I've been told that this sequel won't be nearly as good as the first book, but I think it held just as much quality, nerdy pop culture references, and action - and it held up just as good.

After the High Five won the Halliday Easter Egg Hunt, they got to lead the Gregarious Simulation Systems, the company that created, owned, and ran the OASIS. Each one of them decided to do something good with their newfound fame and money, but they did not always agree on what was the best direction to take, so [spoiler alert] Wade and Samantha did not last long. However, a new villain and a new hunt arose quite soon to have them all join forces together again and save everyone's lives.

I love the ethical questions that this book explores when it comes to addiction, obsession, humanitarianism, ecology, and just general morality of our big decisions in life. We see Wade grow a lot in this book and reframe how he sees Halliday, his earlier role model. There are some incredibly sad and very touching parts in this story, so for me this book deserves a 4.5-star rating that I'll keep to 4 stars here for the time being and maybe reconsider once the year wraps up.