Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ->March 2018 Book of the Month

[C.P.]

Just finished and overall I really enjoyed this one. Not sure that it should be a series, but I hear that's what he's saying.

[Jenn]

I am so close! I have 22 pages left but had to clock back into work. I will definitely finish it tonight!

[C.P.]

Yay! Hope you're enjoying it!

[Lane]

C.P. wrote: "Just finished and overall I really enjoyed this one. Not sure that it should be a series, but I hear that's what he's saying."

I don't feel great about it being a series either. It's such a great standalone and has a perfect ending!

[Jamie]

Lane wrote: "End of Part One


(view spoiler)[I geeked out too at the idea of experiencing favorite movies like that. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Jenn wrote: "Chapters 17-22: [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[The coin would have driven me crazy, knowing it had to mean something for all that work and being so hidden but no info given with it I felt bad for Wade, especially since he was probably kicking himself for wasting those hours instead of key searching. (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

Finished: (view spoiler)[So I ended up really liking this one. It started off a little slow with info dumping then picked up with the first key then kinda slowed in the middle but dang, that ending! I'm super excited for the movie now. (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

Jamie wrote: "Jenn wrote: "Chapters 17-22: [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

Half the time I was just yelling at Wade to hurry up and get moving! lol

[Marissa]

Prologue - Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[I have actually owned this book for several years, and am only now reading finally it (I have a large backlog of books). I am an avid gamer, so this book definitely appeals to me. I am still near the beginning, but I am enjoying it so far. There are stigmas of video games in real life, so I think it is interesting how widely accepted using the OASIS is in the book.

I am still trying to like Wade Watts (I know his name was supposed to sound like a superhero, but I find it too close to Wade Wilson). He seems a bit dull to me so far. Hopefully, he will become more interesting as the book continues. However, the plot sounds promising, and having the story set in a virtual world means that anything can happen!
(hide spoiler)]

[Marissa]

Chapter 6-12
(view spoiler)[I love imagining scenes from books in my head, so it's great how this book goes to so many locations. Halliday's challenges towards find the Easter Egg are really unique, and I look forward to finding out what the next one is.

I'm finding myself warming up to Wade, but he probably won't make my list of favorite book characters. I like the plot enough that I can disregard his somewhat dull personality.

In a way, I would be happy if either Wade or Art3mis got the prize. I don't really know Art3mis well enough yet to know if I trust her or not, but she has left a good impression. She seems to have more altruistic ideas of what she would do with the money, whereas Wade's initial answer when asked was a bit childish. Hopefully, he matures more as the search for the Easter egg continues. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Done! (view spoiler)[I had forgotten how the coin worked! That is so awesome. How jealous the others must have been. Great ending! (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Marissa wrote: "Chapter 6-12
I love imagining scenes from books in my head, so it's great how this book goes to so many locations. Halliday's challenges towards find the Easter Egg are really unique, and I look fo..."

(view spoiler)[As a character, Wade isn't my fav either. But he book itself is another story! (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Lane wrote: "C.P. wrote: "Just finished and overall I really enjoyed this one. Not sure that it should be a series, but I hear that's what he's saying."

I don't feel great about it being a series either. It's ..."

I wouldn't want a standard series but maybe a spin-off. Other adventures in the Oasis. Maybe set in the early days of it's creation. Nothing to do with Wade or the others though.

[C.P.]

I could see that working, Jamie. Definitely not following these characters. It had a good ending for them.

[Jamie]

No this one ended well for them and I am good with that. :)

[Marissa]

Chapter 13 - 20
(view spoiler)[I was actually shocked when IOI attempted to kill Wade and actually blew up his Aunt's trailer. I know companies can sometimes have dirty practices, but this seems a bit extreme. I feel like maybe there is another reason they want the Easter egg so badly that I don't know about yet. There has to be another motive that would cause them to be okay with killing other people, children included, to get the prize. Or maybe they are just really corrupt and greedy.

I know that Wade has no one else right now but Aech and Art3mis, but I would be hesitant divulging so much information to anyone in the OASIS. A powerful organization attempted to kill Wade, and he needs to keep a low profile because they think he is dead. However, I believe he is telling Art3mis way too much. Even if she is not part of IOI, she is still a stranger in real life. She also hasn't revealed that many details about her own life. (hide spoiler)]

[Marissa]

Chapters 21-30
(view spoiler)[I'm actually really happy that Art3mis and Aech found the next key before Wade. I think that makes him more believable that he doesn't just know everything about Halliday and is the one person who was able to solve the Easter egg mystery after years of everyone searching. In addition, as I said in an earlier post I wouldn't be unhappy if Art3mis won the prize over Wade.

Aww I'm sad that Toshiro aka Daito was killed. He wasn't a very big character in this book, but there really aren't a lot of characters, so his death will leave a hole. I was wondering why Shoto was so sad. I originally thought, like Wade did, that only his avatar died. (hide spoiler)]

[Marissa]

Chapter 31-End
(view spoiler)[I want to say that I enjoyed reading this book. I thought that story was great, and the variety of settings was fun to read about. The different challenges to get the three keys and open the gates to find the Easter egg were creative. As a fan of video games, this book appealed to me right away. However, there were a few aspects of the book that prevented me from giving it a 5 stars.

First, I didn't really like Wade. He didn't have much of a personality. He was boring to read about, and all of his ramblings were usually just him explaining something. He wasn't funny, he wasn't exciting, nothing about him made me want to root for him. I honestly wanted Art3mis to win the Easter egg for most of the book. I think his character development could have been a little better. However, to be honest, none of the characters were great.

Second, sometimes I felt like things were a bit too convenient for Wade. For example, the Ring of Teleportation that he had in his inventory that we had never heard of before that moment, but it was really fortunate that he had it. For some reason this just bothered me a little. It happened more times than I thought was okay.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, but there were definitely areas that I think could have been a little bit better. (hide spoiler)]

[Marissa]

Lane wrote: "C.P. wrote: "Just finished and overall I really enjoyed this one. Not sure that it should be a series, but I hear that's what he's saying."

I don't feel great about it being a series either. It's ..."

I agree with this. This easily could have been just a standalone. I wonder what the next story would even be about. Maybe (view spoiler)[ about trying to bring Sorrento down (again), and perhaps something to do with that Big Red Button?" (hide spoiler)]

[Ashley]

C.P. wrote: "I'm doing audio as well. I think I'm in chapter 5. It's interesting enough but seems a bit info dumpy."

I totaly think that too!!!!!!!!! So info dump .. though it's funny info dumping so I don't mind it as much as I usually do - I'm only on disc 2 of audio though I hate that I'm unable to speed it up

[Ashley]

Lindsey wrote: "Felicia wrote: "Wow. Am I behind or what?! I had NO IDEA this was the BOTM. Lol. I've already read it. I hope y'all enjoy it! Is anyone excited for the movie?! Because I am effin' stoked! :D"

I wi..."

I heard about it before movie but now that movie is here I have to finish it - perhaps I'll binge read the whole book tonight instead of listening to audio I read faster than he does anyway - But then hubby is also doing audio and I don't think we can see movie until he's done too haha

[C.P.]

Do you use overdrive at all? You should start, if you can get access. I listened to this at 2x speed.