Review and Wear Wednesday: Ready Player One

I'm taking a break from 30 for 30 to bring you Review and Wear Wednesday. I recently read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and even though my wardrobe doesn't feature too many 80s nostalgia pieces, I knew I had to do something for this book.

Pink tunic - Bebe, Leopard belt - dEliA*s, Black leggings - Old Navy Maternity

Yes, it is very similar to the outfit I wore when I wrote up a review for Divergent, but...um...the sleeves are rolled up! And that's a different belt.

Sigh. Fashion blogging while pregnant is tough, guys.

Anyhoodle, I went as neon as I could with my top, regretted not having acid-washed maternity jeans, considered crimping my hair but just kept the waves from my no-heat curls a few days back, but man, I sure did something special with my nails.

That's right--Pac-Man and Inky (isn't that what the blue one is called?)

I promised to unveil these special nails last Manicure Monday, and here they are! They were pretty simple to do! Base coat; couple of coats of black; paint a couple of coats of Scotch tape yellow and blue; cut them into the shapes you need once dry; apply; add some eyeballs to Inky with white and black dots; top coat.

Why Pac-Man? Because Ready Player One is all about the 80s and specifically about video games.


I loved all of the references to pop culture (people in my book club thought it was tiresome and didn't add anything to the story...I don't really get that. Why can't a character reference a movie because they really love the movie? Why can't a character play a video game because, hello, it's Pac-Man. Why can't an author spend some time geeking out on that?). There are likable characters--Aech, I couldn't handle it if you died or betrayed anybody, I declared as soon as we met. Art3mis, the smartest one around, hurray, a smart, tough girl. And a pair of Japanese characters--if we're having a book about smart videogamers, with some anime and other Japanese shows thrown in, I feel like some Japanese characters are necessary. Wade is a bit more bland, but smart and tough as well, you know, just so we can all relate to him. Og made me cheer.

There were a couple of points I felt like, hmmm, don't know how I feel about this, such as **SPOILER** IOI kills Daito by breaking into his apartment and throwing him out the window. They figure out where Art3mis lives but don't rush to kill her? How evil are you? Also, seriously IOI, you have tons of Halliday experts at your disposable--why are you so stupid? And the scene where Wade and Art3mis finally meet--I kind of felt like Art3mis might be like, "Pshaw, Wade, you are not cute," but I guess she's fine with him. But what if she hadn't been? Ernest Cline, just because you spend lots of time with somebody online and have a birthmark on your face, it does not automatically mean you will be attracted to the first dude who rolls up in your life showing an interest in you.

Those are small points, though. Truly, I enjoyed the book. Which is hella surprising because I am not so into scifi, not so into videogames, am more of child of the 90s, etc. But it's been a while since I've been this excited about a book! I recommended it to everybody, especially dudes, especially those that grew up in the 80s (not born in the 80s, but really grew up). A very fun book!