I just adore virtual reality, or well, the idea that one can just get lost in a whole world. Like in .hack (manga/anime/game) series.

But this one goes much further than just .hack. It goes so much further, and I loved each and every page of this one. Sure, at times I was wondering what kind of twist would be waiting at the next corner as they kept coming. 😛

Really, all the adults in this book were messed up. Not only Simon’s rich parents, but also Kat’s. Plus I really couldn’t understand how everyone was treating Simon so shitty. I get that he did a lot of things that… well, aren’t that right, but come on. Anyone with half a brain could have figured out that he wasn’t the one doing the hacking, hello, there is proof he was out of town during that event. But hey, just take his confession for real. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, Simon is treated quite shitty throughout the book.

Since this book was done by two writers, I had expected two POVs, Kat’s and Simon’s. Instead we only get Simon’s POV. We see him go in Otherworld, we see him do everything he can for Kat (which was just the sweetest), we see him in the outside world trying to figure out more stuff that he can’t figure out in the Overworld or when he has to take action, like when he infiltrated that facility where all the comatose people are held. I definitely loved the Overworld parts the most, but that is because that is what I came for, what I bought the book for. Because it reminded me of .hack. Sure, those outside parts were interesting, and I did like reading them.

The Otherworld was just a creepfest of a place. Good grief, everything that can go wrong in a world went wrong there. Not only due to the users who were cannibals, murderers, who enjoyed hurting people, but also because of the bad code, the Children. Also then there is that one city with all the orgies, drugs, and anything else. It was all so messed up, but it definitely made the journey way more exciting. I am sure that it would have been exciting to walk around there without all this, but all this messed-upness made it all better. Of course I knew who the guardian of the cave was way before anyone said anything about his identity. Come on, it was just too obvious. He is standing in front of the one place that allows escape from the game, if you have that ominous disc thing on your head.

I loved Kat and Simon’s relationship, and I was shipping them like mad. Shipping them because I knew that they are meant to be together. They were so cute, and I just loved what Simon did for her.

Plus points to the cover!

I also hadn’t realised this was the first book of a series. Sure, eventually I saw that no way this story would ever get completed in so little that was left. But until then I thought it would be a standalone. Not that I mind, now we get even more exciting story, though I worry that most of the book will take place OUTSIDE of Otherworld, and I will kind of miss that. Again, I was just looking forward to a new .hack kind of story. 🙁

All in all, I had lots of fun to read this book, it was exciting. And sure, it took me a bit longer as I recently got Netflix (thanks Aggretsuko) and got addicted to Riverdale.