The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend
by Kody Keplinger
5 out of 5 stars
Showing posts with label Young-adult. Show all posts
The Wrath and The Dawn
(The Wrath and The Dawn 1)
by Renee Ahdieh
3.5 out of 5
The Kiss of Deception
(The Remnant Chronicles 1)
by Mary E. Pearson
4 out of 5 stars
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Saenz
3.5 out of 5 stars
SCARLET
(The Lunar Chronicles #2)
by Marissa Meyer
2 out of 5 stars
Read my review on Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) here.
PERSEPOLIS:
The Story of a Childhood
by Marjane Satrapi
Translated by Mattias Ripa
4 out of 5 stars
READY PLAYER ONE
by Ernest Cline
2 out of 5 stars
I cannot tell you how much I was looking forward to reading this book. There was an overwhelming amount of gushing from many booktuber reviews (e.g. here, here, here). Could a book be that good? Well, I thought to myself as I waited for it to finish downloading to my phone/gaming console/reading tablet, let's see.
10% into the book and I was ready, so desperately ready, to "pull the plug". Like the main character, Wade/Parzival, I was determined to finish this damned book and get my reward. Thankfully, the book came to its end and I was so happy that I would not have to read this again. Because that is just torture.
SYNOPSIS
2044 - An energy crises had driven most the population into an obsession with the virtual world called the OASIS. In its wake, the world is left to neglect. It steadily continued to decay right before our very eyes. But don't you worry about the world and its inhabitants, because we will never have an opportunity to address this head-on. Ignoring the "real" world, we follow Wade Watts immerse himself into the OASIS. Wade is quite a special gamer in the OASIS. He is a gunter, who are highly skilled gamers whose sole purpose is to win J.D. Halliday's Easter Eggs. These eggs are in the form of keys to open rooms wherein, the last one, would get you managing interest in the OASIS. Since the world is poor, the multi-billion dollar prize of the Egg Hunt is more than highly attractive.
CHARACTERS
Clearly, the readers should really want it too, right? Wrong! Not all readers are easily attracted to the money. What exactly could you do with the money? Money cannot solve a world-wide energy crisis or famine. There wasn't anything to buy because there was nothing. Yet, people's lifestyles didn't seem to change all that much even with the energy crisis. The only marked difference was the addition of the OASIS. This makes me believe that the problem was that Wade was poor and he wanted to be rich. That really doesn't endear me to him. He's shallow and uninteresting. He has no passion, except for the egg hunt. He hasn't given up anything, except maybe some unwanted relatives and a nice cat lady. OMG, Wade, wake-up get and smell the decay. You're a bum, Wade.
The supporting cast is stellar, however. We have the mysterious Aech, the lovely Art3mis, the IOI head Sixer (corporate-hired gunter) Sorrento, the brothers-at-arms Daito and Shoto, and the best character in this novel: James D. Halliday. It actually wouldn't be so bad if we were ready Halliday's story. At least, we would caught a glimpse of how the OASIS came into being. Instead, all Halliday references are of his more uninteresting hobbies like his 1980's obsession. Yes, it is nostalgic enough. His references to Japanese culture is wonderful. But really, the exposition makes me want to cry.
WRITING STYLE/POV
It's in a first person point of view (Wade, username: Parzival) over three sections. The first section happens before Wade's 18th birthday, and the 2nd happens a few months later. The third happens immediately after the third. The saving grace of this entire book is the third section, which is action packed and has a lot of Mission:Impossible bits. That was good and I breezed right through with no issues. Mind that you have to earn the good bits by going through pages upon pages of boring exposition. Some reviewers see this as Easter Eggs in itself, and it does tie in to some important scenes. But I didn't appreciate how long and drab and text-book like it was. If I wanted to really learn them, I would just read Wikipedia.
INSPIRATIONS
I understand that this is probably something really new to a lot of readers. Sorry, it's not. Go see Sword Art Online, a Japanese anime set in the near future where a mad virtual game creator (like Halliday) enslaves his many gamers into playing his game right after he was murdered (like Ready Player One). Gamers would only be freed from the game if they were able to reach the top level (third key?) and kill the boss (Sorrento?). There's also a love story between the main character and a very capable female gamer (Parzival and Art3mis?). But this anime has more twist and turns. It's basically action-packed all the way. There were very minimal filler scenes/episodes and I really enjoyed the main character. Plus, their motivations are clear - if you don't win, you die.
Here's an Easter Egg for you... Where's Shaider (1984)? And, where's Dragon Ball Z (1989)? More importantly, where the heck is Hello Kitty (1974)? Oh HK is not an anime and is not sci-fi. Fuck off. Hello Kitty continues to represent Japan in her adorable way and deserves to be referenced in this book.
Here's an Easter Egg for you... Where's Shaider (1984)? And, where's Dragon Ball Z (1989)? More importantly, where the heck is Hello Kitty (1974)? Oh HK is not an anime and is not sci-fi. Fuck off. Hello Kitty continues to represent Japan in her adorable way and deserves to be referenced in this book.
Shaider and Annie
DRAGONBALL Z
HELLO KITTY
OTHER THEMES
Corporate take-over was one of the major driving force in this story, because it has a lot to do with the real motivation: Greed. Wade and all his buddies are greedy. Halliday was the greediest person here. Halliday's greed and SELF-OBSESSION (he was so narcissistic! I do hope people like this do not exist.) overpowered any corporate greed. Yes, Halliday wanted people to be able to use the OASIS for free. No, it wasn't free. It's like when you download a game from Google Play store and you reach the third level, where the game tells you that you needed to pay for the rest of it. It was never free and had never been free. Even Wade said that he couldn't do much because he couldn't afford it.
WHAT WAS REALLY WADE DOING?
Wade needed to escape his life. He thought that the game would be his ticket out of the dump. Not education. Not human virtues of compassion, goodness, etc. He had solely focused on the game. That is not a good message to send to highly impressionable teens.
-----------
TIME FOR SPOILERS
-----------
Daito dies, leaving Shoto with a taste for revenge. This was one of the best used character death. It led Shoto to do his own exposition of his relationship with Daito. And, it was amazing. I was really rooting for Shoto, especially at the climactic battle in front of the castle. His reaction to "I have plan, it is this", to which Shoto just did that plan instead of debating it with Wade, is spectacular. This scene almost made me give it a 3 star rating, which I originally did. Then, I thought about the ending scene between Wade and Halliday, where Wade is presented with the kill switch. I prayed to my lucky stars that Wade does the right thing, which is push that damned button and end the OASIS. If he had done so, the world would have finally woken up to the idiocy of living their lives inside a simulation game. But, no, as a true gamer, Wade valued the OASIS more than the survival of the human race. This is where I, Robot scenarios originate from. If not, then worse, Terminator scenarios. If he pushed the button, I will happily give this a 4 star rating.
In the end, of course, Wade gets the prize with the help of his friends ala-Goonies. I have to say that I SAW THIS COMING FROM A MILE AWAY. Fanfiction had more adventure.
-----------
END OF SPOILERS
-----------
Overall, the shallowness of the characters and the stupidity of their motivations did this book in. I play RPG and MMORPG and I have to say that it is addicting. But like what my parents taught me, they aren't as important as, say, the real world and real problems. It's okay to have a hobby and get obsessed with something. But the OASIS was no longer a hobby, it was a dangerous universal obsession. It was preventing people from taking care of their environment and themselves. It was not a beacon of hope. It is where hope goes to die.
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
5 out of 5 stars
This book is in my GREATNESS shelf.
This entry explains the setting of A Darker Shade of Magic. Characters and Themes will be explained separately. Read it in goodreads here.
As you can see, I've given this book its due fangirl-ing by giving it a full 5 stars. It is also in my greatness shelf. This shelf was exclusively for all Terry Pratchett Discworld novels and for extra special books. Meaning, they must have been very good books to be able to sit in the same virtual shelf with my Pratchetts. For the longest time, only [author:Jonathan Stroud|33467]'s Bartimaeus Sequence had been able to accomplish this. That all changed a few days ago when I've flipped the last page of the last book I read, and it was this book.
The fact is I love this book. For the first time in forever, I've encountered characters that I actually enjoy reading. Another fact is that hardly anything in this book is truly original (but I will explain this in blog instead of here). Let set the stage.
ONCE UPON A TIME...
There was magic. It was the true source of power, governing the four parallel worlds. Because magic flowed through the worlds freely, beings learned how to travel from one world to another. These powerful creatures were called the Antari.
With power comes greed. It came to be that the most powerful world, the first world, of all fell into itself because of its misuse of magic. In fear for their own magic, the third world closed their doors to travel cutting the magic from the fourth world. With magic already faint, the fourth world learned to live without magic forgetting it entirely. The second suffered the most. They were left to themselves to battle the evil of the first. In the end, the second world fell into decay and the third world prospered.
A BIT ABOUT CHARACTERS... (SPOILER FREE)
Kell, one of the only two Antari still wielding magic, lived in the third world he called RED London. The only other Antari, Holland, was a servant of the Dane twins, the rules of decaying White London. Since Antaris are the only beings who can travel between worlds, they had the best job of all. They were very important mail men. As a ripple from the great fall of the first world, Black London, transference or the transfer of an object from one London to another is so illegal it's considered treason. That narrows it down to letters between London royalties.
As you can see, Kell, the adopted prince of Red London, had the best job of all time. Unlucky Holland wasn't faring as good. He was considered a servant of his evil monarchs. But you won't really care about Holland, because he's just unlucky enough to be introduced with Rhy, the golden boy aka Prince Charming aka the heir to Red London. Rhy and Kell are the closest of brothers. Rhy, the most fascinating creature in the world, is the opposite of the brooding and angsty Kell. He's flirtatious and fun but with an underlying sense of duty to both King and country. In fact, he is the first prince who actually understands what it is to be a King. Rhy knows that his privilege comes with a price. I only hope all heirs would be like Rhy. Hear that Glynn Queen?!
So, when Kell continues to lament his lack of important but vague things, like most teen-agers, Rhy is quick to get physical with Kell, i.e. trying to knock some sense into Kell. Rightly so, because Kell lives in a palace and dines with royalty. But Kell has issues. A lot of issues.
See how I rambled on about Rhy? That's exactly what Rhy will do to you when you meet/read (about) him. Let's go back to Kell, who is our brooding protagonists. Because of Kell's issues about not being a real royal or something trivial like that, he develops an addiction to the highly treasonous transference. He argues that he's a "collection" of the King and Queen and feels bad about it. Naturally, he collects illegal things to rebel. I understand that most addictions are like this. He's ready to jeopardize his position, his freedom and his life to have a semblance of control. I highly recommend that he join a support group with Winona Ryder and Lindsay Lohan.
Eventually, Kell gets himself into some dangerous liaisons and gets repeatedly rescued by Delilah Bard, a Grey London pick-pocket. Lila is different from most pick-pockets we see because she has totally no angst. She has musings but she doesn't let it get to her. I love it. She also likes to wear pants. I am not calling her a cross-dresser just because she wears pants. She just want to wear pants. Also, she lives in Victorian London making the wearing of pants appalling. You see, Lila lives in a truly bad world as an orphan female pick-pocket who had lasted this long without considering to whore herself out for easier money. She needs to bury things deep inside her head, lock the door and throw away the key. This prevented her from thinking about things, especially about her own sexuality. Honestly, she doesn't know if she's a true cross-dresser. Maybe these clothes help her feel safer and better about herself. Wearing men's clothes could be two things: it's her coping mechanism because she is psychologically damaged or skirts and corsets isn't her thing and there isn't anything else available to her. Admittedly, she has seen where a good suit can get her (wealthier part of London, etc.). She can think that it's lucky and, besides, adventure is easier to handle in trousers. So, you can see that her motivations in choosing to wear trousers is not at all about gender. She also seems to have never interacted with another girl, except one who was out to kill her so that doesn't count.
Last bit, Holland figures in the story as a bad guy. But he also has his merits as a dashing slightly older magic wielding anti-hero. Holland is my favorite character in this book. Holland proves that being clever is the true source of power.
THE ENDING of this review.
There are a lot of themes that I would be talking about here soon. I will make sure to update this entry for when I've put them up. Also, I will be posting a vocab for Arnesian.
Please pick up this book. It is whoa, mas aven*, that good.
You can read my spoiler filled comments in my second review of A Darker Shade of Magic here.
Rensa tav** for reading.
*Mas = my; Aven = blessed; Mas aven is a common expression like OMG.
**rensa tav = thank you
THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING
(The Queen of the Tearling #1)
by Erika Johansen
3 out of 5 stars
Also published in goodreads here.
CINDER
(The Lunar Chronicles #1)
by Marissa Meyer
3 out of 5 stars
(The Lunar Chronicles #1)
by Marissa Meyer
3 out of 5 stars
Also appears in goodreads here.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Follow Me