About 20% of this book is cleverly hilarious. The rest is awful, often reminding me of draggingly torturous SNL skits. For a humor book, it sure takesAbout 20% of this book is cleverly hilarious. The rest is awful, often reminding me of draggingly torturous SNL skits. For a humor book, it sure takes itself seriously. I tend to like Eggers, but this books is a culmination of everything about him and McSweeney's that annoys me: wordplay with painful precision, making a mockery of the very thing you ask people to buy, something that was funny only until about the end of the title, and yeah, I get it, you're clever, but do something with it instead of just flashing it around. The more of this review I write, the less I like this book. There are SOME killer pieces here, but they're few and far between. ...more
The students in the book group I led read and finished this book, and most of them liked it. They were all teenage girls who chose it because they wanThe students in the book group I led read and finished this book, and most of them liked it. They were all teenage girls who chose it because they wanted to see things from a guy's perspective. They were entertained, interested, and enjoyed what they saw to be its point: one thing can change everything. One young lady said that she was really affected by this book because she has "made similar choices... mistakes..." but hasn't YET met the same consequences. I think it meets its target audience members where they are but takes them someplace new, which is remarkable, because many YA books meet kids where they are, but merely entertain.
I was annoyed by its narrative style--a young kid talking directly to me. I felt like I was listening to a teenager tell me a long story without having a chance to talk back or ask a question. I didn't trust the narrator completely, nor did I really understand some of his choices (probably because he didn't, and therefore couldn't explain or give background), but I suppose the author should then be credited with creating a realistic voice.
"I enjoyed reading this book, until I was about 75% in. Then, the paganistic, weirdo method invaded the story and kind of took of. The first book was "I enjoyed reading this book, until I was about 75% in. Then, the paganistic, weirdo method invaded the story and kind of took of. The first book was fun, with just enough meaning and character development, theme and whatnot, but this book seemed to take itself far too seriously. It mixes serious high-level vocab with an overuse of "shit" and "fuck," which makes for a rough style. I was so glad we were getting Julia's background story, and I liked the alternating storylines, until, again, the goddess/Greek mythology/trickster fox stuff took over an otherwise interesting, character-driven backstory. The magic safe houses are cool, until she reaches the French one. The quest story, Julia finding her real self, Quentin learning that becoming a hero doesn't mean winning something, but losing something, all that makes for a great read. Feeling himself become a king, and learning what it means to be a king, all that was good. It got mired in the Others stuff, the underworld stuff (why wasn't Alice there?), the goddess-light stuff. Once I let myself (gasp!) skip some paragraphs that were making me go dizzy from eye rolling, I enjoyed it a lot more. I can't say whether I will be as anxious to read the third as I was to start reading this one. If you are looking for a good, character-driven, fantasy novel with a modern setting, you will probably like this. Again, I enjoyed reading almost all of it. The knowing nods to Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc came at nice times and made me like the book a little more. The author weaves and paces a story well, but he knows very little about how a woman's mind works, and the parts where the narrator gives us Julia's trite pissy-goth-girl thoughts was flat....more
This book is a true marvel. I am no gamer, not even close, and I'm more geek-adjacent than actual geek, but I loved this book from the very first pageThis book is a true marvel. I am no gamer, not even close, and I'm more geek-adjacent than actual geek, but I loved this book from the very first page until the last. It, like the OASIS servers, never lagged, never stalled, and never lost my interest.
The narrator is fully-formed, and done so believably, in that true-ringing way that convinces me that a narrator has a lot in common with its author. I liked him from the start, and I was skeptical that a total gamer freak would be able to captivate me, or make me feel like I could relate. I was so wrong. I alternately felt like I knew Wade and how he felt, and like I wanted to save him, date him, marry him, even let him teach me to play video games and love Square Pegs.
It is not simply nostalgia porn, though I think that's a great phrase and I can see why some people call it that. It is clearly a love letter not the 80s (that would imply the author's thinking that the decade itself was amazing, which is a stretch, considering all the Ronald Reagan that overshadowed that time), but to the brilliance, creativity, and pop culture creations of the 80s.
I like that this book is about how a person can share their love for something and ignite similar passions in others; I like that this book is about the importance of narratives, whether they are movies, books, songs, or games; I like that this book is about trusting yourself and learning to trust others; I like that this book is finally about the importance of reality and recognizing that reality is real, and that it is the only place to be real.
There is a nerd fantasy element here, that insinuation that all of your insanely geeky obsessions will lead you somewhere far far away and totally awesome, that somewhere in the world is a member of the opposite sex who is right-this-minute obsessing about the same things and is perfect for you in every way, that all flaws are redeemed by a kiss, and that all war games can be won if you're honest and honorable. That was a serious catch for me, until I realized that all of those things are at the center of pretty much every 80s movies I can freakin' think of.
As someone who loves books, and movies, and music, and TV shows: narratives, metaphors, culture, and all of their political, personal, and social implications, let me say that this book had me laughing, and cheering and satisfied all the way through.
I actually found myself riveted--holding and reading this book while transferring laundry, so unable to release it--to a scene in which the narrator is trying to play a perfect game of Pac-Man. It was as suspenseful for me as almost any high-stakes scene in any book I have ever read. That, dear readers, is some serious authorial skill....more
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