The core of this novel is a perpetual hopefulness that lightens even the most tragic of circumstances -- a reminder that being alive is worth it even when the world is not being good. The novel was written in a very friendly way even as it devotes its pages to some of the most unfriendly of topics — racism, disability, chronic pain, gun violence, abortion, etc. I have no interest at all in video games and I was still enraptured by the plot and characters.