From the Bookshelf of Read-a-Long with PRICEISWONG…

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)

Ernest Cline

Start date: February 1, 2015

Finish date: February 28, 2015

Discussion: FEBRUARY | Ready Player One

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Showing 2 of 9 topics — 139 comments total

FEBRUARY | Ready Player One

* February's Book Pick!
By Jess | FairyT… · 20 posts · 132 views

last updated Feb 07, 2015 10:00PM

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What do you want to read in March?
By Jess | FairyT… · 65 posts · 206 views

last updated Mar 03, 2015 03:36PM

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What Members Thought

May 31, 2015 Geniece rated it liked it · review of another edition

Not my favorite...really challenging to get invested in the story and characters! It just really didn't hold my attention until the very end which I liked a lot!!!
Snail Mail Book Club pick for April ...more

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Mar 09, 2018 Christina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: physical-copy, read-in-2018

What a fun adventure!

Overall, I really enjoyed the competition aspect of this book, and how it is combined with video games and 80s pop culture. Wade is a great protagonist, as he is flawed but easy to root for at the same time. Plus, once I got into the story, I wanted to keep turning pages.

That being said, I was very disappointed with the use of a homophobic slur, and a passage that reads as transphobic as well (when Wade needs to make sure that Art3mis was born a woman, because otherwise he ...more

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Nov 11, 2014 Abbey rated it really liked it

Shelves: top-15-of-2015, audiobooks

So so good! Very unique and funny. Cline creates a virtual reality that doesn't seem too far outside the realm of possibility. Great read!

2018 update: loved the audiobook! Lowering to 4 or 4.5 stars for some cheesiness but still had a lot of fun with this world. Interested to see what they do in the movie! ...more

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Sep 02, 2014 Jess rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: best-books-ever

I purchased and read this book on the suggestion on every single in the history of the world. Ok, maybe not every single one, but most of them. Every person I have spoken to about this book has absolutely loved it. In fact, when I told a few of them I hadn’t read it yet I received some shocked faces and screamed suggestions that I read it immediately. So, I added it to The Great Stack a few weeks ago and got around to it during Bout of Books 11.

It took me about fifty pages before the book sucke I purchased and read this book on the suggestion on every single in the history of the world. Ok, maybe not every single one, but most of them. Every person I have spoken to about this book has absolutely loved it. In fact, when I told a few of them I hadn’t read it yet I received some shocked faces and screamed suggestions that I read it immediately. So, I added it to The Great Stack a few weeks ago and got around to it during Bout of Books 11.

It took me about fifty pages before the book sucked me in. Let me just say that those first fifty pages, I was pretty terrified that I was going to have to report to every person in the known universe that I didn’t enjoy it. I love the 1980’s, I love John Hughes, I love video games, I love pop culture, and I love dystopians—so it Ernest Cline pretty much saw into my soul with this one. (Not to mention my husband, the super gamer’s, deepest hopes that I would one day begin to ask him about obscure 80’s trivia and video game terminology.) But, I still didn’t love the first world building elements of the novel. I will add, this may not be the fault of the writing—I struggled with the physical design of the book towards the beginning, the smaller font and the amount of text without breaks on each page made it troublesome to enjoy.

However, past the first fifty pages, I was hooked. The world building is truly intense and complete, and I can’t help but compare Kline to his Halliday in terms of covering every detail and base in his design of this future America. The entire concept, of a video game Easter egg hunt in order to essentially rule the world is fascinating, extremely original, and just plain wonderful.

I generally shy away from novels with male main characters. Call me sexist, whatever, I just struggle to relate to or find interest in a male main character. (We all read what we want, so, no judgment!) But Wade was a pretty awesome character. I liked his tone, I genuinely cared about what happened to him, and I found him to be realistic and fun. This world was best written through his eyes and I connected to him and his struggles.

The other characters are just as well-written and just as realistic and interesting. I struggled to find any character that was unnecessary. Most developed the story, world, or exhibited Wade or another main character’s personality. I was interested in every aspect of this world—the people, the history, the politics, the technology, and the comparison between OASIS and the real world.

Get spoilers, the rest of my review, and enter to win a free Kindle copy of this book at: http://jesskiddingbooks.blogspot.com/... ...more

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Apr 14, 2015 Enigma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

This was soooo good. Geekdom PERFECTION!

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Mar 30, 2018 Bonnie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, books-i-own

When I first finished this, I thought this was a 4 star read. But the more I reflected on it, I realized it really wasn't. The audiobook definitely made me feel more positive about this book then I would have if I had read it physically. Because this book is info-dump central.

In the beginning, I really liked all the detail that Cline was giving us. I actually read a long with the audiobook for a few chapters so that I could really take in all the detail. It was enthralling. But soon, this expan When I first finished this, I thought this was a 4 star read. But the more I reflected on it, I realized it really wasn't. The audiobook definitely made me feel more positive about this book then I would have if I had read it physically. Because this book is info-dump central.

In the beginning, I really liked all the detail that Cline was giving us. I actually read a long with the audiobook for a few chapters so that I could really take in all the detail. It was enthralling. But soon, this expansive detail just became tedious, and pointless. This is also where most of the references came in. None of them were really necessary whatsoever. I found myself tuning out quite often, then tuning back in when the action actually starts, and it would feel like I had missed absolutely nothing, because basically, I hadn't. I'm sure for people that got all of them, the references were really cool (I know I found it pretty awesome when Rush was brought up, seeing as they're my mom's favorite band and I've grown up with their music) but for the average person, it just became really overdone.

I also didn't love how the female characters (which there were very, very little) were treated in this, and how male-dominated everything was. I couldn't help but notice as we'd hear about the game creator's must-read authors or must-watch movies, they would all be written/directed by men, and similar experiences continued throughout. I get that the games creator was basing it all off of his teenage boy favorites, but topped with the treatment of female characters, it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

The story was interesting, though, if not a little generic. I really liked the characters (except for our main protagonist Wade for a good chunk of the story). I think the ending good of had a bigger bang, some kind of twist or something, but it was fine I guess. Overall, that's how I feel about this book. It was fine. It had problems, it had some good elements, but nothing was inherently bad or incredibly amazing.

The audiobook narration, however, gets a 5/5. Wil Wheaton, they made you president for a reason. ...more

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Jul 27, 2019 Jordan added it · review of another edition

This was such a joy.

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Dec 23, 2014 Lil Miss rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2015, so-wished-i-owed

Oh my inner nerd and my old bones loved this so! so fun I listened to this audio and hello will weaton narrated it {giggles} could that be any better?!? But back to the actual story I had heard how amazing this was and yup it was! I love the fast pace of the "hunt" and all the flashes of nostalgia. This was so good I can not wait to see what else Cline writes. ...more

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Dec 31, 2016 Beth rated it it was amazing

Last book of 2016!! OMG!! i loved it so much!! the last 50 pages were sooo wow!! it was so good from the very first page to the very last!!! i loved all the characters , just wow!!! the movie better do the book justice!! It was so exciting!!

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Sep 23, 2017 Sena Roberts rated it it was amazing

I never thought I would like a book about gaming and virtual reality, but this was a great book! And there are so many 80’s references in here, so I was geeking out.

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