3.5


content warnings: bullying, murder in a virtual world
representation: fat protagonist, chinese side character


I had heard that this was the better version of Ready Player One, and that alone had me on board because the concept behind RPO was the only thing it had going for it. I was also excited because I really liked one of Jen Wang's previous works, The Prince and the Dressmaker.

This follows a teenage girl, Anda, who joins an online role-playing game, Coarsegold Online. She meets another girl on there and they start to do missions where they kill gold farmers, people who try to cheat the game, and get paid real money for it. But then Anda meets one of the gold farmers, a poor Chinese boy Raymond whose sole income is the game, and her perspective is changed.

I really liked how this tackled different topics, particularly how it addressed the age old argument between kids/teens and their parents about online safety. The book sees the argument from both perspectives, which I thought was a nice nuanced perspective; Anda's parents are somewhat out of touch, but they also have a point.

Raymond and Anda's friendship was also really sweet. There are hints at the end that it may develop into more but I liked that it never decided to go there; my only criticism of The Prince and the Dressmaker was that the main friendship was a romance by the end.

Overall, this was a fun graphic novel with a cool concept, great art, and fun plot.