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alongreader's review against another edition
4.0
A medieval fantasy given a unique new twist...it's all just a game. But the consequences are deadly real.
A dethroned prince, a feisty noble woman, the prince's best friend, and a quest to reclaim lost treasures to keep the kingdom safe. So far, so normal, right? But this is anything but normal. The characters are players in a hugely immersive new game. A glitch in the software means they're trapped until they win the game, and if they die, they really die. And one player, who must kill all the others to win, doesn't understand the glitch at all...
First of all; in my personal opinion, this is not a good cover for a book. It makes it look like the movies Syfy play at two in the afternoon. It's a shame, because this book deserves a really good cover, one that will attract attention for the right reasons.
The medieval plot is fairly usual; some people have magic, some don't, there are rival kingdoms, there's a scheming brother. The worldbuilding could be a little better; I'm still not a hundred percent sure on the difference between Devout and Devani. What makes it stand out is the reaction our modern teens have to both the medieval tropes and the game tropes. My favourite was the moment when a character threw some random items in a frying pan, put it in the fire, and withdrew a perfectly cooked and delicious bird.
It's a very entertaining book, with a few heartwarming or terrifying moments. It's just such a shame about the cover.
A dethroned prince, a feisty noble woman, the prince's best friend, and a quest to reclaim lost treasures to keep the kingdom safe. So far, so normal, right? But this is anything but normal. The characters are players in a hugely immersive new game. A glitch in the software means they're trapped until they win the game, and if they die, they really die. And one player, who must kill all the others to win, doesn't understand the glitch at all...
First of all; in my personal opinion, this is not a good cover for a book. It makes it look like the movies Syfy play at two in the afternoon. It's a shame, because this book deserves a really good cover, one that will attract attention for the right reasons.
The medieval plot is fairly usual; some people have magic, some don't, there are rival kingdoms, there's a scheming brother. The worldbuilding could be a little better; I'm still not a hundred percent sure on the difference between Devout and Devani. What makes it stand out is the reaction our modern teens have to both the medieval tropes and the game tropes. My favourite was the moment when a character threw some random items in a frying pan, put it in the fire, and withdrew a perfectly cooked and delicious bird.
It's a very entertaining book, with a few heartwarming or terrifying moments. It's just such a shame about the cover.
cbeareads's review against another edition
4.0
Don’t Judge This Book By Its Cover:
I’ve struggled with whether to give this book 3 or 4 starts, because I truly enjoyed it, but some elements also gave me pause. Despite its unfortunate cover art, I was drawn by the premise, which is almost identical to that of one of my favorite YA books from over 15 years ago (‘Heir Apparent’ by Vivian Vande Velde). First, I want to recognize some of the strengths of ‘Glitch Kingdom’:
The world is rich and vast with rightfully normalized same sex marriage and women represented in all levels of power and lore. The characters are diverse: I appreciated that one of the main characters is specifically written as being plus sized, and another has a disability and uses a wheelchair. I am not qualified to say whether or not this character’s struggles in that regard were represented as they ought. What I can say is that without personal experience or much knowledge of how representation has specifically succeeded or failed in literature, it seemed lovingly approached by the author, read as respectful and thoughtful within the narrative, and I was glad to see its representation. Lastly, a few of my expectations for the characters were pleasantly challenged, but I don’t want to divulge too much.
Onto the cons: a couple typos, but more importantly, the plentiful associations through either description or internal dialogue of the curvy character with food were disappointing and felt regressive. While it was wonderful to read a character being appreciated for her physical attributes rather than in spite of them (as well as for her capabilities, contributions, and personality), when it came to small choices in writing her, references to food or consumption could have been replaced with any other interest or comfort, or simply removed entirely. Her character wouldn’t have suffered because she was already flawed and complex, interesting and challenged.
Also, the tone of the ‘real world’ never seemed to fully contend with the terrifying ramifications of loss of life, unlike in the game where players were greatly affected. The lack of significant consequences outside the game thoroughly placed the ‘reality’ into a farther level of fantasy than I expected, but once you accept that, the characters have a sweet arc you can enjoy within that space. (I keep thinking of this book in terms of Pokémon evolution, and can’t help but wonder what the next form could be... )
I haven’t done any research on the author, but obviously who’s telling the story has huge implications on the authority of the voice and how intent is perceived. I do not wish any disrespect toward the author, not knowing her life experience or what she is qualified to represent and how. Not having that contextualization, I can only say that the language around a curvy body with food was tired and I am curious as to the reception of the struggles and vulnerabilities articulated by the character with a disability.
To conclude, this book was a lot of fun for this reader who likes video games but rarely plays them, enjoys the emotional trappings of young romance, and thinks that seven league boots should be utilized in storylines more often. As it was fun enough for me to want to revisit sometime, I’ll be looking more into the thoughts I aired above.
More ‘Jumanji’ than ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Glitch Kingdom’ is a welcoming and imaginative feel-good adventure that pleasantly surprised me in its nods to the familiar as well as its departures from the norm. If the premise interests you, I think you’ll have fun with it too.
I’ve struggled with whether to give this book 3 or 4 starts, because I truly enjoyed it, but some elements also gave me pause. Despite its unfortunate cover art, I was drawn by the premise, which is almost identical to that of one of my favorite YA books from over 15 years ago (‘Heir Apparent’ by Vivian Vande Velde). First, I want to recognize some of the strengths of ‘Glitch Kingdom’:
The world is rich and vast with rightfully normalized same sex marriage and women represented in all levels of power and lore. The characters are diverse: I appreciated that one of the main characters is specifically written as being plus sized, and another has a disability and uses a wheelchair. I am not qualified to say whether or not this character’s struggles in that regard were represented as they ought. What I can say is that without personal experience or much knowledge of how representation has specifically succeeded or failed in literature, it seemed lovingly approached by the author, read as respectful and thoughtful within the narrative, and I was glad to see its representation. Lastly, a few of my expectations for the characters were pleasantly challenged, but I don’t want to divulge too much.
Onto the cons: a couple typos, but more importantly, the plentiful associations through either description or internal dialogue of the curvy character with food were disappointing and felt regressive. While it was wonderful to read a character being appreciated for her physical attributes rather than in spite of them (as well as for her capabilities, contributions, and personality), when it came to small choices in writing her, references to food or consumption could have been replaced with any other interest or comfort, or simply removed entirely. Her character wouldn’t have suffered because she was already flawed and complex, interesting and challenged.
Also, the tone of the ‘real world’ never seemed to fully contend with the terrifying ramifications of loss of life, unlike in the game where players were greatly affected. The lack of significant consequences outside the game thoroughly placed the ‘reality’ into a farther level of fantasy than I expected, but once you accept that, the characters have a sweet arc you can enjoy within that space. (I keep thinking of this book in terms of Pokémon evolution, and can’t help but wonder what the next form could be... )
I haven’t done any research on the author, but obviously who’s telling the story has huge implications on the authority of the voice and how intent is perceived. I do not wish any disrespect toward the author, not knowing her life experience or what she is qualified to represent and how. Not having that contextualization, I can only say that the language around a curvy body with food was tired and I am curious as to the reception of the struggles and vulnerabilities articulated by the character with a disability.
To conclude, this book was a lot of fun for this reader who likes video games but rarely plays them, enjoys the emotional trappings of young romance, and thinks that seven league boots should be utilized in storylines more often. As it was fun enough for me to want to revisit sometime, I’ll be looking more into the thoughts I aired above.
More ‘Jumanji’ than ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Glitch Kingdom’ is a welcoming and imaginative feel-good adventure that pleasantly surprised me in its nods to the familiar as well as its departures from the norm. If the premise interests you, I think you’ll have fun with it too.
rampion12's review against another edition
3.0
The book acknowledges it’s not the first of its kind, but it didn’t feel like it brought anything particularly new to the table either. However, the characters were strong and their interactions natural and relatable.
alyram4's review against another edition
3.0
I'll admit, I wasn't sure what I expected going into this. I have a really hard time with enjoying sci-fi novels. If I have to be more specific, basically anything having to do with video games or space. Why? I have no idea. I love playing video games, but I always find that manga, anime or novels set in that type of world don't interest me. However, I had high hopes for this since I genuinely liked the synopsis. Because of these 2 conflicting thoughts, I had absolutely no idea what I would think after reading this.
Needless to say, my thoughts on this are pretty average. I thought the book was enjoyable, but I didn't find myself connected to the story or characters. i just went with the flow, as if watching a popcorn movie. Was it exciting? Yes. Do I think I'll reread this? Probably not. This was a good one-time read, but it didn't hold enough sway for me to say "I really liked this". I feel that if you adore sci-fi, especially novels like Warcross, then you should definitely give this a read. If you aren't sure or are hesitant, I still think it's worth a read. I did find it enjoyable, but not enough to go buy it. Perhaps a trip to the library may be a good choice if you're on the fence.
Needless to say, my thoughts on this are pretty average. I thought the book was enjoyable, but I didn't find myself connected to the story or characters. i just went with the flow, as if watching a popcorn movie. Was it exciting? Yes. Do I think I'll reread this? Probably not. This was a good one-time read, but it didn't hold enough sway for me to say "I really liked this". I feel that if you adore sci-fi, especially novels like Warcross, then you should definitely give this a read. If you aren't sure or are hesitant, I still think it's worth a read. I did find it enjoyable, but not enough to go buy it. Perhaps a trip to the library may be a good choice if you're on the fence.
capesandcovers's review against another edition
2.0
I had been so excited for Glitch Kingdom when it was first announced, a fat gamer girl MC? Sign me UP. Unfortunately once I finally got around to reading my ARC of it, it just didn't work for me.
To start off, the first few chapters of the book weren't what I thought it was going to, which threw me off for a bit, even if I figured out why it had been written like that. Then there was the fact that I just couldn't really connect with both the story and the cast of characters. I couldn't stand Ryo, Grig was just kind of there, and Dagney seemed cool, but I just never held any attachment to her. There's just too much constantly being thrown at the reader in order to make the game aspect of the plot work, and it makes it impossible to correctly get to know the characters. The entire plot was driven by the game's instructions, rather than player actions, which made the whole thing fall flat since it was literally all tell rather than show. The fact that McKenna randomly had chapters that didn't seem to really add anything to the story didn't help either. I'd like to say something about Bluebird, who had some potential, but she literally didn't show up until more than halfway through the book.
I think if Boekweg had just stuck to making this a fantasy standalone it might have worked, or maybe divided the book into a duology so readers could actually see and get to know her world and characters. Instead, Glitch Kingdom lived up to it's cover, which is such a disappointment to me, considering this had been one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
To start off, the first few chapters of the book weren't what I thought it was going to, which threw me off for a bit, even if I figured out why it had been written like that. Then there was the fact that I just couldn't really connect with both the story and the cast of characters. I couldn't stand Ryo, Grig was just kind of there, and Dagney seemed cool, but I just never held any attachment to her. There's just too much constantly being thrown at the reader in order to make the game aspect of the plot work, and it makes it impossible to correctly get to know the characters. The entire plot was driven by the game's instructions, rather than player actions, which made the whole thing fall flat since it was literally all tell rather than show. The fact that McKenna randomly had chapters that didn't seem to really add anything to the story didn't help either. I'd like to say something about Bluebird, who had some potential, but she literally didn't show up until more than halfway through the book.
I think if Boekweg had just stuck to making this a fantasy standalone it might have worked, or maybe divided the book into a duology so readers could actually see and get to know her world and characters. Instead, Glitch Kingdom lived up to it's cover, which is such a disappointment to me, considering this had been one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
brittdoreads's review against another edition
5.0
So to be perfectly honest, I almost put this book down after the first bit. I didn’t *get* and it just kinda throws you into a story I wasn’t prepared for.
But I’m so glad I stayed with it. The characters were all so believable and diverse. It had a great ending too. And I’m always a fan of a plus size girl loving herself, and being loved by others.
It does remind me of other works I’ve seen, and it even has a call out to Sword Art Online which is very similar...though I hated that anime. And ending up loving this book.
And it made me glad to be part of the nerd family who would totally fit in with all these nerdy characters.
10/10 would read again. Also, I listened to the Audible version of this and I really enjoyed...so if you have the chance to listen to it, you should.
But I’m so glad I stayed with it. The characters were all so believable and diverse. It had a great ending too. And I’m always a fan of a plus size girl loving herself, and being loved by others.
It does remind me of other works I’ve seen, and it even has a call out to Sword Art Online which is very similar...though I hated that anime. And ending up loving this book.
And it made me glad to be part of the nerd family who would totally fit in with all these nerdy characters.
10/10 would read again. Also, I listened to the Audible version of this and I really enjoyed...so if you have the chance to listen to it, you should.
theybedax's review against another edition
5.0
This was legitimately badass! I appreciate the nerd culture head nods, the diverse cast, and the high stakes that gave me tummy aches forcing me to keep reading long into the night.
mkschoen's review against another edition
2.0
I've just started and this is decent but oh MY that cover is SO, SO, BAD.
Like bad enough that I don't want to put the book in my currently reading poster I keep on my desk at my library, or even post on Goodreads that I'm reading this book.
This is a review of an ARC from Edelweiss.
Update: OK, done. A group of players are testing out a new, totally immersive role-playing game. In fact, it's so immersive some of them don't even realize they're playing a game, instead believing they're princes, mystical queens and warriors, when their real bodies are in a lab, unconscious and connected to tubes and wires while their unconscious minds play out the game. But now something has gone wrong, and dying in the game can mean dying in real life.
It's a good idea, that starts out strong and then just doesn't really go anywhere? It ends as you would expect it to end, with the pairings you expect it to have and essentially no consequences (except for the off screen players who died, who no one seems to miss very much).
Like bad enough that I don't want to put the book in my currently reading poster I keep on my desk at my library, or even post on Goodreads that I'm reading this book.
This is a review of an ARC from Edelweiss.
Update: OK, done. A group of players are testing out a new, totally immersive role-playing game. In fact, it's so immersive some of them don't even realize they're playing a game, instead believing they're princes, mystical queens and warriors, when their real bodies are in a lab, unconscious and connected to tubes and wires while their unconscious minds play out the game. But now something has gone wrong, and dying in the game can mean dying in real life.
It's a good idea, that starts out strong and then just doesn't really go anywhere? It ends as you would expect it to end, with the pairings you expect it to have and essentially no consequences (except for the off screen players who died, who no one seems to miss very much).
kbeddes's review against another edition
3.0
Summary:Imagine Hunger Games mixed with Jumanji in a Zelda setting, you would get something like this book. It’s the world’s most immersive RPG game but there is a glitch that makes it so if you die in the game, you die in real life. “The only way out is to win.”
Response:At first I had a really difficult time getting into this book. I knew from the book blurb that it was a glitching video game but the first couple chapters were a fantasy story and I was thoroughly confused. Once the real world context was established, I was much more willing to go with it. I would recommend this book to any teenager gamer in your life, they would probably get a kick out of it.
Response:At first I had a really difficult time getting into this book. I knew from the book blurb that it was a glitching video game but the first couple chapters were a fantasy story and I was thoroughly confused. Once the real world context was established, I was much more willing to go with it. I would recommend this book to any teenager gamer in your life, they would probably get a kick out of it.
annarella's review against another edition
3.0
Even if this book is well written it didn't keep my attention and the story fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine