“My tongue produces words faster than my brain can approve them.”
-Jason Segel, Otherworld
Everyone claims that Otherworld is amazing–it’s a video game unlike any other. It’s so good, in fact, you’ll never want to leave. At first, Simon believed them. But when his best friend is pulled into the dark side of the game, Simon will never see the game the same again.
To be honest, I struggled in reading this book. I picked it up because as I’ve mentioned before, I’m interested in young adult dystopian texts, but this one just didn’t do it for me. It felt very formulaic, not really straying from what you would consider the typical dystopian story line. Nothing about the plot really surprised me.
Additionally, the characters were flat and I couldn’t bring myself to really care about what happened to them. I’m all about the characters when I’m reading books–characters are what make me interested in the story. Simon, the main character, was particularly bad for me. He was full of himself, centrally focused on his needs and not really caring about who had to sacrifice in order for him to get what he wanted. He irritated me throughout the whole story, which was a contributing factor into how long it took me to get through this book.
All in all, I definitely won’t be reading the second book when it comes out. Simon can finish his adventures without me knowing what happens.
2/5 stars