E. Soulé

Note for audible

Reviewed: 05-27-20

Towards the end, there were strange repeats of passages. Two to be precise. One when rose is meeting Maggie’s friends by the pool. Another word repeat a chapter later. Very notable because the same passage right after itself.

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1 person found this helpful

Fun, but a little too romantic for me.

Reviewed: 10-10-17

I am not an optimist. This was too hopeful. Characters were well developed! Would not read again though. Felt a little snobby.

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Trying for more then a "gamer" book fails at romance

Reviewed: 09-13-17

Liked the focus of the a dystopian society to be on: how people spend their days, rather then the political (moral, ethical, economic, social, and emotional) injustices of it. Nice to see a book that doesn't blame technology, but people for the dystopia.

I don't play video games. Only two dots (used to play pac-man and runescape). I could have potentially not connected, or understood the plot, however not the case. I enjoyed the "not feeling left out of the game" feeling. World felt real.

Did a good job with 80s references (tech and non tech) too. Loved it, and found it really relatable, because we are constantly making past decades "retro/vintage."

I do watch romcoms (romantic comedies). Practically religiously. I love watching a trashy romance. It's fun and stupid, and you can have a great cry. The romance in this book is stiff, and stale. Really could have done without it. I predicted almost word by word, step by step, maze by maze. The story is strong enough and accessible enough, that it doesn't need a romance to make it relatable.

To make the story and the romantic lead "human" and "alive" (Pinocchio). Ultimately I understand the reason: play life, not just The Game.

BUT the way the romance was tied at the end, literally I sat on my toilet peeing, shooting myself in the head with my middle and index fingers. I love watching Life Time, and I felt this part of the book felt very phoned in and unoriginal. Let me restate, I ENJOY LIFE TIME!

The way he wrote the female romantic lead's dialogue, was enough to make all interested parties buy a robot of her instead of having to deal with the "real" her. She was methodical, and until the end of the book, that side of her goes largely unrecognized. Unsurprisingly only for the benefit male romantic lead. I was literally gagging at the dullness. She did not feel like a real person...at all.

Mythical.... A typical "only girl at the comic book store, but she has an edge" feel. The " not typically beauty", the " find me in the real world bit" not even funny enough to laugh and have fun with...just sad.

The book is about gaming, and fantasy, but if the female lead's purpose in the plot is only to show us that he is straight, red blooded, and won't die a virgin.....I'm bored to bits. I really liked her, and what they did with the other characters. But she had a real reason to be hesitant of a romantic situation, which was degraded by the "nag quality" of her lines, he really degraded her character. She felt less " I have a purpose" to "I'm a receptacle for your 'future children.'"

When I finished the book, I flushed the toilette. I had a great time with every other part of the story, never was bored....until the love bit was poorly dialogued. And thats really the point I'm trying to make. Their dialogue, and more specifically her dialogue, was absolutely painful. I don't oppose the romance, but how it was written was terrible.

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