My review of In Real Life by Cory Doctorow has borrowed pieces from a couple online reviewers. I figured they said what I was feeling, and it’s validating to know I wasn’t the only one that wasn’t “wowed” but the book, yet still found enjoyment.
I will start with: This is not a perfect story, still, I had… fun reading it. The online world vs real world has been done before. You can … connect on a virtual level, but it can’t replace human (…) contact. And finish with: (It is a) graphic adaptation of a Doctorow story (which I did not realize), (but the) narrative falls short of the artwork. (G)ood elements: girl gamers, gaming economics and their real world extensions, the representation of the self in a virtual environment, how online communities bridge social barriers. (They didn’t) think they were developed well.
I will add my words: This book is from 2014 when these subjects were newer (girl gamers, both table top and online gaming was more popular in the mainstream, but still finding its place) to readers. However, the idea of the economics of being able to play these games has not really been addressed (the person who our main character meets online risks his health and job to be able to be a gamer, as he is too poor to just spend $100 or on virtual reality “items/booster/etc.” While our protagonist is able to use her mothers bank account to pay for almost anything she wants in the game).
Perhaps things are a bit idealistic (it does work out a bit more neatly than they probably would have “in real life”), but still it is an interesting graphic novel. Things could have been fleshed out more, a lot of the things that happen do not have a lot of background, or explanation, but it is not necessarily a huge issue. Mostly you can just enjoy the story and take the surface story of the campaigns our heroine takes and the morality behind what she and others in the game are doing. Then there is the idea of trust and trusting the wrong people online/in the game, with the mother assuming all the creepers are out there. But again, not delved into too deeply. And not done to “scare” but to try and make the mother character the “old school” character, and her daughter “the way of the future.”
And like one reviewer said, the whole story did not really add up for the illustrations by Jen Wang. No, they are not mind blowing, but they were cozy, nice, fun, and did help you see the “haves” and “have nots” more clearly (The Haves are several female warriors (as that is what the game creator is trying to recruit more females (like her) in gaming) who are all types of creatures, but have access to the ability to level up.” And the Have Nots are a sort of Monk-Gnome creature probably based out of Asian mythology, that cannot fight back as they cannot literally afford to)