The Launch Party by Lauren Forry

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Bonnier Books UK in exchange for an honest review.

A murder mystery set on the moon sounds like exactly my cup of tea, so I was very excited when I got approved for this book. The Launch Party is about what happens when you take a bunch of people into space, abandon them in a luxury moon hotel and then one of them is murdered. It is an interesting blend of a traditional murder mystery with a modern sci-fi twist, although I was hoping for a little more of the former than this delivers.

I'm not sure quite what it was about this book that meant I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. I think it is partially that the murder mystery elements are not as strong as they could be. For logistic reasons, the cast are left abandoned in space as soon as they arrive but this introduces an additional 'survival' element and immediately implies there is something going on.

The interaction between characters is also a little limited, albeit only a little. I did get a strong sense of each character but mostly through second-hand observations or from the POV narratives, not through actions or interactions. It took me a while to get my head around who everyone was and get a sense of who they were, which again weakens the mystery aspect a little.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read but it definitely lost some steam for me about halfway through. Perhaps with faster pacing or more defined characters, it would have kept my attention more. Having said that, it's an enjoyable concept and worth picking up if you like murder mysteries with a conceptual twist

Overall Rating:

.5

The Other Side of Never edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a solid premise for an anthology and I was really excited to read it. It feels like there's been a recent trend of 'Peter Pan but creepy', with my absolute favourite Lost Boy by Christina Henry standing out among the crowd. I am pleased to say that The Other Side of Never is a worthy contributor.

As with any anthology, you get the good ones and the not so good ones. I think this starts off a little weak with many of the initial stories being confusingly told or hard to follow. Sometimes a story would end and I wouldn't get what the point was as nothing had really happened, and these were the most frustrating. But after the first few, the quality improved greatly for me and there were some real enjoyable finds here.

I would say my favourites were A School for Peters (kind of disjointed and not the best told, but I liked the idea behind it) No Such Place (a fantastic thematic interpretation of the source material and one of the easiest to follow) and The Lost Boys Monologues (again, disjointed but had some good ideas behind it).

Overall, I enjoyed this anthology a lot and I am looking forward to reading the Alice in Wonderland one even more so now. I do think that in general, this series of anthologies does need a bit more editing. It does seem to be a consistent problem that stories seem either unfinished or near incoherent, and it is a shame when some of them are so enjoyable. Hopefully they will continue to improve

Overall Rating:

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Hodder & Stoughton, in exchange for an honest review.

I have come to realise that I love sci fi thrillers; that is, the unique blend of domestic thriller but with some sci fi elements thrown in. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from The Echo Wife and honestly, I think the blurb is a little misleading. This is the story of Evelyn, a scientist who specialises in genetic research. In particular, she has perfected cloning through a brutal and not entirely legal method. The problem is, Evelyn's ex husband has stolen some of her research and cloned himself a new Evelyn, one who won't talk back and will be his perfect wife.

To say anymore of the plot would begin spoiling stuff, but this really is the bare bones. I feel like the blurb is misleading because you know Nathan's new wife is a clone from the start and there is no mystery or sense of tension from that. The main focus of the story is Evelyn, her scientific ethics and her relationship with this clone of herself (and by extension, her husband's attitude towards her). It's an interesting and unique way to tell a story that, although it does have thriller elements, is not quite the 'mess with your mind' experience you might be expecting from the summary. The thriller elements are more related to the body horror and nature of existence type stuff.

Overall, I definitely recommend giving this thriller a read, especially if you've not read something like this before. It does have such a unique and interesting story to tell, and it is told extremely well. Evelyn is a compelling protagonist and all of the characters are flawed but intriguing. I never quite knew where the plot was going to go in a really enjoyable way.

Overall Rating:

The Famoux by Kassandra Tate

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Wattpad Books, in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to be honest, I was super excited to read this book but I wasn't exactly expecting a lot from it. The Famoux is the story of Emilee, a girl living in a future where global warming has destroyed most of the world. Spending most of her time being bullied by her schoolmates or yelled at by her family, Emilee is shocked when one day she is scooped off the street and offered the chance to join her favourite teenage celebrities, The Famoux. Leaving her own life behind, she moves in with them and becomes a part of their world. Only then does she learn that one of them has been murdered by a secret organisation, and it seems very likely they will kill again.

The start of this book is fairly rough. If you're a teenager you'll undoubtedly love it, but there are quite a lot of 'YA dystopian' tropes here. The people and the cities all have twee names like 'Chapter Stones' and 'Delicatum'. It gives major Selection vibes (which admittedly I love). But push past the first few chapters and suddenly you get to a story which is surprisingly very genuinely good.

The blurb is a little misleading I feel. The Famoux are reality stars but their celebrity group functions a lot more like a hype house without the TikTok. Every one of them has their own talent, and they spend most of the time doing activities together and building publicity. If you're expecting a story based around being on a reality TV show, this isn't it. However, the main strength of The Famoux is its intriguing plot and characters. The Famoux are all pitted against each other in a popularity contest for their lives, and this results in some very enjoyable character interactions and dynamics. I got sucked into this world and, better yet, I couldn't predict where the plot was going or who would do what next.

Overall, this book is a ton of fun. If you don't mind the occasional YA trope indulgence, there's a real gem of a story to be found here. As soon as I finished it, I was desperate to read the sequel and return to this world. I really hope it gets published as this book definitely deserves some love and attention.

Overall Rating:

All About Us by Tom Ellen

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher HQ in exchange for an honest review.

What a joy this book was! All About Us is the story of Ben, a man concerned that his relationship with his wife is falling apart. One Christmas Eve, he gains a watch from a mysterious man in a pub and finds himself thrust back in time to various important dates in his life (and his relationship). The blurb is a little misleading because it implies he will go back in time and reverse the initial decision of which girl he picks, but actually the book is not focused on that almost at all. It isn't a question of which girl is better, rather whether he wants to pursue Daphne at all knowing that they might inevitably drift apart. There is also a focus on how he has generally messed up his life outside of the romance, particularly his relationship with his mum and estranged dad.

Firstly, I have read this author's previous book which was co-authored and I'm pleased to find that I definitely loved this author's writing. The characters are brilliant and I was particularly impressed with the protagonist. It would have been easy to make him a stereotype who was bored of his wife and wanted a shiny new partner, but Ben has depth and a lot of heart. He clearly adores Daphne throughout and he was incredibly likeable. I wanted him to work things out and do well, and I was never rolling my eyes at his behaviour. Daphne was similarly great and I loved all the characters and felt connected to them.

The plot is unoriginal on paper but the execution is perfect. I couldn't really tell where it was going even though I should have been able to, and the Christmas elements are also really well done. The book starts on Christmas Eve and a few of the important dates take place on Christmas, but apart from some lovely imagery it isn't super Christmassy. I didn't feel out of place reading this in October and I was concerned I would, so that was a great balance hit.

Overall, I would strongly recommend this book. It's perfect if you want a well-written, interesting romance that you can actually root for. It avoids all of the pitfalls romance books can fall into, and it has convinced me to check out this author's entire backlog now. I am so so glad to find a good romance book written by a male author with a male protagonist that didn't alienate me as a female reader, and to find a book with a lot of heart and charm is always a treat.

Overall Rating:

.5

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Macmillan Children's Books  in exchange for an honest review.

This book was entirely different from what I was expecting. I'd heard that it was a horror book about a group of girls in a boarding school who start developing terrifying mutations as part of an infection-type thing they call 'the Tox'. And yes, that technically is the plot! But it doesn't give you a lot to work with in terms of genre or tone. Even after reading this, I'm still struggling to classify it a little but I think sci-fi is the label that fits it best.

So, many people in the Booktube community have raved about Wilder Girls and I do think that's a bit of a shame really because, after reading it, I'm struggling to see why. Don't get me wrong, there were some really cool things about this book. The characters were fairly decent, the plot once it kicked in was really absorbing and I had no idea how things were going to pan out. But at the same time, there were definitely things that were lacking. With the horror aspect being played up in the way this book is marketed (or at least, classified) I expected more of a focus on what the Tox actually does to these girls' bodies. In actuality there is almost no detail given. At first I assumed this was to build suspense but this is not followed up by any payoff and so it all fell a bit flat for me. It was hard to visualise the true nature of the Tox when we had so little to go on.

Overall, I think I wanted to like this book more than I did. I went in very blind beyond the basic description and, while I tried so hard not to let rave reviews influence me, I was sadly left wondering what all the fuss was about. The climax felt rushed and messy, once again vague on details. I did like the ending paragraphs and parts of the plot were done really well. I just wish there'd been a little bit more of everything.

Overall Rating:

.5

The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Quercus Books in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly never thought I would rate a thriller 5 stars. I gave If We Were Villains 5 stars at the start of the year and that is indeed a thriller but it is quite differently tonally than most I read. The Perfect Wife on the other hand is pretty much a traditional thriller, albeit with a neat sci-fi twist. And I absolutely adored it.

This is the story of Abbie, a woman who wakes up only to be told that she's not a woman at all. In fact Abbie is now a robot, built by her husband to replace his dead wife. As she tries to resume her life five years on, she realises that her memory is not quite complete and there are some things that her husband isn't telling her.

I wouldn't dream of spoiling anything else about this book. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was completely gripped by both the basic plot and the execution. Fascinating questions about AI and what it means to be a person are raised and, while this is nothing new in sci-fi, it is wonderful to see it explored within a thriller setting. I was not only surprised by the plot but I was surprised multiple times, and each one made me more excited to find out what happened next. This rarely happens for me with thrillers and so I was delighted to experience it here. I hesitate to mention twists in my reviews because I feel like if you expect them then they have less of an impact, but fans of thrillers won't be disappointed here.

The writing and characters are another strength. The story is told in dual perspective, with the chapters from robot Abbie's POV being told in the second person (an unusual choice but one that works really well) and the alternating chapters being told from the POV of an unknown narrator back when human Abbie first met Tim at his workplace. Every character is nuanced and I particularly love how Abbie is explored in such detail.

Overall, I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this thriller. It's unusual, gripping and has a plot I found really satisfying. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you like the genre and I'm so happy to have found a new favourite.

Overall Rating:

Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Grove Press in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy, where to start with this book. I have labelled it a 'DNF' but I did actually pretty much read all of it, I just wanted to DNF it so many times. I requested this book after reading an excerpt and I'm ashamed to say I wish I hadn't. The unusual writing style caught my eye and I thought the plot had huge potential. This is kind of a futuristic retelling of Frankenstein based around sex bots and AI? Honestly I don't know what was going on with this book. The plot became really hard to follow due to the writing style and there were flashback chapters to Mary Shelley which just made me confused and bored. There is however a much bigger problem with this book.

It's transphobic. Very transphobic.

Initially I was excited to read about a trans doctor as the protagonist. Unfortunately the language surrounding the discussion of this character is rife with unfortunate implications. Ry frequently describes himself as now identifying as a man (Ry is a female-to-male trans character) but then explains that he is a hybrid and still a woman and not a real man and aaaaah. Gender fluidity is absolutely a thing and I would happily read about a gender fluid character but this is done all wrong if that's what the author was going for.

This trans character is also specifically fetishised for being a 'hybrid' by his male doctor partner. There is a lot of discussion about genitals etc and this was extremely uncomfortable to read about. I really think more research should have been done because I found this book incredibly problematic so I can't imagine how it would read to a trans audience (Although I did float a few of the problematic things past my trans friends to check I wasn't being unfair. They all agreed that this sounded AWFUL).

Terrible transphobia aside, this book is just super dull. I did skimread until the end and at 80% through, nothing had really happened yet. It's such a shame because I could have really gotten into this book but ultimately, it felt like it was trying too hard to be literary.

Overall Rating:

Mother Knows Best by Kira Peikoff

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.

Oh what a delicious find this was! I really don't know how to categorise this book because I haven't read anything like it before. It's mostly a thriller but it reads very differently to the majority of thrillers I've read and it has a loose sci-fi element to it too. Mother Knows Best is the story of several different characters and it focuses on a simple scientific concept-what if you could genetically engineer a child with three parents? The plot itself is very much rooted in the real-world and it explores the legal and ethical ramifications of such research and what might happen to those involved in it. At its core though, this is a story about a very unusual family, a desperate mother and a driven scientist who won't stop until she gets what she wants.

I am genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I requested it after reading a sample and this is one of the most unique and interesting thrillers I've ever read. The characters were all brilliant and nuanced (Abby perhaps was a little flat but she read as a realistic child at least) and they provide the different facets and dimensions to the plot. Every character is valid to some extent in their point of view and that creates interesting dilemmas. You can also tell that the author has certainly done her research with regards to the scientific stuff. She has a degree in bioethics and she's put it to good use here, making the story all the stronger for it.

On the whole, this is definitely worth checking out if you are a thriller fan. It has a more unique premise than most thrillers and it is written and executed fantastically. It isn't the darkest or most suspenseful of stories, but it makes up for it with strong characters and a plot that keeps you guessing where it will go next. I look forward to seeing more books from this author.

Overall Rating:

Skin by Liam Brown

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Legend Press in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy, if all sci-fi had as well-developed characters as this one, I would read a whole lot more of it. Skin initially caught my eye because of the striking cover and I thought the general premise sounding interesting enough. It is set in the near-future where a disease has broken out among humanity which makes them allergic to each other. The result of this is that people have to live in isolation, communicating with others only through screens and essentially never venturing outside (certainly never without a hazmat suit). The focus is on a single family and our main character is Angela, the mother of the household.

If you couldn't tell from my intro, my favourite thing by far about this book was the characters. Angela was a fantastic portrayal of a modern jaded woman-someone who doesn't have high expectations but gets on with things. She read so true to me and it added a lot of strength to the story. Her kids felt like people who had grown up in this world and they managed to be compelling characters without distracting from the plot. Her husband was maybe the weakest but even then, you got the impression of hidden depth that the story just wasn't exploring. Brown can definitely write three dimensional people.

The plot itself was fairly strong and it certainly lives up to the premise promised. It's more of a world-building based plot than anything else so be aware of that going in. My main issue was the ending of the book which (no spoilers) was very abrupt and didn't quite feel complete and satisfactory. This could have easily been a 4 star read had the ending had a little more meat to it.

Overall, this is a solid sci-fi book and definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre. It uses the concept to explore humanity and people's behaviour which, in my opinion, is the best kind of sci-fi book. It could have maybe done with a little more of a story in the second half but it does decently enough and I'm very happy I decided to read it.

Overall Rating:

.5

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Good news-the book club I'm a part of has been revived! Expect more random book reviews of things that aren't usually my taste.

So this is the type of thriller I would never pick up, only with a very sciency edge. I was honestly not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. This book focuses on Jason, a Physics professor with a wife and a son who gets kidnapped by the alternative universe version of himself and sent to a world where his family doesn't exist. Instead he has invented a box that lets him travel to alternative universes. There are essentially three parts to this book-Jason being kidnapped, him universe-hopping to try and find his world and his eventual return to it.

By far my favourite part of this was the last third. I did not expect the twist of there being multiple Jasons and I loved the way this was handled. Up until that part, it was an enjoyable but not particularly engaging story. Jason as a character could have been far more annoying than he was and I was so happy that he didn't cross the line into an unlikeable male protagonist. I was however slightly disappointed with the way his wife was handled. Instead of universe-hopping with some random female scientist, why not make it the alternative version of his wife? It would have added another level to the whole 'do I sleep with her?' dilemma and also given his wife more character depth. Instead we get Jason immediately sleeping with her with barely any moral quandary and then she gets shot. Sure, it might have harmed the last third but she could have died in an alternative universe in some way and then had that bit play out the same.

For a book that isn't usually my taste, I really enjoyed reading this. It posed some interesting questions regarding 'what is the self?', and the ending did not follow the same predictable route as the rest of the book which gave it a breath of fresh air. The characters weren't amazing but they weren't cardboard cut-outs either. Overall, if you like the sound of the blurb then I would definitely give this one a try.

Overall Rating:

.5

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Oh boy. I am not going to win any fans for this one. So this book has been on my TBR list for four years now. One of my closest friends recommended it to me waaaay back in first year of university and I earnestly promised to read it as he said it was one of his favourite books. Flash forward to 2018-the movie is coming out and I am reminded of this book's existence. I excitedly text him to say I'm finally starting to read it and I begin.

Aaaaaaaaah.

This book is bad. Painfully bad. Reading it is like being punched in the stomach by someone you hate only you're not allowed to complain about it because you have only yourself to blame. The only way I can accurately do my hatred of this book justice is to break it down into subtitles so apologies if it seems disjointed. There is just a LOT of ground to cover.

Plot Summary

The setting is 2045 and the world has gone to crap. Our protagonist is a teenage boy named Wade Watts, an orphan who spends all of his time in an online virtual world called the Oasis. That's all everyone does now-that and make endless 80s references. You see, the guy who made the Oasis died and left behind a video saying he would give 240 billion (yes, BILLION) dollars to whoever finds his hidden Easter egg first. In order to have a chance of finding this Easter egg, you have to memorise every piece of pop culture from the 80s ever. No that isn't a joke. Wade is the biggest geek and therefore of course will undertake the quest to find the egg first. By 'quest' I mean spending four years watching and reading stuff, then finally getting off his ass to do something.

Problem #1-SO MUCH EIGHTIES

Many people appear to love this book because of the endless references to everything nerdy. These people are severely misguided. You see, Cline employs the absolute laziness way of referencing stuff which is to just namecheck everything in a massive stream of pop culture vomit. If the reference isn't included as part of an obnoxiously long list, then you can bet it will be inserted into a paragraph of description in the most distracting way possible. Characters, places, even the music in tense scenes is replaced with a reference to a better work of fiction.

'She was so charming. Her geeky demeanor and hyperkinetic speech pattern reminded me of Jordan, my favorite character in Real Genius'

How distracting is that? It fails on two counts because if you don't get the reference, well you suck for not being nerdy enough (more on that later). If you do get the reference however, then you can't possibly think of anything other than the character from that movie from then onward. It ruins any description Cline does bother to write and it jerks you out of the story like a car crash.

Problem #2-Show don't tell

So the finding of the first key is kind of glossed over a bit (I mean, if you can call 10 chapters or so 'glossed over') which I guess is done because finding it is a given. Unfortunately this results in one of the worst narrative mistakes an author can make and that is simply telling the reader about stuff instead of bothering to describe it. It's honestly baffling when Wade finds out the location of the first key, calculates it will take him three days to get there and then just immediately comes up with an alternative plan. Then he teleports there and makes his way through a dungeon in the space of a sentence. Cline literally lists him finding loot until he reaches the big boss of the dungeon and it's such a bizarre decision. I guess it's because if you've played the game he's referencing, that would be rather dull to read about. Alas it is dull anyway and you could have done so much cool stuff with detailing Wade's journey and have him battling things. Even fans of the game could have enjoyed in-depth references.

This is not a one-off either. Too often the author resorts to simply listing things or skimming over certain details. I don't need to read about everything but why bring something up instead of simply using a time skip or a change of scene? This is also linked closely with the next problem...

Problem #3-No suspense allowed

For the first half of this book (and even a bit beyond that) the author seems petrified to let the reader experience any kind of suspense. Finding the first key is told with the knowledge that Wade will succeed but that does not excuse things like this happening:

'I breathed a sigh of relief. (I wouldn’t learn until later that the keys were nontransferable. You couldn’t drop one of them, or give them to another avatar. And if you were killed while holding one, it vanished right along with your body.)'

So throughout this scene we're not sure if he's going to be attacked and lose the key he just gained. Then Art3mis tries to attack him and the above sentence happens, immediately removing any kind of suspense. By telling us so early on that keys can't be stolen, it removes so much potential tension from later scenes. Again, stuff like this happens repeatedly.

Problem #4-Wade is too good

The other major reason the story lacks any suspense is that Wade basically never struggles with anything. It is astonishing how many skills this guy supposedly has. He is one of the first people to work out the location of the first key and gets it immediately, even though Art3mis has been trying for five weeks. Granted he struggles with working out the second key but only with working it out. The actual nerd skills needed to complete any challenge, he has in spades. None of these skills are foreshadowed either (beyond us being told repeatedly how awesome and nerdy he is) so every time it's like 'I approached the place, waiting to see what the next challenge would be. It was this thing. Sweet, I'm awesome at this thing.'. I was just waiting for him to encounter something he wasn't amazing at and it never really happened.

At one point when Wade is in hiding and is all depressed, he becomes incredibly obese. He then installs a fitness program onto his virtual system and within months (literally months) he gains abs and becomes very muscular. I can understand having a computer program help you lose weight making it much easier but it's still ridiculous. It doesn't explain how he loses that weight healthily when it's so much in such a short space of time. It's just another thing that he does effortlessly.

Problem #5-No one has that much time

This book is all over the place when it comes to logic and time. So Wade is poor and we're told right at the start of the book that he has to scavenge and sell computers for food since his aunt steals all of his government-issued food. This is then never mentioned again. He also attends school which presumably follows the usual full-time school structure. Four years have passed since the start of the egg hunt and yet somehow Wade has had the time to consume thousands of hours of films, TV shows, books and videogames. How? For example, just one thing Wade claims to have done is watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail 157 times. That is almost ten days worth of watching just one film.

This continues much later on when we're suddenly told that he has had to take on a full-time 40 hour a week job (with 10 hour shifts) and yet he still has time to go into the Oasis all the time and still hunt for the egg. What??? It doesn't make any sense.

Problem #6-Is this even a romance?

Not gonna lie, I have quite a few issues with how Art3mis and Wade's relationship goes down in this book. He has a crush on her before he meets her and when he does meet her, we get some truly cringe-worthy flirting between them.

'“You’re evil, you know that?” I said.

She grinned and shook her head. “Chaotic Neutral, sugar.”'

That line was so bad that it almost ruined the magical idea of romance a lifetime of watching Disney movies has instilled in me.

It does get marginally better but it still really bothers me. Art3mis makes a lot of good points about how Wade only gets to see what she wants him to see since they've only interacted online. And she repeatedly says she looks nothing like her avatar which he repeatedly ignores. Good thing she was lying right? This discussion also leads to one of the most godawful please-can-I-stop-reading moments in the whole damn book:

'Art3mis: How well do you know Aech?

Parzival: He’s been my best friend for five years. Now, spill it. Are you a woman? And by that I mean are you a human female who has never had a sex-change operation?

Art3mis: That’s pretty specific.

Parzival: Answer the question, Claire'

If some guy spoke like that to me, I would never ever speak to him again. This was written in 2011 for god's sake, there's no excuse for transphobia.

Just after the halfway point, we get the obligatory break-up due to Art3mis wanting to focus on the contest (though she is adamant they were never dating, something Wade repeatedly ignores). Wade then bombards her with messages etc to try and get her back. I honestly don't know how the author meant us to interpret this because he does get her in the end but it's not as a result of his behaviour. However, it's still another point against our hero.

I also dislike the faint 'not like other girls' vibe going on in the narration. Wade takes time to point out how Art3mis has a curvy but normal build, unlike EVERY OTHER GIRL who apparently are all either stick-thin or have porn star bodies. Because of course most girls would choose to look like a male fantasy.

Finally, there's a scene where Art3mis and Wade discuss what they would do with the money. Wade says he'd buy a mansion and cool stuff and Art3mis says she would feed all the starving people in the world. You know, because dystopia. Wade MOCKS her for this. This is never really resolved apart from a glib joke by Wade later.

Problem #7-All the other crap

1. There is so much racism in regards to the Japanese characters.

2. Aech is apparently one of the most famous players in the Oasis at the start of the book, has a really cool hangout and yet has no friends apart from Wade.

3. Why do they hang out with I-r0k? Seriously, no one likes him and he exists only to mess stuff up later. Oh, and also so Wade can prove his knowledge in one of the hardest scenes to swallow (I've dealt with a lot of sucky gatekeeper nerd guys in my time).

'I nodded. “The prizes were all mentioned in the Swordquest comic books that came with the games. Comic books which happen to be visible in the treasure room in the final scene of Anorak’s Invitation, by the way.”

The crowd burst into applause. I-r0k lowered his head in shame.'

Never has a scene made me root for a protagonist less.

4. If Halliday intended the true message to be 'don't waste your life in the Oasis', why did he create an impossibly hard contest designed to make everyone spend their time in the Oasis consuming the exact same pop culture he did?

5. Wade says this stupid insult '“Your mom bought them for me,” I retorted without breaking my stride. “Tell her I said thanks, the next time you stop at home to breast-feed and pick up your allowance.”' followed by 'At this school, the only real weapons were words, so I’d become skilled at wielding them'. Skilled. With dialogue like that. Sure.

6. Halliday sounds like an awful awful person. Wade takes the time to point out he fired people for not understanding his references and yeah, that makes him awful.

7. Name-dropping Revenge of the Nerds as a good movie. Gross.

8. Oh look, more problematic stuff:

'“Stop hitting yourself like Rain Man, OK?”'

9. Stop. Making. Wade. So. Unlikeable.

'When I reached the bar, I ordered a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster from the female Klingon bartender and downed half of it. Then I grinned as R2 cued up another classic ’80s tune. “ ‘Union of the Snake,’ ” I recited, mostly out of habit. “Duran Duran. Nineteen eighty-three.”'

10. The weird blob dancing scene.

Final Thoughts

So after all that, how come this book gets two stars and not one? Well to my utter surprise, after about the halfway point this book improves a lot. Almost all of the references vanish (sadly not quite all) and the actual plot becomes the main focus. It's not a bad plot either, and I even found myself enjoying it at times. Sadly this is not enough for me to recommend this book. It wasn't even enough to cancel out the sheer anger it made me feel.

Mild other positives so this doesn't seem so negative-Art3mis is a pretty cool character. I like how she held her own and she was by far the most sensible and relatable person. Aech isn't bad either really. The plot goes in a weird but not unwelcome direction nearish the end and it was certainly different than what I was expecting.

Overall, I am kind of baffled how this book gets any 5 star reviews. From reading them, they all seem to be written by people who are happy with shallow references and enjoy the gatekeeper aspects. As someone who normally loves a clever reference, I am deeply disappointed by the quality on show here.

It's such a shame because the second half of the book shows how good Ready Player One could have been if it wasn't trying so hard. I would have loved to see more creativity and uniqueness within the world of the Oasis. It also desperately needed a less douchey protagonist.

Overall Rating: