see this listed in the cons)
– Aech is a better friend than Parzival deserves
– It really captured how helpless the poor would have felt and once more it made sense why people would run to the Oasis.
– I loved that the red button at the end.
– Ogden was amazing, he has a dance club, let’s think about that, he loves to go jamming and DJing still.
– Did I mention 80s references galore?

Cons:
-Parzival should have known how much the IOI were capable of, so I get angry that he put himself in such a dumb situation. This isn’t so much a con as me venting lol.
– Halliday being in love with Kira was such an eye roller, BUT I have to give credit, he didn’t tell Ogden or try to steal her, he just brooded in silence so that was nice.
– This didn’t need romance from the High Five peeps at all, this probably would have been a solid 4/5 without Parzival and Art3mis.
– ^ The romance also takes away from Art3mis being badass, and Parzival is useless in love, so, I’m glad Art3mis was stronger than him.
– We could have had more of Aech
– There were some distasteful jokes I didn’t care for.
– Uh…what was with very stereotyped and hyperfocus look at our two Japanese characters who we barely got to know but my god, Cline wanted you to be sure they were ‘really’ Japanese when they were in the book. Probably my biggest issue. It’s a vast culture, why pinpoint it to some small parts? Not to mention with all the Japanese pop culture references, there should have been more of them in general.
– I could have used more of Wade realizing just how lonely his life was outside the OASIS and what that exactly meant.

Toodles!