2025 Reading Challenge discussion

I'll absolutely watch the film when it comes out. I usually like Spielberg's movies and I got a kick out of the book even though I think we all know it's not "great literature" or anything. There's nothing wrong with a book just being fun.

I'd like to join you guys, please!

I just finished reading Caraval, so now I can start this one! :D

My copy still hasn't arrived :'(

I just started this book this morning; I'm through chapter 5. I'm really into it. I, too, am enjoying all the 80s references. I'll have to tell my bf about this book because he's in love with the 80s, lol. If they keep all of that stuff in the movie version, he'll be in heaven. XD

I like all the backstory that's being given, about OASIS & its creators, as well as Wade's history with the game, but I'm kind of ready for the plot to really get going now. The writing flows well though, and I feel like I'm really floating through it.

Mikayla wrote: "So far looks like I might not get the book in time. They had to inter library loan it for me"

Same here but still have hope. Still 2 weeks to go. And we don't have to be completely finished by February 1st.

I'm through chapter 11, and I have to say...this book is making me want to hook up my Nintendo & play some old-school games! XD

And I would *love* to be able to play those Flicksync games!

I've finished the book and was about to post about my overall thoughts about it when I realized that I never posted an initial comment about wanting to join this Buddy Read. Oops!

Susan wrote: "I've finished the book and was about to post about my overall thoughts about it when I realized that I never posted an initial comment about wanting to join this Buddy Read. Oops!"

Lol, no problem Susan. Would love to hear your overall thoughts!

As a forewarning, this is long. Sorry. But I’ve included a TL;DR at the end :)

Overall, the book was enjoyable. Though some people mentioned it being predictable, there were moments of surprise that kept it interesting enough. And I do admit that the lists upon lists of 80’s references did detract from the plot line at times, but I do like the overall ideal of a futuristic dystopia that’s obsessed with the 80’s.

There were two things that really bothers me though. The first one is that I felt Wade was too much of a Marty Stu. Wade seemed average at the beginning, and any strengths or weaknesses were not drastic. Basically, he evened out to a plain character. (view spoiler)[But by the end he was Macgyvering like mad. It was really hard for me to believe this average guy can suddenly have the physical and intellectual strength to take down IOI in the manner that he did, especially with the whole indentured servant bit. (hide spoiler)] I feel like this might be a highly unpopular opinion, but hey, that's just how he came across to me.

I also had an issue with the interaction with the Japanese boys. The way they would talk to them, inconsistent and incorrect with the words, phrases and behaviors, it just bothered me greatly and was quite frankly a bit offensive at times. (view spoiler)[One example is where they used suicide via jumping and seppuku synonymously, when THEY ARE NOT THE SAME AT ALL. What made it worse is that it was Shoto who used “seppuku” incorrectly! (hide spoiler)] Ernest Cline seems to be trying to venerate the Japanese culture but in doing so he instead stereotypes them and it comes off as offensive.

Both of the previously mentioned issues are the main reasons why I had to knock it down to 3 stars.

However, I do have to admit that even with all my complaints, I still found it exciting at times. I went in not knowing much about the book and was pleasantly surprised that they (view spoiler)[went with the whole "we will murder you" route. Going that route didn’t even occur to me until the meeting with Sorrento. Thought it was sad that happened, mainly for Daito and the neighbor with the cats, it did make the hunt for the egg that much more dramatic. (hide spoiler)] Despite it’s flaws, the book was still good, and I am glad that I decided to pick it up.

TL;DR
I had issues with Wade feeling like a Marty Stu and the way Cline handled the Japanese interactions came off offensive at times. Still, it was a fun and dramatic read.

I had to race to finish before the ebook "returned" on its own in the wee hours of the morning. XD I read as long as I could before I went to bed and then woke up in the night and finished the book before falling back to sleep again. But I managed to finish in time! :D

I was really immersed in this book. Despite most of it (view spoiler)[not being real (in the sense that the majority of the plot took place with Wade's avatar in a virtual reality), it was still very intriguing and moved along well.

I liked the added suspense of the corruption of the real-world IOI. It was a good way to bring to life what was happening in the game -- it kept me rooting for Wade/Parzival to figure out the clues and find the egg within the game. Everything that was going on with IOI (trying to kill Wade, and then *actually* killing Daito) made the game so much more important. I was hoping it would lead to this kind of storyline because it seemed fairly obvious from the beginning that it was inevitable. When there's a large sum of money involved, there are always people willing to kill for it (hide spoiler)].

After having read this book, I'm now excited to see the movie. :D I hope they keep it very 80s-centric. I was especially pleased with the inclusion of all of the (view spoiler)[Rush references towards the end of the "game" (hide spoiler)]. XD

Eirelyn wrote: "I had to race to finish before the ebook "returned" on its own in the wee hours of the morning. XD I read as long as I could before I went to bed and then woke up in the night and finished the book before falling back to sleep again. But I managed to finish in time! :D
.."

Now that is what I call commitment! lol

My copy still hasn't come in :(

Susy wrote: "Eirelyn wrote: "I had to race to finish before the ebook "returned" on its own in the wee hours of the morning. XD I read as long as I could before I went to bed and then woke up in the night and f..."

Lol! I was completely immersed in it. I was even dreaming about it after I'd read. XD

I really enjoyed this book. Having grown up in the 80s everything was very recognizable. And it wasn’t just 80s as many of the references were from 70s and earlier. Very fond memories of the games, music, computers, music ...

Yay, just got word from my library. Unfortunately I’ll only be able to pick it up on Monday...

Picking it up tomorrow, can't wait!

Mikayla wrote: "I guess what made me stop for a minute in Level 1 was when he almost betrayed the other Gunner.

My favorite part is when he ended up deciding to help Art3mis find the egg."


Don't forget to mark spoilers! ;-)

Wade definitely was a little too good at everything he did. that was probably my main problem with it. i really loved it though, this is probably going to be a modern classic in sci-fi.

Mikayla wrote: "Susy wrote: "Mikayla wrote: "I guess what made me stop for a minute in Level 1 was when he almost betrayed the other Gunner.

My favorite part is when he ended up deciding to help Art3mis find the..."

No problem.
You know how to do that?

Mikayla wrote: "Nope. Not at all. Only know how to do it when leaving reviews but idk how to do it here. "

Are you on your desktop or laptop? Then above the comment box, on the right hand side, you see add book/author and (some html is ok). If you click on the latter you'll see all kinds of formatting tips, very useful.

For spoilers:
[spoiler]your text, so whatever you want to write[/spoiler]

Only instead of [ and ] you use < and >. I can't do it here, otherwise it'll just change into a spoiler marker, like this (view spoiler)[your text, so whatever you want to write (hide spoiler)]

Mikayla wrote: "Susy wrote: "Mikayla wrote: "Nope. Not at all. Only know how to do it when leaving reviews but idk how to do it here. "

Are you on your desktop or laptop? Then above the comment box, on the right ..."

You're welcome!

Just got my copy from the library. Hoping to make a start before going to bed :)

Mikayla wrote: "Susy wrote: "Just got my copy from the library. Hoping to make a start before going to bed :)"

Hope you enjoy it Susy."

Thx Mikayla! So far so good, but still only on page 36. Have to get up early so will have to continue tomorrow.

Kristin wrote: "Glad you liked/are liking it Eirlyn, Scott, Sabrina, & Mikayla (at least now). What parts did you like or not like?

Scott - you're so right. It's not just the 80's but also the 70's. I'm trying to..."

I felt kind of the same way as you. I was born in the mid-80s, so I wasn't really influenced by the times as much until the 90s. I think I would've known all of the references if it had been set a decade later, lol. But as it was, I did know most of them anyway, so I was happy about that. I told my boyfriend about this book and that he will probably love the movie (he's not much of a reader, for shame!) because he was born in 1981 and loves the 80s, so he will probably get pretty much all of the references. XD

I was happy to see that they included (view spoiler)[Rush as a huge plot point though! I fully expect to hear their music in the movie. I know the trailer played some, so I'm excited. :D

Although, I was actually hoping they would reference more 80s music. They seemed to focus MUCH more on games (which makes sense with the nature of this book) and movies. Hopefully the movie will be chock-full of 80s rock. XD (hide spoiler)]

Either way, I am excited to go see the movie once it comes out. :D

Here is one thing about the plot I thought about while reading.

(view spoiler)[
I was thinking the whole book that Halliday was really alive the whole time and just faked his death to give away the Oasis to a worthy successor. I guess I was wrong. But maybe this could be something in the sequel.
(hide spoiler)]

Kristin wrote: " ..."
"

please close spoilers before reacting to them otherwise other people can read it. This was a spoiler big time...

Kristin wrote: "Susy wrote: "please close spoilers before reacting to them otherwise other people can read it. Thi..."

I'm so sorry, Susy. I thought I had deleted that part, as I wasn't even reacting to that port..."

Np, it happens :)

Kristin wrote: "Eirelyn wrote: "I felt kind of the same way as you. I was born in the mid-80s, so I wasn't really influenced by the times as much until the 90s. I think I would've known all of the references if it..."

lol! No judgment at all. We all like what we like, and while I am a fan of (view spoiler)[Rush, and Geddy Lee's voice, I can absolutely understand why others might not like his voice, lol! It's definitely a very distinct voice. XD (hide spoiler)]

I picked up this book late last week even though I'm in the middle of half a dozen others (oops) and today I'm having a hard time putting it down and getting anything done. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it but I should have known better. I'm a sucker for anything that involves a quest and even if I'm not into gaming, this certainly still fits the bill! I love all the 80s references and I'm finding that most of the items I have to click on and figure out what are seem to be non-80s or acronyms that I just didn't recognize.

Note: I accidentally saw a spoiler earlier in the thread on this page, I think, and while it's marked spoiler in the original post now it's not in the quote that complains about it and I saw it. Eek! Can someone fix that? I admit that I wish I didn't know that particular piece of info.

Kristy wrote: "I picked up this book late last week even though I'm in the middle of half a dozen others (oops) and today I'm having a hard time putting it down and getting anything done. I wasn't sure if I was g..."

Yes that happens when you use ‘reply ‘. It was deleted in the message where it was spoiled but not in my complaint. Deleted that part as well now. Hopefully that was the last one. So sorry it was spoiled for you too. Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did despite the spoiler.

Susy wrote: "Kristy wrote: "I picked up this book late last week even though I'm in the middle of half a dozen others (oops) and today I'm having a hard time putting it down and getting anything done. I wasn't ..."

No problem, Susy. Thanks!

Kristin wrote: "Kristy wrote: "Note: I accidentally saw a spoiler earlier in the thread on this page, I think, and while it's marked spoiler in the original post now it's not in the quote that complains about it a..."

No worries, Kristen. I didn't know that either. I'll try to remember that for myself in the future too! thanks for the rec. That sounds like an interesting read and I'll be adding it to my list.

This book has gotten so exciting at the end, even harder to put down, but I had to make dinner. I've got about 15% left to go.

I loved this book. I told my hubby he HAS to read it. He's a huge Rush fan. I need to put some thoughts together and write a review.

I absolutely fell in love! Can’t wait to see a movie later this year.
Although I’ve some doubts about if it’s a good idea to write a sequel...

80s pop culture isn't really what I am good at because I am not American. Not even close. I am not even an English speaker. But I got so excited when I read something I finally knew about in the book. (view spoiler)[Ultraman was really a big thing when I was growing up. Even if you were not a fan of it, but you will still see the boys around you doing the vertical/horizontal arms posture, pretending they are making the specium ray... at least, in China. When I read that Parzival was going for the beta capsule prize game with the two Japanese guys, I felt I wasn't ready for something I finally knew and liked and prepared well thinking that this might be the last pop culture stuff I knew about in the book. Then the book just attracted my attention so much in level 3. I couldn't really stop reading it. When I read in the almost ending Parzival was using the beta capsule to kill Sorrento's avatar, I felt I just got a bonus! Really excited! (hide spoiler)]

I liked the book very much in general, level 3 the most. But I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the love story in the book. It's not the most important thing in the book though and the author already tried to make it as short as it can be. So I would still give the book I just read 5 stars for all the excitement the book gave me.

I will go to see the screen version of the book for sure!

Loved the book. The sci-fi stuff and 80s culture references we're pretty good. Looking forward to the screen adaptation by Spielberg.

Alyssa wrote: "80s pop culture isn't really what I am good at .... But I got so excited when I read something I finally knew about in the book..."

Me too

For some reason I was considerably underwhelmed by this book.
I haven't awarded it a rating as of yet since I'm still gathering my final thoughts, but I'm leaning towards a very middle-of-the road 3 out of 5 stars.

I'll be back during the weekend to divulge my thoughts in depth, as well as write my actual review on my personal thread.