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isabelthearcher's reviews
167 reviews
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
4.0
This was a eye-widening book. The details were immense, crazy drama and so, so, so honest. Would recommend
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
4.0
WOW OKAY THIS WAS A ROLLERCOASTER
Disclaimer: this is very spoiler filled, please go read the book first I recommend it. Unless you're a very devote fan of my goodreads reviews then read:
Firstly I'll just get off to a bad start and say my only critique about this book, and really what brought it from a 5 star down to a 4 star rating.
The start of the book, as Wade is first searching for the bronze key is very slow paced. I understand how Cline, introduces you to the contest and the world of OASIS. However, in the first few chapters Cline goes crazy with telling you about all of Halliday's interests, his favourite movies, songs, people, games, places and even about 1 third into the book, I didn't care enough about the quest to know all the facts. As I will definitely say later the end was so page-turning, but also finished very quickly and with almost no backlash from the 4 uniting across the world. To finish this section off, the escape from IOI seemed too easy, but I’m also going to talk about that later on.
Anyways, now to the mainly good bits about the book :)
I adored the setting of this book. It wasn’t too far away in time, so the effect of pollution and poverty explanatory. However, the concept of the OASIS completely blew my mind. Even at the end, when I knew that if you died in the OASIS only your avatar would suffer - I found myself secretly hoping and praying that Art3mis and Shoto wouldn’t die.
As for the characters, I found Parzival (or Wade) pretty cool, but at points he was definitely so annoying!! When he went in to the interview with Sorrento at IOI, he already knew he was going to decline - but he goes there ANYWAYS makes RUDE JOKES with the most POWERFUL MULTI-MILLIONAIRE company and gets his house bombed...
Just to cut in here, I think the house getting bombed, was a really nice way of actually getting the storyline flowing. From that point on until he reached his new apartment, there was an underlying feeling of tension throughout everything Wade did in the real world. It was actually really cool to learn more about the setting through him going on the bus and getting to the big city. His house being bombed was used at the very end of the book as a motive to kill Sorrento, which for me is too over the top. Parzival brought that on himself, and he hated his house anyways!!
… To continue on Parzival’s and Art3mis’ relationship was interesting. The way in which he helped her through the first gate was pretty cute, but then kinda out of nowhere all of a sudden, they’re talking like everyday and then the next minute she’s mad at him for literally no reason and Parzival is like “dang I’m in love with her” and then he goes into depression for about 4 days. Then to make things worse, Aech won’t talk to him. This was definitely where I got soooooooo bored and soooooooooo annoyed at the book. It was too OTT - over the top.
Shoto and Daito, made an interesting vibe as they were the only team of gunters. Again Daito’s death was a bit too fantasized in a way, however it made for a very unusual yet powerful bond between Parzival and Shoto.
Now, my absolute favourite character in Ready Player One was, Aech. Mostly, because he didn’t annoy me like the other characters did at least once. The pure friendship between Parzival and Aech was lovely to read about, even though a few times they had talked about meeting in real life, the bond was mostly online and I really respected that. When Aech abandoned Parzival for a while because all he was doing was talking to Art3mis, I honestly was like HAH KARMA and thought that it made Parzival realise what an ass he was being. AND THEN SKSKSKS this is already a spoiler filled review, so I’m just going to say it AECH THIS BAD-ASS DUDE IN THE OASIS IS ACTUALLY AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN GIRL WHO HAS BEEN HIDING HER IDENTITY TO GET MORE OPPORTUNITIES AND SHE’S SO KNOWLEDGEABLE AND IN THE LITTLE BIT WE MEET HER ON THE PLANE SHE’S SO COOL AND I CAN’T BELIEVE IT AND I LOOOOOOVE THIS PLOT TWIST SO SO MUCH!!
Overall Aech is really cool and I want a book about her.
Moving onto the ending of the book,
Wade’s or should I say Bryce Lynch’s idea of being captured by the IOI was so strange to me when it was first being introduced. However for about the first few chapters of this plan, I was adamant that he was killing himself through doing this. As only a few chapters prior he was talking about how he would die when the hunt was over. Yet, this part of the book was the place in which I had to keep reading and turning the page over so quickly.
When he explained the plan that he was doing in the IOI, I remember being up so late at night and finally being able to sleep, as at least I knew a little bit of what was going to happen.
Let me say that this plan was a definite stretch for the character, however because of how crazy it was and how there is only one Ready Player One book it was obvious that it was going to work. It was cool seeing him hack into the supposed most protected software in the world, but I wished Cline could have made it a little more suspenseful. Maybe by having another character die at the hands of IOI, in order for the others to get the key. This would have made the plan have more substance, that I feel as though it was lacking.
Now as I have said before, the ending was very abrupt compared to the long rambly chapters of Wade’s research and his depression of Art3mis. But, if you are reading this far you probably know me because who else in their right mind would listen to a long spoiler filled review about Ready Player One. Anyways, you know that feeling in an action movie, for example for the most recent Avengers Endgame or maybe a classic movie such as the Hobbit or Game of Thrones. When all the good guys get together, weapons in hand and the enemies staring them down from the other side. The music playing a tension filled - maybe violin solo - and then the theme tune of for example the Avengers starts to play. Everyone looks at each other and there’s silence and then they attack. For me, at this point, even in a busy cinema and endgame I’m cheering for the good guys YESSSSSSS, GO IRON MAN!! WOOOOOOO GO GO GO GO GO!! This was the first book that managed to capture this feeling and put it into words on the page. I flew through the ending and the Sixer’s defeat and Parzival turning into Halliday. It was done exquisitely well and it was breathtaking.
If Cline had left it there, I would drive to his house right now and give him all the praise in the world for an awesome book. BUT NO! He just had to put in a corny romance scene with Art3mis. I would say her real name, but honestly I don’t care about her character enough to remember. I UNDERSTAND A FRIENDSHIP OVER THE INTERNET BUT NO JUST NO I DON’T GET IT BETWEEN THEM. Like I understand it happens nowadays and maybe one day I’ll become a hypocrite of internet love but THIS DIDN’T FIT AND JUST DIDN’T MAKE SENSE… to add Wade is the most sttuuuuuuupid guy in romance I have read about. And it’s not cute innocent or like funny stupid, it’s straight up do you actually have common sense with girls. Seriously.
Overall, in places a very enjoyable book with an unnecessary romance, but it isn't that like most action books these days?
Even though there are mixed opinions about the movie, I’m definitely going to check it out to see if they took out, some of the really annoying factors and characteristics of the book.
Disclaimer: this is very spoiler filled, please go read the book first I recommend it. Unless you're a very devote fan of my goodreads reviews then read:
Firstly I'll just get off to a bad start and say my only critique about this book, and really what brought it from a 5 star down to a 4 star rating.
The start of the book, as Wade is first searching for the bronze key is very slow paced. I understand how Cline, introduces you to the contest and the world of OASIS. However, in the first few chapters Cline goes crazy with telling you about all of Halliday's interests, his favourite movies, songs, people, games, places and even about 1 third into the book, I didn't care enough about the quest to know all the facts. As I will definitely say later the end was so page-turning, but also finished very quickly and with almost no backlash from the 4 uniting across the world. To finish this section off, the escape from IOI seemed too easy, but I’m also going to talk about that later on.
Anyways, now to the mainly good bits about the book :)
I adored the setting of this book. It wasn’t too far away in time, so the effect of pollution and poverty explanatory. However, the concept of the OASIS completely blew my mind. Even at the end, when I knew that if you died in the OASIS only your avatar would suffer - I found myself secretly hoping and praying that Art3mis and Shoto wouldn’t die.
As for the characters, I found Parzival (or Wade) pretty cool, but at points he was definitely so annoying!! When he went in to the interview with Sorrento at IOI, he already knew he was going to decline - but he goes there ANYWAYS makes RUDE JOKES with the most POWERFUL MULTI-MILLIONAIRE company and gets his house bombed...
Just to cut in here, I think the house getting bombed, was a really nice way of actually getting the storyline flowing. From that point on until he reached his new apartment, there was an underlying feeling of tension throughout everything Wade did in the real world. It was actually really cool to learn more about the setting through him going on the bus and getting to the big city. His house being bombed was used at the very end of the book as a motive to kill Sorrento, which for me is too over the top. Parzival brought that on himself, and he hated his house anyways!!
… To continue on Parzival’s and Art3mis’ relationship was interesting. The way in which he helped her through the first gate was pretty cute, but then kinda out of nowhere all of a sudden, they’re talking like everyday and then the next minute she’s mad at him for literally no reason and Parzival is like “dang I’m in love with her” and then he goes into depression for about 4 days. Then to make things worse, Aech won’t talk to him. This was definitely where I got soooooooo bored and soooooooooo annoyed at the book. It was too OTT - over the top.
Shoto and Daito, made an interesting vibe as they were the only team of gunters. Again Daito’s death was a bit too fantasized in a way, however it made for a very unusual yet powerful bond between Parzival and Shoto.
Now, my absolute favourite character in Ready Player One was, Aech. Mostly, because he didn’t annoy me like the other characters did at least once. The pure friendship between Parzival and Aech was lovely to read about, even though a few times they had talked about meeting in real life, the bond was mostly online and I really respected that. When Aech abandoned Parzival for a while because all he was doing was talking to Art3mis, I honestly was like HAH KARMA and thought that it made Parzival realise what an ass he was being. AND THEN SKSKSKS this is already a spoiler filled review, so I’m just going to say it AECH THIS BAD-ASS DUDE IN THE OASIS IS ACTUALLY AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN GIRL WHO HAS BEEN HIDING HER IDENTITY TO GET MORE OPPORTUNITIES AND SHE’S SO KNOWLEDGEABLE AND IN THE LITTLE BIT WE MEET HER ON THE PLANE SHE’S SO COOL AND I CAN’T BELIEVE IT AND I LOOOOOOVE THIS PLOT TWIST SO SO MUCH!!
Overall Aech is really cool and I want a book about her.
Moving onto the ending of the book,
Wade’s or should I say Bryce Lynch’s idea of being captured by the IOI was so strange to me when it was first being introduced. However for about the first few chapters of this plan, I was adamant that he was killing himself through doing this. As only a few chapters prior he was talking about how he would die when the hunt was over. Yet, this part of the book was the place in which I had to keep reading and turning the page over so quickly.
When he explained the plan that he was doing in the IOI, I remember being up so late at night and finally being able to sleep, as at least I knew a little bit of what was going to happen.
Let me say that this plan was a definite stretch for the character, however because of how crazy it was and how there is only one Ready Player One book it was obvious that it was going to work. It was cool seeing him hack into the supposed most protected software in the world, but I wished Cline could have made it a little more suspenseful. Maybe by having another character die at the hands of IOI, in order for the others to get the key. This would have made the plan have more substance, that I feel as though it was lacking.
Now as I have said before, the ending was very abrupt compared to the long rambly chapters of Wade’s research and his depression of Art3mis. But, if you are reading this far you probably know me because who else in their right mind would listen to a long spoiler filled review about Ready Player One. Anyways, you know that feeling in an action movie, for example for the most recent Avengers Endgame or maybe a classic movie such as the Hobbit or Game of Thrones. When all the good guys get together, weapons in hand and the enemies staring them down from the other side. The music playing a tension filled - maybe violin solo - and then the theme tune of for example the Avengers starts to play. Everyone looks at each other and there’s silence and then they attack. For me, at this point, even in a busy cinema and endgame I’m cheering for the good guys YESSSSSSS, GO IRON MAN!! WOOOOOOO GO GO GO GO GO!! This was the first book that managed to capture this feeling and put it into words on the page. I flew through the ending and the Sixer’s defeat and Parzival turning into Halliday. It was done exquisitely well and it was breathtaking.
If Cline had left it there, I would drive to his house right now and give him all the praise in the world for an awesome book. BUT NO! He just had to put in a corny romance scene with Art3mis. I would say her real name, but honestly I don’t care about her character enough to remember. I UNDERSTAND A FRIENDSHIP OVER THE INTERNET BUT NO JUST NO I DON’T GET IT BETWEEN THEM. Like I understand it happens nowadays and maybe one day I’ll become a hypocrite of internet love but THIS DIDN’T FIT AND JUST DIDN’T MAKE SENSE… to add Wade is the most sttuuuuuuupid guy in romance I have read about. And it’s not cute innocent or like funny stupid, it’s straight up do you actually have common sense with girls. Seriously.
Overall, in places a very enjoyable book with an unnecessary romance, but it isn't that like most action books these days?
Even though there are mixed opinions about the movie, I’m definitely going to check it out to see if they took out, some of the really annoying factors and characteristics of the book.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
1.0
Pain stakingly finished this book. Liked it at first but now, ew.
The Bluffer's Guide to Philosophy: Bluff Your Way in Philosophy by Jim Hankinson
4.0
really informative, with good old british humour. really would recommend!
You by Caroline Kepnes
3.0
Mixed feelings if I'm honest.
It was pretty cool to have a narration from the 'killers' POV and how he processed and justified the actions he was doing throughout. The dark humour that Joe said throughout was laugh out loud hilarious and I loved it.
However, I did watch the Netflix series first as I didn't even realise it was a book. I found myself throughout the novel just comparing everything to the series. I understand that franchises when they want to turn a book into a movie/series they have to make it longer, so in the book I felt as though it was very rushed.
I didn't really like the amount of curse words use (obviously I know this is deffo personal preference), I really hated the 'love' scenes and when Beck and Joe were flirting (yes this is my first book with actual adult love scenes but honestly I just found it ew to read and skipped through. Bear in mind that's probably because of my age and lack of experience of books in that genre)
Also, this was the first thriller I have ever read. I loved how it withheld so much vital information, for some of it to be revealed later on in the story but even here now writing this review, I am still thinking of things I wanted to know.
I think this book goes really well with the Netflix series. They are quite similar, with little differences to really make it a Netflix show that everyone is obsessed with! I also hope that I can gain some answers from the show that Caroline didn't include in the book.
Personally I would read the book first before watching the show, this would avoid disappointment in the book of it lacking some of the charisma that Netflix has brought to life.
Overall I would give it 3.5 stars. Not exactly for me and some elements were off. But deffo for older readers, with experience in the thriller and mystery genre.
It was pretty cool to have a narration from the 'killers' POV and how he processed and justified the actions he was doing throughout. The dark humour that Joe said throughout was laugh out loud hilarious and I loved it.
However, I did watch the Netflix series first as I didn't even realise it was a book. I found myself throughout the novel just comparing everything to the series. I understand that franchises when they want to turn a book into a movie/series they have to make it longer, so in the book I felt as though it was very rushed.
I didn't really like the amount of curse words use (obviously I know this is deffo personal preference), I really hated the 'love' scenes and when Beck and Joe were flirting (yes this is my first book with actual adult love scenes but honestly I just found it ew to read and skipped through. Bear in mind that's probably because of my age and lack of experience of books in that genre)
Also, this was the first thriller I have ever read. I loved how it withheld so much vital information, for some of it to be revealed later on in the story but even here now writing this review, I am still thinking of things I wanted to know.
I think this book goes really well with the Netflix series. They are quite similar, with little differences to really make it a Netflix show that everyone is obsessed with! I also hope that I can gain some answers from the show that Caroline didn't include in the book.
Personally I would read the book first before watching the show, this would avoid disappointment in the book of it lacking some of the charisma that Netflix has brought to life.
Overall I would give it 3.5 stars. Not exactly for me and some elements were off. But deffo for older readers, with experience in the thriller and mystery genre.