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jimthecactus's review
5.0
This was an interesting look into the human cost of the dark side of real money trading in videogames. It was an insightful read that helped give some perspective to some of the things that happen in the harsher parts of the world, and gave me a lot of food for thought.
charliepeculiar's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
harleyrae's review
3.0
I;m not gonna lie I was expecting a little more than what there was. I was hoping to love it like everyone else I know who has read this book. While I did enjoy it I wasn't blown away.
The things I didn't like:
1. How short the book was. I wish it was longer so we can get more out of the story.
2. How quick it was. Everything was just kinda jumbled together to make a story.
3. How the only feelings/what the characters was thinking it what was spoken. While I know this is a graphic novel and the pictures are suppose to help understand what there feeling, it was just not executed well.
4. How each scene would just pop up with no information/transition whatsoever. Also some scene were really short and just seemed to be randomly put.
5. How it felt as if it was really hard/impossible to connect with the characters.
The think I did Like:
1. The artwork. I loved the drawings and all the colors involved.
2. The themes of the book. How the everything seemed to be centered around video games, economics, and doing the right thing. For me that was the big redeeming factor.
I know it seems as if I didn't like this at all but I really did enjoy it. All in all I would recommend this to anyone wanting a quick graphic novel.
The things I didn't like:
1. How short the book was. I wish it was longer so we can get more out of the story.
2. How quick it was. Everything was just kinda jumbled together to make a story.
3. How the only feelings/what the characters was thinking it what was spoken. While I know this is a graphic novel and the pictures are suppose to help understand what there feeling, it was just not executed well.
4. How each scene would just pop up with no information/transition whatsoever. Also some scene were really short and just seemed to be randomly put.
5. How it felt as if it was really hard/impossible to connect with the characters.
The think I did Like:
1. The artwork. I loved the drawings and all the colors involved.
2. The themes of the book. How the everything seemed to be centered around video games, economics, and doing the right thing. For me that was the big redeeming factor.
I know it seems as if I didn't like this at all but I really did enjoy it. All in all I would recommend this to anyone wanting a quick graphic novel.
leafblade's review
4.0
it was pretty good for what it was, but the ending felt like an "and then everyone clapped" kinda thing
dembury's review
2.0
I went into "In Real Life" with high expectations- several book reviewers I follow (and trust their taste in books) were RAVING about this. People were practically drooling over this graphic novel, and I couldn't wait to read it.
I don't understand that hype anymore. "In Real Life" has an interesting concept and a cool variety of strong, female characters, but overall, the storyline falls flat and the artwork leaves something to be desired.
The story revolves around Anda, a girl who has recently discovered a MMRPG called Coarsegold Online, where she can go on cool quests, fight fantasy creatures, and talk to other women in guilds. She teams up with an avatar named Sarge who convinces Anda to help her slay "gold farmers" - avatars who are simply gathering virtual gold in the game and then selling that virtual gold to players in real life. After doing so, Anda meets and talks to one of these "gold farmers" and finds out that he is a boy named Raymond living in China. He works as a gold farmer many hours a week- it's one of the only jobs he can get.
Slowly, Anda becomes torn between wanting to stay true to the Coarsegold standards and not let gold farming continue, and doing what she feels may be right by trying to help Raymond shape his life in a better way.
Like I said, this had a very interesting plot, and I really liked the tie-ins to economics and real life situations (like Doctorow discussed in his prologue). But these themes feel very weak throughout, and they're not as fully explored as I feel they could have been. For example, when Anda begins asking her father about how strikes work, I think there was definitely an opportunity there for a deeper discussion.
There is also a lot of "waste" in this book- wasted time and wasted space. For instance,during the course of the novel, one of Anda's schoolmates tries to convince Anda's D&D group to be a part of the new Board Game Club. This is brought up again near the end, but this adds almost NO substance to the book at all! That time could have been spent further developing the plot or the topic of economics and gaming.
Also, I'm very unimpressed with the artwork by Jen Wang here. Like a lot of people say, I think the colors are very pretty, and the characters are well drawn. But her backgrounds are very very lazily drawn. Sometimes there is no background, just a white page. Mostly it is a simple wash of color. Even within the Coarsegold game, which is a place of fantasy and cool stuff, the backgrounds are unimpressive. There are a couple of nice buildings or the hint of a forest a few times, but mostly, they're large, empty space with just a splash of green color.
I really want to like this graphic novel. It is a cool book to hold and flip through, but honestly, I think everything could have just been more well-developed. I'd be willing to read something else either Doctorow or Wang worked on, but it's going to be with much lower expectations
I don't understand that hype anymore. "In Real Life" has an interesting concept and a cool variety of strong, female characters, but overall, the storyline falls flat and the artwork leaves something to be desired.
The story revolves around Anda, a girl who has recently discovered a MMRPG called Coarsegold Online, where she can go on cool quests, fight fantasy creatures, and talk to other women in guilds. She teams up with an avatar named Sarge who convinces Anda to help her slay "gold farmers" - avatars who are simply gathering virtual gold in the game and then selling that virtual gold to players in real life. After doing so, Anda meets and talks to one of these "gold farmers" and finds out that he is a boy named Raymond living in China. He works as a gold farmer many hours a week- it's one of the only jobs he can get.
Slowly, Anda becomes torn between wanting to stay true to the Coarsegold standards and not let gold farming continue, and doing what she feels may be right by trying to help Raymond shape his life in a better way.
Like I said, this had a very interesting plot, and I really liked the tie-ins to economics and real life situations (like Doctorow discussed in his prologue). But these themes feel very weak throughout, and they're not as fully explored as I feel they could have been. For example, when Anda begins asking her father about how strikes work, I think there was definitely an opportunity there for a deeper discussion.
There is also a lot of "waste" in this book- wasted time and wasted space. For instance,during the course of the novel, one of Anda's schoolmates tries to convince Anda's D&D group to be a part of the new Board Game Club. This is brought up again near the end, but this adds almost NO substance to the book at all! That time could have been spent further developing the plot or the topic of economics and gaming.
Also, I'm very unimpressed with the artwork by Jen Wang here. Like a lot of people say, I think the colors are very pretty, and the characters are well drawn. But her backgrounds are very very lazily drawn. Sometimes there is no background, just a white page. Mostly it is a simple wash of color. Even within the Coarsegold game, which is a place of fantasy and cool stuff, the backgrounds are unimpressive. There are a couple of nice buildings or the hint of a forest a few times, but mostly, they're large, empty space with just a splash of green color.
I really want to like this graphic novel. It is a cool book to hold and flip through, but honestly, I think everything could have just been more well-developed. I'd be willing to read something else either Doctorow or Wang worked on, but it's going to be with much lower expectations
alysenann's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lbarsk's review
5.0
HECK YEAH! An absolutely GORGEOUS graphic novel about video games and LABOR ORGANIZING, what more could you want?
art1610's review
I'm disappointed by this book. It was really underwhelming and didn't really catch my attention. I finished it pretty quickly, and was just confused. The plot seemed so good, a kid who is sick, lives across the world from the main character who wants to help. But, we were introduced to him almost more than halfway through the book. I got bored, and just finished it to finish it, not because I wanted to.
The idea of having a strike made me a bit excited. Then, it worked out in a few pages, no fight or big twist.
In the end, I was not affected by this book at all...
The idea of having a strike made me a bit excited. Then, it worked out in a few pages, no fight or big twist.
In the end, I was not affected by this book at all...