Book Club Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline

Ready Player One, #1

Publisher: Crown Publishers

Published Date: August 16, 2011

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopia

480 Pages / 15 Hours 40 Minutes

Date Read: December 27-30, 2025

Format: 📖

Source: Book Haul

As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.

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About the Book

It’s 2044 and Wade spends his time in the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue of a set of puzzles from the creator, he has to race to the end to avoid other players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. 

Quick Review (Spoiler Free)

The pacing and flow of the story were great. It was so packed with actions, references, and information but it never felt overwhelming. The 80s references were plentiful in this novel. It was an easy to follow story that kept my attention from the beginning to the end. I hesitated to read this since I've seen the movie and it was okay but I honestly enjoyed the book much more than the movie. Of course, like a lot of adaptations there was quite a bit that ended up different between the two.

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Now, let's get into the details!!

I watched the movie but I was honestly surprised at how different the book and the movie are. I preferred the book (like I do in most cases).

The pacing and flow of the story were great. It was so packed with actions, references, and information but it never felt overwhelming. There aren’t a huge amount of characters but the ones that we consistently encounter seem to have a base level of motivation and story to them that help connect them to the main character. The 80s references were plentiful in this novel. I grew up in the 90s so I recognized a LOT of the things in this book. I also loved the nodes to the fantasy book writers mentioned in here as well. I stopped and made my husband read the page with all the authors when I saw that Zelazny was mentioned. And my family and friends are big Dungeons and Dragons nerds so I immediately fell in love with the concept of this book.

It was an easy to follow story that kept my attention from the beginning to the end.

Ratings