Lauren Henderson

At the end of this book, it really felt like a true story. I mean I had to convince myself over and over that it was fiction. It was a story/vision that I believe many could relate to. I do love Christian fiction that is not over the top and in your face that everyone can enjoy without feeling like they are being preached at.

Amazing, adventurous read. I love this series. I think the detail and sense of adventure is comparable to the Lord of the Rings series. It's that good.

Unfortunately the ending is not nearly enticing as the journey to get there. I was hooked until the last 50 pages where you start figuring out the case. And while it was twisty, I feel like the way the case ended was the least exciting and believable out of the possibilities throughout the story. It was just so bland. This was a five star read for me until the end. I think Tana French is a talented writer so I'll give her another shot eventually.

Initial Reaction: My mouth is still gaping wide open... this book is phenomenal!!! I still can't get over it. Really.. go read it. I'll be on cloud nine for a while fangirling and freaking out... eventually I'll be able to form real sentences and write a real review.

5 stars... plus a few more!!

This review is also posted on Great Minds Read Alike.

A little later: As you might have noticed, EVERYONE is raving about Ready Player One. Well.. I'm going to join their ranks. I'm still reeling from this book... it's the ultimate of armchair adventures, the epitome of fandomness of all things that have a fandom - 80s music, 80s TV shows/movies, video games from the very extreme very beginning, even MIDDLE EARTH, Doctor Who, Star Trek - it covers it all.

Ernest Cline is obviously the ultimate fanboy and has created an uber detailed world all his own. The story is set in 2050 - there is extreme poverty because of a fuel crisis and James Halliday has created the OASIS - my best description of the OASIS is that it is every WOW player's wet dream. Period. Everyone can access it for free. There are millions of sectors with hundreds of planets each, some that have magic, some that have technology, some that have neither... some that are PVP zones... some that are business and shopping zones - it's basically become the new reality. I honestly want to go to this place... there are worlds that are exact replicas of Middle Earth, the Death Star, etc. There are video game museums for miles. There's a zero gravity club that's a huge floating hollow sphere. The OASIS has everything... and the descriptions are told with such vivid detail. There's no doubt in my mind that a ton of research and mind power went into the writing. It's superb.

Next, the plot... it's GENIUS. James Halliday writes a series of secret keys and gates into the OASIS before he dies, the last of which contains the “golden egg”, and the person who solves all the riddles and finds the egg first will inherit sole power of the OASIS and James Halliday's entire fortune. The race for Holliday's “golden egg” takes off from the very beginning and literally keeps your heart racing the entire story. And the riddles are so well developed... the cleverness still makes me tingly inside.

There are overarching themes of true friendship, political unrest, and facing reality. The author reveals his opinions through his main character, Wade's, opinions on several issues, such as, atheism, the current state of humanity/government, and huge corporate giants. It's easy to tell where Cline stands but it's done very subtly and does not distract from the story itself. But I like books that take a stand, anyway.

Overall, I loved this book, and I immediately purchased a hard back copy for my bookshelf, so I can shove it in all my friends' and my husband's faces and make them read it. And (here's the big shocker) I'M NOT EVEN A GAMER. In fact, I'm one of those who has sworn off video games for most of my life.. I'm way too busy reading.

This story is really just an adventure, and I say that anyone who loves adventures would enjoy it. Even if you are not an 80s fangirl/fanboy, you will not have a problem getting any references... we all know what Pacman, Gallaga, and Sega are... plus, everything is explained, if needed.

I happen to be a concert junkie, so this really hooked me:
A concentrated, pulsing mass of ships and avatars covered the ground. It was like some otherworldly Woodstock.
Just one of many awesome descriptions throughout the story.

So... go get this book.. wherever you can. And read it. Just do it.

I received a pre-release copy of this book for free through a GoodReads FirstReads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

When I first picked up Golden State I was immediately intrigued, a lot confused, and a little scared because the plot has so much work to do. The story is set in one day in a near future San Francisco, and it is definitely not your ordinary day. You are immediately thrown into the fire, and by the end of the first chapter you know the following:

1) Julie is a doctor. Julie's sister is in labor, and she has to get to the other side of the city to deliver the baby.
2) Julie's ex-friend/boyfriend/thing is angry and hostile and is holding people in her hospital hostage while demanding to speak with Julie.
3) Julie's divorce may or may not be finalized today.
4) Today is the day of the vote for California to secede or not secede from the United States. Therefore, vandalism, robbery, rioting, police blockades, etc. abound.
5) Julie and her husband used to have a son, and Julie's sister is the reason that they don't anymore.

Ok. Breathe.

The story is told in 3 parts: Now, earlier that morning, and the back story. Each chapter switches to a different time all told from Julie's point of view. Sounds confusing but really it's not since the chapters are short and begin with which time frame you are in. I've never read any other books written this way, and in my opinion it was great organization (go editor!). It created a lot of suspense and really kept the story moving.

Throughout the story you learn how Julie met and fell in love with her husband, how they had a son, and how they lost him. You learn about her childhood in Mississippi and how she fulfilled her dreams of “escaping” the South to become a doctor. And you learn about her strained past relationship with her sister and the new relationship that develops.

To me, there are a lot of parallels between the author's life (Richmond grew up in Laurel, MS and now lives in California) and Julie's life, so I feel like she uses her character as a soap box in some parts - she paints a picture of the South being a place that everyone wants to escape (I love the South even though I no longer live there), and she uses the secession issue to portray her own political views. So the book seemed preachy in some parts, but not to an overwhelming extent.

Overall, this is a very entertaining read with a good but not too neatly wrapped up ending. However, the story was lacking in the emotion department until the very end. I just wasn't quite as invested in the characters and their outcome as I wanted to be. I would say the book was mostly a sequence of events, although a very entertaining sequence of events.

So there you have it.. Golden State is released on Feb. 4 (MY BIRTHDAY!!) if you want to give it a shot.

This review is also posted on Great Minds Read Alike.