Sunday, January 26, 2014

Backward Compatible by Sarah Daltry & Pete Clark - Ashley's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from SDE Press, LLC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Title: Backward Compatible
Author: Sarah Daltry & Pete Clark
Publication Date: January 7, 2014

My Backward Compatible Pre-Reading

Synopsis: 
A YA Gamer Geek Comedy in the vein of Scott Pilgrim and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Ideal for fans of The Big Bang Theory, The Guild, and all things Joss Whedon.


WARNING: There is no sex in this book. Your Kindle or other device will remain at a pleasant room temperature. At no point will your panties drop. Your significant other will be allowed to snore in peace as you read.

Not too long ago, in a town that, depending on your current location, is either not super far or actually quite close… 

It is a time of chaotic hormones. 

Two nerdy gents home for winter break have discovered a female gamer at a midnight release. 

During the break, the gamer trio manages to reveal the game’s secret boss, a hidden enemy with enough power to destroy anything in its path. 

Pursued by other gamers who want to be the first to beat this boss, George and Katie race to level up, and, in so doing, restore decency and sexual activity to their personal galaxy…

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Review: If you're familiar with geek/gamer culture, and are looking for something light and fun to read, this is seriously the perfect book for you. Everything about this book is fantastic, and I'm pretty sure that I've found my favorite book of 2014 (and it's only January). It's definitely my favorite Ya contemporary romance of all time. It's that good.

I really just want to fangirl so hard about this book, because there's really no words for how spectacular it is. I mean, everything about it is just perfect. Even the chapters - they're labelled as "Level 1" and so on. And GET THIS - there's even a BOSS LEVEL. I'm telling you, it's incredible how geeky this book is. 

One of my favorite things about this book, other than all of the fantastic references (seriously, everything from Shakespeare to Tolkien to Portal to Firefly), is that even though it's presented as a romance, and it is, these characters have so much more depth to them. Even the ones who are flighty and don't seem like they have any personality are much deeper and have hidden sides that eventually come out. These kids (well, not really kids. Young adults. They're in their twenties) are real and personable and relateable and everything a good character should be. 

This book deals with so many things, and I am just blown away by how well it does that. It deals with socially awkward kids who don't have many friends, with couples who are clingy and seem like all they do is hang all over each other, bad dates, good dates, insecurities, friendship, and even how bullying affects people. I definitely spent most of the time laughing, but there are some serious parts and I totally felt for Katie and Greg and their friends. 

I could honestly go on and on and on about how much I love this book, but really you should just experience it for yourself. Especially if you're fluent in geek, because it makes this book so much better to understand all of the references. It's fun and nerdy and age appropriate and everything an excellent contemporary romance should be. I made the mistake of starting it before going to bed, and I literally could not put it down. 5/5 for sure! I wish there were more books like this one out there.


--Ashley

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