LitPick Review
Seth Gordon's main goals are to hone his skills in the videogame Starfare and become good enough to make the South Korea gaming squad: Anaconda. With two living arrangements because of his divorced parents, finishing his senior year of high school, and his parents' wish for him to get a job, Seth has no clue how he will become tournament ready, let alone ready for Anaconda.
Yet in a stroke of luck Seth tries a new stratagy, creating a plan to win the upcoming tournament. When he gets his chance in one of the final rounds Seth tries out his new move to combat the ferocity of the other player. What he doesn't expect is the men calling the shots to ban his stratagy from the rest of the tournament. With that in mind Seth's lead plummets, and he doesn't get into the final round.
Still, after winning some money for making it as far as he did, Seth heads home. His parents, dead set on him getting a job, make him go out and find one. Unexpectedly, when he lands the job at the local pizza parlor Seth meets Hannah, a coworker. The sparks are instant, and although he cannot deny the attraction he has for her, he keeps receiving mixed signals.
All Seth wants is to catch the eye of the Anaconda team, and to do that he needs a lot more playing time under his belt. When the Anacondas do show interest, he is shipped away to South Korea, and Seth hopes the distance will take Hannah off his mind. Will Seth come back to the states? Will Hannah want him to? Find out.
Opinion:
In Real Life is all right, but I did find it to be a bit predictable. One would not write about a videogamer seeking glory if he does not find it. Also, by creating a hostile environment (two living quarters, the fighting parents, a rude brother, and a poor father-son relationship) the author really set up the average brooding teenage boy who hides himself away from the world to play video games and escape reality.
As well as his brother's playboy lifestyle, the reader can only assume Seth would find attraction and distraction in a girl. Foreshadowing is all right when done in moderation, but I believe this particular book holds too much. I also don't think the book will reach its intended audience because of the structure. In fact, I can't really tell who the audience is supposed to be. If the book is meant for gamer girls then I believe you have a hit, yet that is an extremely small audience. Given that it is a growing population, I find it hard to believe that the author only intended it for that particular audience.
For gamer boys I believe that, depending on their taste, not many would read it, and the ones who do probably wouldn't finish it. As for the rest of the teenage population, the author goes into too much depth of the actual video game. As a nongamer, most of the references to the game were confusing, and the pages spent on Seth sitting and playing had me tempted to put down the book and not come back. To be a true hit, I believe the author should have revised based on the audience he was trying to pinpoint and tweak the details to fit.
