3.5 stars. 
 I did really enjoy this book (I think the last 100 or so pages were my favourite), but I feel like either the hype may have built my expectations too high or I simply didn't this it was that amazing. 
 I really enjoyed the concept and the world that Ernest Cline created. I loved the diversity in the book and I felt like compared to many YA novels, this book was unconventional. (view spoiler)[ e.g. multiracial characters, different sexualities, different body types, not necessarily pretty characters or good-looking fashion choices... like completely hairless people with no eyebrows or anything???? I'd love to see what Hollywood would make of that. (hide spoiler)]. It was pretty refreshing. Also the characters were interesting, the "villain/s" were very much aggravating and there definitely was fun to be had. I really don't a story line of a virtual treasure hunt could have been not fun. 
 However, the main issue I had with this book was the writing. I feel like it was a lot of "telling rather than showing" and so the descriptions fell flat for me. I felt like we were just outright loaded with information sometimes and it could have just come about in a better way. To be honest, just everything was just told to us. Even the deeper message and themes were basically outright written on the page for us, and whenever the author was trying to not give us the full picture, it was pretty obvious as to what it was. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I wish everything was unravelled slowly through the character's experiences and narrative rather than just being like "This is how the thing works. This is what I'm doing. This is what society was like. etc. etc. etc." 
 A really good example was when Wade started describing what society had turned into and the way that people now lived... I feel like if Ernest Cline had just described what Wade could see in terms of his surroundings, we could make the connections ourselves as to the state it was in. (view spoiler)[ We really didn't need to have a full explanation that they stacked caravans on top of each other because there wasn't space to house everyone (hide spoiler)]. 
 But despite this gripe I had with the book, I loved the concept and found myself really engrossed in the book, especially by the end. The character's relationships were very lovable and I found that they all made sense and didn't do stupid, unrealistic things which I really appreciated. 
 So yeah, if you do love the concept I think you can bet on at least liking this book. And if you are interested in just reading Cline's concept straight off the page, then you definitely do get that! So yeah, fun and good plot, not so good writing, in my opinion.