Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: Four stars 
Genre: Sci-fi, YA
Edition: Audiobook

Goodreads 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. 

But 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 initially became interested in Ready Player One after seeing the movie. For me, the movie was so much fun. I love gaming and the OASIS truly seems like the perfect game. The world building and nerdy references sucked me in and I am not ashamed to admit that I have watched it several times since it came out. After my boyfriend told me that he enjoyed the audiobook, I knew that I had to listen to it. 

First off, Wil Wheaton did a great job reading this audiobook. Sometimes that can make or break a story and I was not disappointed – and I am relatively picky about these things. 

Likes: The OASIS is such a beautiful place, I would honestly pay so much money to be able to join in the game! The thought process that went into each of the trials was so intricate, I can honestly tell how much time the author took thinking of them. I also liked how the school system was transferred into the OASIS to show how much the OASIS truly affected their everyday life. The author showed unique ways that the game could be used that I would not have thought of but made sense – schooling, working out, etc. 

Dislikes: The relationship between the main character and love interest happened so quickly and honestly seemed a little forced. The back and forth nature of it seemed to just be added for drama and left a whole segment of the book that was a little boring. There were also some really important scenes in the book that happen but the author made the scenes so long and so boring – seemingly to offset how important it is supposed to be so that it would be a surprise. 

Differences between the book and the movie: I know that many people were annoyed that the movie was so different from the book, and I don’t know if it was because I read the book after or not, but I enjoyed both. They were extremely different but I understand there are only so many scenes that can be put into a movie. The book still had the nerdy references that I loved, however, they were older references so I did not get as many. The references in the book were more about old games that am not familiar with while the movie had newer references that made me geek out. 

Overall, I gave this book four stars because, while I would definitely read it again, the book did have some issues and slow points that would stop me from wanting to read it often. I loved the world and the humor but there was a whole section of the book towards the end (I don’t want to discuss because spoilers) that I don’t know if I would want to dredge through again.