Ready Player One-- Book Review
"In the year 2045, 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" I have always heard so many good things about this book ever since way back when I first found people talking about books on Youtube, but never got ‘round to actually reading it. But when I heard the film was coming out I thought I really had to read it before I watched the film (yes, I am that person hehe) and after I finished I thought you guys may want to hear my thoughts?
The whole concept of the book is about living in a virtual reality which is a very interesting view of how the world could become in the next few years-- considering the way technology is evolving. I think that this novel also shows how we can get addicted very easily to a life lived online and how we want ourselves to be seen from everybody. This book actually juxtaposes the instagram vs reality world we are living in currently. Instagram is the way we wish to show ourselves to the world, through beautifully posed photos in gorgeous places and fantastic clothes and makeup, and how we actually are 90% of the time which is probably stressed and tired and in sweaters and trackpants. The novel juxtaposes this by showing how the characters choose to make their 'avatars' look in the virtual reality and how they actually look in real life, the characters are actually highly unhealthy and unfit (because they dont do anything in real life) but in the game they are muscled and gorgeous and look however they would want to look. This book was really easy to read, although I found that a lot of the 80s videogame references and the 80s references themselves went over my head and made me kinda zone out while reading, which made it hard to truly understand what was going on. I found that the plot went at a fairly fast pace, and the characters were very likable and progressed as the book went on which was really cool to see, a book that has characters that progress and are relatable always receives a big thumbs up for me!
The characters definitely made mistakes, had friendships fail and then built them back up again, get surprised and confused and mad and sad and happy. These are all real life emotions and it’s so cool to see charatcers go through this instead of just being so happy go lucky everything goes right for me characters.
Definitely makes the book more emotionally charged if the characters have real life emotions and situations they find themselves in. The descriptions of what was going on in the novel were very thorough and you could absolutely visualise in your head what was going on like a film is playing in your head throughout. This is something I really really like in a book. I want to feel absoluetly immersed in the book and when I have to finish reading I want to feel as though I'm coming back to earth.
Overall it was a good read, although a little hard to understand solely because of the 80s references. I wouldnt praise it to the high heavens but it also isnt the worst thing i've ever read either. If you are a bit of a sci-fi nerd and enjoy videogames this book would probably be great for you. If you read this book, or watch the movie-- let me know your thoughts and opinions. I would love to hear some opinions that differ from my own even if you absolutely love it or absolutely hate it.
Lots of love, Hayley