I read this book on audio, and my four star rating comes from five stars for Wil Wheaton's reading performance and probably 3.5 stars for the story itself. Set in the future, Cline's work describes an epic gaming contest set in the virtual world, the OASIS, where most people prefer to spend their time since the real world is devastated by climate change, poverty, and general unhappiness. The main character, Wade, is a senior in high school who doesn't have much of a life in the real world, so he dedicates himself to winning the contest which will make the winner a multi-billionaire. The creator of the contest, the deceased inventor of the OASIS, had an obsession with the era when he grew up, the 1980's, and the book is filled with both well-known and obscure references to the decade. I love video games and have seen most of the movies mentioned in this book, so I of course connected to most of the references and the overall nostalgia. However, I was way more interested in the side characters than in Wade; more Art3mis and H would have been appreciated. Also, while the book was incredibly detailed I felt there was a disconnect with the world building. At times it was so well-though out and described, but there was something missing, and it didn't feel futuristic. It also seemed that Wade, who was set up to be this incredibly disadvantaged character, could fix everything that was wrong with his life with money, which made his character development a little thin to me. His relationships with Art3mis and H were what sold his development a bit more, and to be honest I would have rather read this all from Art3mis' perspective. Overall, I enjoyed it, though, and am curious to see how it translates to film.