Imagine: The year is 2041. You live in an apocalyptic world where energy resources have been rapidly depleted. Crime, poverty, and starvation are at an all-time high. Like many others, you live in “the stacks”, an allocated space of land where dozens of dilapidated RVs are stacked on top of each other and function as scant living space.

The only thing that gives most people a reason to keep living in these harsh times is the OASIS, an incredibly technologically advanced MMORPG that allows its users to delve into a complete virtual reality. This is the life that the main character of Ready Player One, Wade, faces.

Wade has spent the majority of his otherwise miserable life in the OASIS, essentially growing up inside of it. Not only does it offer thousands of worlds to explore, monsters to fight, and NPCs to meet, but the OASIS also serves as a marketplace for real life business and a sanctuary for education.

The creator of the game, James Halliday, left the world a quest upon his passing: an elaborate search for an Easter egg within the OASIS, along with cryptic clues as to where it’s located. The first player to find the egg will win Halliday’s enormous fortune. Wanting nothing more than to transcend the poverty with which he contends, Wade sets out on the quest to find the egg, facing unimaginably immense challenges along the way.

I thought this was a genuinely fantastic book. A book hasn’t held my attention as well as this one did for a long time. I was always anxious to find out what was going to happen next, especially after things started to get truly dangerous for Wade during his quest to find the egg. The well-executed plot twists in the book were very surprising and sudden, but they made sense and added to the excitement of the story.

The character development was also top notch. Ready Player One offers a cast of diverse, complex, and relatable characters that all play an integral part in Wade’s quest, from the evil Sorrento to Wade’s closest friend, Aech.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a compelling read. It was a fun, interesting, and surprisingly deep story. The world-building is expertly done, painting a clear picture of Wade’s dismal reality and of the idyllic OASIS. There’s just the right amount of suspense, and the romance isn’t obnoxious and cheesy like it is in so many other young adult books.

The book is also jam-packed with references to 80’s pop culture, playing a massive part in the story itself, despite its taking place in 2041. This aspect makes Ready Player One a good read for adults who spent their youth in the 80’s – they’d probably get more of a kick out of this book than someone my age, on whom a good portion of the references are lost. Regardless of that, Ready Player One is now easily one of my favorite books, for an extensive list of reasons.