Ready Player One - Book & Movie Review
- May 5, 2018
- 5 min read
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
BOOK REVIEW - By: Megan
QUICK FACTS:
Genre: Science Fiction
Series/Stand-alone: Sequel is coming
Length: 579 pages
Format: Paperback, ebook
Available at: Chapters, Amazon, Toronto Public Library
Because I’m that person, I always want to read the book before I see the movie. And by happy coincidence, I’d actually bought Ready Player One a couple months before the movie was released, not knowing it was about to be released (I may slightly live under a rock about these kinds of things – seriously don’t ask me about new music, it’s embarrassing) so when I found out I was doubly excited! As we have established, ever so often I go on random Chapters binges and walk away with armfuls of books: this was picked up on one of those binges. I had a gift card, it was on the 2/$15 table, it was coming home with me. What drew me first was the cover: I have the original cover, not the movie cover, so it’s got giant block letters spelling out Ready Player One in white outlined in orange, overtop of a photo of a boy climbing one of several towers made out of trailers. It’s a pretty eye-catching cover and definitely raises more questions than it answers! So really, the best kind of book cover. After I picked it up, I read the back, and that’s when I was really hooked. I LOVE sci-fi and fantasy books, always have always will – I mean I have a Harry Potter tattoo for crying out loud, so I was especially hooked when I flipped over the book and the quote at the top had a reviewer saying that this book is “the grown-up’s Harry Potter”. There was no way I was putting it down after that.
I really like how this book is written – and I was seriously impressed when I discovered that this was the author’s first novel. It feels like it was written by a seasoned author! There’s something very engaging about the way the story is told, and having the story told in first-person perspective brings you even deeper into the story. It’s cool because you almost feel like you’re the character, fitting considering what the story is all about! This book takes the fact that many people feel like they can truly be themselves online, and imagines a world in the future (2045) where you can live your entire life in virtual reality: going to school, working, you name it you can probably do it in OASIS. It’s such a cool concept! In this book, you see the world through Wade’s eyes. He’s a very relatable awkward nerdy kid: he never quite fit in unless it was part of OASIS, the virtual world where he thrived. Really though, it’s all about the hunt for Halliday’s Easter Egg: a quest designed by the creator where the winner receives ultimate control of OASIS and Halliday’s entire fortune. You’re there with Wade as he tries to solve the riddles and puzzles, and get there before all of the others trying to do the same – what’s really fun about the whole quest is that it’s built around random 80s trivia: from music, to movies, to video games. And while I wasn’t technically born in the 80s, seeing as I’m an early 90s baby, it still made me smile every time! The idea that the 80s became essentially gospel to people in the future is both hilarious and somehow comforting, I‘m not sure why, but it is. The characters are really well developed, I know I was incredibly invested in all of them by the time I reached the halfway point in the book, and you really do root for them as they go up against some pretty intense situations!
I’m a big fan of this book! It’s definitely one that I’m going to go back and read again, probably several times, and I know that I’ll probably notice something new every time I do – that’s where I can see the comparison to Harry Potter. The other revie
w quote on the back referenced Willy Wonka meets the Matrix, and that absolutely rings true: it has the best of both, with a sprinkling of Harry Potter thrown in – I don’t really think you can go wrong! I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m interested to see how they’ve managed to capture the spirit of the book along with all of the details. Regardless, I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good treasure hunt, science fiction, coming of age story or any combination of the three! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Happy reading babes!
Ready Player One Director: Steven Spielberg
MOVIE REVIEW - By: Rachel
QUICK FACTS:
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi, Action Animated or Live Action: Both Length: 2h 20min Based on a Book: Yes Release Date: March 29th or March 30th, 2018
Rating: PG – 14A depending on your province
I’m going to be very careful not to spoil anything for you because that’s honestly the worst. Normally, I would have preferred to have read the book before the movie cause that’s usually how I roll. BUT this time I just didn’t have the time.
If you’ve read Meg’s book review above, you know what the story is about. The movie absolutely highlights what a creative and well put together story this is. Like the book, the movie flips between the Oasis and the real world. The animation is well done, which helps immerse you even further into the story. In this world the 80s mean everything to the people, and it’s basically become a religion. The 80s pop-culture references, are EVERYTHING! My only thing was that I had heard from people who had read the book and in book reviews that there would be a ton of 80s references and there were a lot but not as many as I was expecting or hoped for.
The story and movie push forward very well which can be tricky when you’re jumping back and forth from two very different worlds. You don’t realize how long the movie actually is. The cast is filled with recognizable faces but they’re the kind of cast that it will take you a minute (or a quick IMDB search) to remember their names. The acting overall wasn’t award winning, but it 100% matched the charm of the movie.
There are many puzzles and riddles throughout the movie and I really found myself invested in trying to figure them out myself. Not, just because I might also have an 80s obsession, but because they were made so interesting.
The trailers didn’t over sell the movie at all, and I’m hoping that for those of you who have read the book that you won’t be let down either. The best way for me to describe it is if someone rolled Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, The Breakfast Club, with a sprinkling of Willy Wonka and a kick ass sci-fi movie all together it would spit our Ready Player One. In my world that’s just this side of perfect.
I really enjoyed this movie, like a lot. And I want to re-watch it as soon as possible. I’m sure there will be other details or clues that I missed the first time watching.
Happy watching babes!
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