Ready Player One by Ernest Cline -- Review

Title: Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Pages: 374
Published: August 16th 2011 by Crown Publishers
ISBN: 030788743X

Summary:

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.

Review: 

I had seen Ready Player One all over the internet, and totally convinced myself that I had to read it. I didn't have time to sit down with a physical copy, so I rented the audiobook from my library and was pleasantly surprised to find out it was narrated by Wil Wheaton! I loved the spin he put on everything and it was quite interesting to hear Wil Wheaton read a story. 

Now on to the actual book. It started out really slow for me. There was lots of internet/gaming jargon that I didn't really understand and I felt like Cline described things in too much detail at times. The story got a little bogged down and I think I would have had a hard time getting through it had I been reading the physical copy instead of listening to an audiobook. The characters were fun, but I never felt truly connected to them, and I felt like I knew what was going to happen before it actually did. 

About half-way into the story, I started to really like Wade and was rooting for him. We got past the explaining and more on to the doing. I loved all of the old game and movie shoutouts, and really felt like I was playing some of the games right along with Wade and his friends. All in all, it was a fun story with a rather rocky beginning. I would still recommend the book and I'm looking forward to the movie! 

Rating 3/5