Ready Player One

This is a spoiler-free review
Read on In The Sheets

Let me start by saying that I really wanted to like this book. I'd heard mixed things prior to reading it so I went in with an open mind. It sounded like it was gonna be a lot of fun.

It wasn't.

The premise of the book is really neat and I think it could have been done a lot better had it not been mostly filler.

The story is about a kid named Wade who spends all of his time in this VR world called OASIS. I get it, VR is super rad. There are essentially a bunch of Easter Eggs and whoever follows all the clues and reaches the end of the hunt first get massive power and fortune. Basically Willy Wonka, which is fine, I'm not against retellings. 

My problem with Ready Player One is that it just force feeds you 80's references over and over again until you can't take anymore and you want to die, most aren't even relevant to the story. It's like he purposely went over the book and squeezed in extra ones to up the word count and nostalgia but it's just way too much and just pulls you out of the story. It's essentially made me permanently weary of anything 80's themed.

I have no idea how it's rated as highly as it is. I'll give it an extra star for being a good concept, but I still hate it. Unpopular opinion I guess.