Originally posted on my blog, With Her Head in a Book. 
 I never intended to pick up Armada. For the most part, I enjoyed Ready Player One, but the novel game to me at the wrong time. What convinced me cave in to the book was amount of hype I kept hearing. Have you ever had an over-hyped book be a massive failure? This is one of those books, but I don't think it's because I had such high expectations. 
 Armada most definitely does not meet the bar Ready Player One had set and I say that as a person that wasn't overly thrilled by the predecessor. The two books function as standalone novels, but can't truly be looked at separately. Even though I'm not a fan of the series, it's hard to deny the popularity. The pop culture references of RPO were an absolute hit and befitting. Here, they're overwhelming and nonsensical. Maybe that was the author's point since Armada takes on such a confusing, conspiracy twist. 
 The novel starts out with Zack seeing a flying saucer while in class followed by him freaking the heck out. After this first chapter is where the novel lost me. For the rest of the first half of the novel, nothing happens. There are endless amounts of mindless info dumps and Zack playing Armada. I'm absolutely crazy for sci-fi and video games, but there's nothing enjoyable from reading about someone playing a game over and over. This immensely dull opening progresses by dragging the novel through the mud. 
 Every single character is objectively boring! I couldn't connect to anyone and didn't care what happened to them. The "cool girl" romance interest completely irritated me by her existence. She's the stereotypical Manic Pixie Girl trope that I absolutely can't stand. What girl even appreciates being depicted like this? Then again, this IS a novel written by a man for a certain type of nerdy audience. 
 I had the hardest time getting through this novel. The experience was completely unsatisfying. I would dread even looking at the book. Armada lacks all of the good that made this series popular by overplaying the big elements - video games and pop references. Everything felt forced, like a money grab to ride off of Ready Player One's success. Do not pick up Armada if you're hoping the same charm the original book has. If you haven't read any of the series, start with RPO and stop there. This is one big thumbs down for me. 
 I received a physical copy from Blogging for Books in exchanged for an honest review. 
 Plot: 2/5 
 Character: 1/5 
 Writing Style: 2/5 
 All Around Idea: 3/5 
 Total: 2/5