jeannamichel
Written on Apr 14, 2017
"The lives of two Minnesota teenagers are intertwined through the world of role-playing games"--
- ISBN10 0062266837
- ISBN13 9780062266835
- Publish Date 27 May 2014
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Publish Country US
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Imprint Collins
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 400
- Language English
Reviews
inlibrisveritas
Written on Jun 7, 2014
Why all of the issues? Okay, I’m a gamer. I play video games of all sorts, including MMO’s (I was even addicted to them at one point), so I had issues with authentic feel of the gaming portion. The in-game narration does not reflect an actual game-play scenario, and it kind of confused me. I’m also into RP and I was super excited to see it in the book, but like the above issue it doesn’t actually detail too much of ‘fun’ that is had with the people involved instead of the story. The joy of RP is how much a planned story can change because one idiot (or genius) in your group decides he’s going to try to be a hero and gets in over his head. It’s about the witty banter between players and how quickly you get absorbed into the story, making it more than just a group of geeks sitting around a table. But I digress (seriously, sorry for waxing poetic there), the book has these sections as more of a narrative as well and when you do get to see the players it’s more toward progressing story than showing the actual ‘fun’ of it. Then adding onto that I had issues with a lot of the characters in this to begin with.
So why the 4 stars? It gets better, I promise! I’ll be honest the issues I had were sort of because I went in expecting a similar experience to actual real life and well…all of the in game stuff is written more like a fantasy novel, which odd modern language, than a game where you have people spamming the same attacks, stealing your kills, or dancing in the middle of the town square in nothing but their underwear. But once I got past the preconceived notions I began to appreciate it more for what it was. The narration for the games was actually really done and while some of it didn’t really fit well in a ‘game’ standpoint it was entertaining. The characters improved, or I should say grew.
Lesh, starts off in a spot that I honestly did not like him for. He says some pretty stupid things that sent me into a rage…but he gets better. He deals with falling for a girl who doesn’t quite fit into his social situation and honestly does not handle it well, though I suppose he gets points for actually trying. His friend Greg is a top notch douche, the sad things I happen to know a gamer exactly like Greg (to the point where I pictured him as the character), so other than complaining about his overall excessive use of ‘fag’, ‘gay’. and ‘faggot as insults and slurs…there isn’t much else to complain about, because he’s as real as it gets for me. (Unfortunately). Svetlana is a bit of an oddball. She loves making her own clothes, listening to a certain icelandic singer, and being the dungeon-master in an RP. She’s the only one I didn’t hate in the beginning, because I understood her better than the others.
So now to wrap this long review up! Guy in Real Life does have a slow start, but I honestly do believe that as long as you go in knowing it’s going to be a bit different then you should be able to pick up on how good is a lot quicker than I did. It’s a nice little piece of the geek world and if it manages to get a few more people interested in RPing, LARPing, or playing MMOs then why not? I definitely say give it a try. It may not be for everyone but I can honestly see this one making its way onto someone’s favorites list.
meowstina
Written on Apr 28, 2014
The description doesn’t reveal a lot about the main plot, so I was semi-intrigued to find out how the mentioned themes intertwine and are presented. Unfortunately, after reading the book, I am just as confused as to what it is about.
The story starts out slowly with introductions to Lesh’s and Svetlana’s lives from the perspective of each, but it kind of stays that way for most of the book. It’s a lot about their separate lives before they become close, which is fine, but neither seem to have direction. I don’t exactly know why readers are exposed to each event that happens because they don’t seem to result in an end message or goal. I also don’t know why there are chapters from the perspective of the game Lesh is playing, because I don’t feel they add anything to the story that couldn’t be told from his perspective playing instead. Unless I’m missing something? Maybe I’m not seeing how everything connects, when in fact it does. Upon (deep) reflection I can kind of glean how this story is about how difficult it can be to explore and establish identity, especially with familial and peer pressure. For the most part, though, I didn’t see the point of the story, or the main theme.
Forgive me if I don’t get the terminology right, but the book is a lot more invested in online gaming and RPG than I thought it would be. It’s not something I’m into, but I still respect that others like it. I tried to understand it and focus more on the storyline, but it’s such a huge part of the book that it was a little difficult. I am not a huge fan of fantasy, which is what these games are based on, but I tried to not let it deter me from enjoying the book. The games’ roles ended up having a little impact, but not a whole lot.
Though the above are problematic for me, the writing, narrative, and characters are really well done. The main characters in particular each have distinct, strong personalities and ways of dealing with the world. It’s enjoyable to read from each of their perspectives and get involved in their lives (though some of the people they interact with are very grating).
I have no problem with the characters or narrative, only with the pacing and how the themes don’t really present themselves (at least obviously to me), leaving me wondering what the point of the book is. The end offers high stakes and a little more clarity into what the characters’ journeys are supposed to culminate in, but leaves me confused as to how the rest of the book relates to this revelation. While (aside from the slowness) I mostly enjoyed reading this novel, maybe someone with the same interests as the characters will appreciate it more. Or maybe there is a clear point, and I completely missed it.
EDIT: After reading around a bit, I saw that some people explained this book as exploring gender roles - which I can also clearly see upon reflection, so that’s a theme I missed while reading.