Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on June 29, 2015 | 1 Comment


Review: Ready Player One by Ernest ClineReady Player One by Ernest Cline
Published by Random House (1.1.2011)
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction
Format: Hardcover, 372 pages
Source: Library


4.5 Stars

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the  OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

My thoughts

There was sooo much 80’s pop culture in this book! I did get excited about the music references, but honestly most of it was over my head because it was things I wasn’t interested in (particularly 80’s video games, I never had any gaming consoles growing up sadly). I don’t know much about video games from that era because I was never that big into gaming. So a lot of those references had little to no meaning to me. But it was still interesting! There were so many fun/interesting facts and useless trivia (which I LOVE btw) in this book!

I’m going to be honest, I really struggled with this book in the beginning. There were vast info dumps – practically the entire first quarter of the book is one big giant info dump – and it read like a freaking history book. Despite it being boring though, it set up the rest of the book. It’s impressive, really, how in-depth it was!

Thankfully after that excruciating part in the beginning it picks up. And after it picked up, it didn’t stop! I was hooked after that! There was a lot of great action, and the hunt for the Egg was totally fun. I can also say that this book is unlike ANYTHING I’ve ever read before! I absolutely loved the premise. It would make an amazing movie! The world was very vivid in my head. The idea behind this was genius. I loved the hunt for Halliday’s Egg (um, I looove puzzles)! I was really impressed by how much thought and effort went into the world building, too. Everything was very convincing!

The only real complaint I have other than it starting off super slow is that I couldn’t connect to the characters. While I adored the story, I found the characters lacking. I wasn’t particularly fond of Wade and didn’t care about his character. Same with Art3mis. (And in turn I didn’t care about their romance. I was so not invested.) The only character I really liked was Aech. View Spoiler »

Side note: Some of the OASIS totally made me think of Skyrim <3

 

 

Overall Assessment

Plot: 5/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
World-building: 5/5
Pace: 3/5
Feels: 2/5
Cover: 2.5/5
Overall rating: 4.5/5

Jessi (Geo)

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One response to “Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

  1. Great review! I’ve read so many good things I about this book and although I haven’t read it yet, I already know I will love it!

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