YA Book Club recap by Hadley Willman, grade 11

readyplayerone

In June, the YA book club met to discuss Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, a popular novel for teens that was originally marketed towards adults. Ready Player One tells of a world thirty years in the future where everyone in the world is immersed in the virtual reality getaway known as the OASIS, where children go to school, adults make a living, and anyone and everyone is caught up in trying to win the 80’s-themed Hunt. Years ago, Halliday, one of the creators of the OASIS, died and left behind a video with a single clue to set the world on its way through half a dozen stages of the Hunt to win the ultimate contest and receive as much money and power as Halliday once held himself. Over the years, no one has made any progress in the contest and interest begins to die down. That is, until Wade Watts, your average run-of- the-mill, Halliday obsessed teen unlocks the first clue and sets off a worldwide race against time and an evil power-hungry corporation to finish what he started.

Everyone in the book club agreed that the novel’s sense of adventure, what between the quests, never-ending VR abilities, and thousands of worlds in the OASIS, is what made it such a worthwhile read. Since the Hunt revolved around Halliday’s childhood obsession with the 80’s, it created more of an impact with readers who lived through or knew aspects of that time period. This was most likely one of the reasons the book was originally targeted towards adults, despite the characters barely being adults themselves, as most members of the book club felt the references go over their heads.

The author did a good job of providing imagery for the world and the aspects of the game and Hunt, but he left room for improvement with his characters. Dialogue was left to a minimum, as every spare word was used for world-building, which made the novel, as one reader said, feel like a monologue from the author. This made the book a slower read, providing another reason why this may have been aimed towards older readers, as teens typically look for fast-paced, action-filled reads. The lack of dialogue also meant that the characters were not able to convey as much feeling through words as much as actions, pulling a reverse “show don’t tell.”

For the most part, we agreed that the romance in the book seemed insignificant, almost like an afterthought as it was so underdeveloped. Everyone believed that Wade shouldn’t have set aside his best friend and the years he had put into the competition for a girl he had just met, and we wished he didn’t let his instant fame get to his head. However, as one person argued, this kind of character development allows for an emotional reaction in the reader, whether it be good or bad, and creates investment in the characters and their flaws alike.

Overall, the general consensus was that Ready Player One was a wonderful read for its element of adventure and the idea of seemingly limitless possibilities in virtual reality, not necessarily for its characters or inter-character relationships. We rated the book an approximate 4.5 out of 5 stars.


This meeting was moderated by Teen Advisory Board member Hadley Willman, Grade 11.