It's written to a formula but amazingly well-done even when you can practically see how carefully constructed it is to hit all the Young Adult market marks. All the usual tropes & panderings to the reader's ego, assuming they're a gamer. Video games are real or better than real life, gamers will win life. If you study pop culture as hard as you're supposed to study your homework, you'll win. Etc. The wish fulfillment is strong in this one. A bunch of 80s references so older people (reviewers at NYT, guys who buy movie plots, William Gibson etc.) will read it. Actually I don't know when I've been so manipulated but it was VERY well done, so why not? He kept the pages turning, and that's what matters at the end of the day.