The Procrastinators Book Club discussion

Welcome to the Warcross Buddy Read Discussion thread! This thread officially opens on April 17th and anyone can join at any time. Please keep in mind that spoilers are allowed in this thread but only up to the group's current reading place. Do not spoil the book if you've read further than the group. Any extra days can be used to catch up!

Each week we will be reading by chapters. The suggested Buddy Read discussion schedule is as follows:

Week of 4/17
April 17: Chapters 1-4
April 18: Chapters 5-8

Week of 4/19
April 19: Chapters 9-12
April 20: Chapters 13-16
April 21: Chapters 17-20
April 22: Chapters 21-24
April 23: Chapters 25-28
April 24: Chapters 29-31

PARTICIPANTS:
- HeatherH
- Gaea

Can I join this Buddy Read?

Simone wrote: "Can I join this Buddy Read?"

Sure!

Might be tomorrow before I can start but I'll get through the first 8 and post!

Started a day late too, but am caught up now! I've put my comments in spoiler tags, just in case there's something spoiler-y about them and also to prevent clunky paragraphs from taking up too much space on here~

Be prepared for a lot of questions and reactions LOL

Ch. 1-4
(view spoiler)[ Wow, Emi's life really sucks. Her struggle feels real and horrible and something I can only hope I never go through. That being said, I do have to question some of her life choices. For one, she's so concerned about earning money but claims she is willing to spend that money on keeping her hair dyed? I mean, rainbow hair is fantastic and it's great that she wants to honour her dad, but one would think that saving that money for more important things like food and rent would be more important. Also, are teenagers allowed to have full sleeve tattoos? I wouldn't know. She's lucky it didn't cost her anything; that sort of thing takes so long to do, and many, many sessions. (At least it does nowadays. Dunno about this fictional world. Maybe they have a different system of making tattoos?)

I also have so many questions about how the NeuroLink works. If it relies on the person's imagination to make things look real, how does it work on fantasy scenes/creatures? If a person doesn't know what they look like, how are they able to look real? What about differing species/opinions? For example, what if two people had different ideas over what elves looked? Who would be right? Which one would be considered "real"? Also, how does movement thing work? In the real world, does the person have to take a physical step in the real world, in order to move a step in the virtual world? Or is it a matter of just imagining themselves moving?

And chapter four... Oh god. Why. Why is this girl so stupid. Why? How? I get she's desperate for money but still!!! I felt so embarrassed reading what she did, I had to put the book down for a few moments. It just. No. ARGH. (hide spoiler)]

Ch. 5-8
(view spoiler)[...I'm actually kind of disappointed that Hideo has a British accent. I mean, I love that accent, it's nostalgic, my favourite, and it brings me good memories of my childhood but still. Of course, now I'm wondering exactly which British accent he's got because there's so many XD

A CAR AI CALLED FRED AND A DRIVER CALLED GEORGE. I LOVE IT <3 This is totally based on the twins, you can't tell me otherwise. Also, I totally want to get in a car like that. It's scenery changing thing sounds awesome as heck. (Also, Fred and George, helloooo.)

Omygod a see-through plane. What next???

Here's a slightly random question. Are the NeuroLink glasses sold in only one size or do they have multiple sizes or a way to adjust? Not every pair of glasses fits every person, you know! *adjusts her own glasses* Are the glasses' lenses all the same size or do they also vary? Coz I can say for sure that with rectangle shaped lenses, I can still see so much of the world outside of the lenses. Wouldn't that affect a person's ability to remain immersed in the virtual world?
But yeah, I'm kind of digging this glasses-dominating world haha

I can't find the words to describe just how awesomely otaku-ified Tokyo is in this book. I just. I wanna see this dammit. Have a virtual pet. Wear cool virtual things. See a sky filled with flying things and creatures. ...Life is so unfair T_T

Hmmm... I know Japanese hospitality is a thing and no one wants to do anything that might piss off their boss, but the sheer helpfulness/pleasantness of these people is making me feel suspicious as heck. It's great that Hideo wants to employ her - and considering that some companies do hire hackers, it's believable - but I keep waiting for that other shoe to drop.

Seriously? I was just getting used to the NeuroLink glasses, and now they're readying themselves to start using contact lenses versions? (hide spoiler)]

Verdict So Far: It's still a genre I'm not used to reading in but it's definitely interesting!!

Gaea wrote: "Started a day late too, but am caught up now! I've put my comments in spoiler tags, just in case there's something spoiler-y about them and also to prevent clunky paragraphs from taking up too much..."

I have so many of the same questions as you!

(view spoiler)[If I were broke, there is no way that I would spend my precious money on hair dye, but that aesthetic is pretty great. And there are so many thoughts about NeuroLink. Would they be able to work with blind people? Like maybe not the real world integration, but since it works with your imagination, I feel like that may be a possibility. And in (present day) VR, I know that you have to physically make a movement, but I think that imagining the movement is how NeuroLink works.

I would assume that the NeuroLink glasses come in one standard size, like present day VR headsets. (Wait, do they come in different sizes?) And I hope they have some sort of elastic band on the back because god knows how many times I look down and my glasses fall off.

When Emi's walking down Tokyo with Jiro, she has English subtitles, but isn't wearing her glasses. Can anyone explain to me what's going on?

How nice these people are is definitely suspicious. And, is anyone else sensing an enemies-to-lovers coming on? At least until Hideo turns evil or whatever.

To be honest, as someone with contacts myself, the most unrealistic thing is that Emi got them in within a few tries. It took me, quite literally, hours to get them in the first few times. (hide spoiler)]

Only got the first four done, home time hard to read with kids haha, but back to work tomorrow so I'll binge and get caught up!

(view spoiler)[ So. Many. Questions. All basically the same stuff Gaea asked. And also.. she's only eleven?! Like, she doesn't read like the perspective of an eleven year old. (hide spoiler)]

HeatherH wrote: "Only got the first four done, home time hard to read with kids haha, but back to work tomorrow so I'll binge and get caught up!

[spoilers removed]"
I think she's actually eighteen or so? There are scenes of her as an eleven year old, etc, that are actually flashbacks, though they aren't really pointed out as flashbacks so clearly.

Ah ok that makes more sense! I’m listening to the audio and miss things sometimes too.

Ok, finally getting some time to read. Through ch 8!

(view spoiler)[ I was so geeking out about the car Fred/George thing so I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one who's mind went to the twins immediately!!!

I love this whole world we are getting introduced to and how involved Tokyo is in the VR world. It's extremely fascinating and I cannot wait to get answers to some of the questions you both presented and to see more of what the author built up for us.

I do think the friendliness is maybe suspect but I'm not 100% sold on it yet. I too picked up a bit of a hint at some enemies-to-lovers vibe so now I'm just curious which way Lu too the story when she wrote it! (hide spoiler)]

Through ch 16
(view spoiler)[Stakes are going up here! How will she do in the first round of the games?! Also, curious who Zero actually is and what he has her teammate up to after that scene in the dark world.

And that hint at romance seems to be spot on! (hide spoiler)]

So I pushed through and finished the audio for this tonight. Just wasn't loving it and wanted to get it done.

HeatherH wrote: "So I pushed through and finished the audio for this tonight. Just wasn't loving it and wanted to get it done."

What didn't you like about it?


I'm on Chapter 18 right now, and I doubt I'll be able to finish the book today (it's the 24th for me already). My progress on this book has been slow. Maybe because I'm not a big reader of this kind of genre? And while it's still the beginning-ish of the apparent romance, I have mixed feelings over it. It feels too fast, like there wasn't enough journey for either characters to have arrived at that situation. Unless this is just them on the flirting stage? I wouldn't know. But honestly, I would have been fine if there was no romance at all and they simply built up a really strong friendship - and I happen to be a sucker for romance so take from that what you will.

It felt like a knock off, and less fleshed out, version of Ready Player One which was an incredible book. The world building here just wasn’t as well done and I hated the romance. They didn’t have chemistry at all for me. And the narrator was pretty nasal-y sounding which drove me a little crazy :/

I think had I never read Ready Player One, I would have liked this one better. 🤷🏻‍♀️Ah well, just didn’t end up being for me.

HeatherH wrote: "It felt like a knock off, and less fleshed out, version of Ready Player One which was an incredible book. The world building here just wasn’t as well done and I hated the romance. They didn’t have ..."

I definitely see what you mean by the nasal-y narrator. I switched to the audiobook a couple of times and I just could not listen for very long.

Simone wrote: "HeatherH wrote: "It felt like a knock off, and less fleshed out, version of Ready Player One which was an incredible book. The world building here just wasn’t as well done and I hated the romance. ..."

Audio was the only version I owned so I was stuck with that lol. I ended up returning it and the sequel on audible for my credits back since I don't intend to move on to book two :/

I finally finished the book! And I have so many mixed feelings.

(view spoiler)[The romance was still horribly meh and I didn't feel much tension from the plot during any of the supposedly important scenes. And I knew who Zero was going to be long before that was revealed, it was that predictable. That plot twist of Hideo's true goal at the end though was pretty cool. I didn't actually see that coming, though I probably should have. I liked that Emi walked away regardless, even though I still don't think she and Hideo were close enough to warrant her feeling heartbroken. I'm also a bit upset that the scenes where Emi explained things to her team and said team's reactions weren't included. Their relationship is supposed to be about teamwork and trusting each other, but the reader doesn't get to see the culmination of that when the big plot stuff happens. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, 3 out of 5 stars. I was originally thinking more of a 2 star, but that plot twist helped bump it up. And I have no idea if I want to continue this series! Like, 50/50 torn.

Yeah that (view spoiler)[ romance was awful lol. (hide spoiler)]

HeatherH wrote: "Yeah that [spoilers removed]"

Apparently in the second book the romance becomes even more "important to the plot", or so someone told me. Which is really off-putting. And the angle the author takes (view spoiler)[concerning Hideo's ultimate goal (hide spoiler)] is done so in a way that is probably meant to be deep but isn't.

So far it's looking like the second book might not be worth reading, at least for me.

yeah I committed to not reading it and went ahead and returned both on audible to get my credits back. I already pushed myself through a 5 book series earlier this year that I wasn't loving and after that I made the decision to not torture myself for the sake of completing series lol.

HeatherH wrote: "yeah I committed to not reading it and went ahead and returned both on audible to get my credits back. I already pushed myself through a 5 book series earlier this year that I wasn't loving and aft..."

Well, at least we can say that we tried! ^u^

Here's hoping the next books in our TBRs are better haha~

For sure!