The world's most popular video game is a training simulator to prepare humanity for apocalypse day. At least, that’s how this book starts. This goofy sci-fi thriller by Ernest Cline has so many twists and turns, even the main character can’t figure out what's fiction and what’s reality. You may know Ernest Cline from his trendy book Ready Player One, which was recently adapted into a movie. Zack Lightman, a teen with a temper from Beaverton, Oregon, raised by a single mom, loves video games. Sadly, he can’t make a career out of that, selling old movie and video game memorabilia from Star Base Ace, his current part-time job. Zackary just so happens to be ranked pretty high on the leaderboards of the world's most popular game, Armada. 2 months from finishing his senior year, Zack finds his world turned upside down. In just two days he deals with way too much for a regular teen to handle, including learning his domestic father figure isn’t who he thinks he is, his favorite video game is actually a bona fide military training simulator for a real alien invasion and the truth about his father's death. This book is probably one of the best I've read in a long time. The plot didn’t take a while to start progressing, it combined historical events all tied to a bigger purpose, it was fun and lighthearted at times, but also sad and melancholy at other times. I personally felt like I connected with the protagonist as I understood a lot of his experiences in the book. I think children not in high school won’t enjoy this book because it has a lot of references a child would not understand. Many high school students and young adults would definitely connect to this book. However, based on the fun nature of it and the plot of the story, I do not see the target audience being anyone on the older side. To make it short, I believe this book deserves a 5/5 star rating and although many might not believe the same, that is why I choose to review it. Thank you for taking the time to read this review, I hope this benefits any who are looking for their next fun read.
By Anderson Bishop
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