Although I’m dangerously addicted to the internet, I’ve never quite understood the thrills of gaming. After all, who needs video games when you have books, right? Wrong. There’s something even better than books: books about video gaming that appeal to both those who game and those who don’t! Yup, I’m talking about In Real Life.
Seth Gordon is slightly different from your average fifteen-year-old gamer. Not only is he nationally ranked at Starfare (think Starcraft), but he also is a math prodigy taking college-level math classes. However, to Seth, being nationally ranked simply isn’t enough. He wants to go pro, and the best way to go pro and make ridiculous amounts of money is to get recruited by a South Korean team. Seth, being that ridiculously talented teen that he is, ends up getting recruited by one of the top Korean teams, Team Anaconda. There’s just one issue. Before Seth left for Korea, he met Hannah, a passionate photographer with an understanding of wanting something to the point of obsession. Add in the fact that Seth is starting to like math way more than gaming, and you’ve got In Real Life in a nutshell.
What stands out most about In Real Life is the raw passion that the characters have. Sean, for instance, is passionate about Starfare, and later math as well. Although I personally am not into gaming, I was able to understand Sean’s obsession with Starfare. Lawrence Tabak wrote Seth’s narration extremely convincingly. It’s mindblowing, the fact that I found myself wanting to learn how to play Starfare, just to experience what Seth did. As for Hannah’s passion for photography, I was also able to fully immerse myself into the world of photography. From prestigious arts colleges to famous photographers, I was thirsty for Hannah’s talks about photos!
In Real Life might not be the most realistic of books, but it accurately depicts the mental journey of adolescence. It shows that it’s okay to be unsure of the future, and that it’s also okay to change opinions about life. Seth is the perfect guinea pig of Tabak’s – his intelligence and focus make the journey even more enjoyable. It’s rare when the main character of a novel happens to be a math genius, and even rarer when the math genius is a caring and mature individual.
I cannot overemphasize the fact that In Real Life is a brilliant novel. The uniqueness of the plot, the likeability of the characters, and the wit evident on every page only add to the awesomeness of In Real Life. Lawrence Tabak has penned a charming, humorous, and smile-inducing novel that deserves to be read by anyone who reads.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (November 11th, 2014)
ISBN #: 9780804844789
Source: Netgalley
Length: 288 pages (Hardcover)
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