Graphic novel with themes of anti-bullying, girl power, being safe on the internet, and economics. I love how Anda isn't stick-thin and when she feels powerful --not as a gold farmer killer, but strong in personality and self-esteem, she dyes her hair the same color as her avatar, which is metaphorical for taking on that positive self-esteem and asserting her anti-bullying ways IRL, too.

In Real Life isn't just about a girl joining the online gaming world for the first time there is so much more to this story. I enjoyed the different culture that clashes in this book. For me, the characters were light with a strong plot. This is a fast read that has strong messages. I don't wanna give too much away but I enjoy this book.

I absolutely loved this graphic novel! The art is beautiful, and the story is a thought provoking one while still remaining entertaining. Anda is a new girl in town and when a female gamer comes into her classroom to talk about this female led guild in Coarsegold (a MMORPG) and Anda falls in love with it. Meeting a fellow member of the guild, they start missions taking out gold farmers, players who only make gold to sell for real world money (which is illegal) and Anda befriends one, and learns about his life in China. The story opens up the conversation of what is right, what's wrong and what's fair. It's a great starting ground for a conversation about where the things we have are from, and even what living and working conditions might be like somewhere else. It also starts the conversation on how we can be more compassionate. I will definitely be recommending this book at work.

I loved it! The intro by Doctorow was almost as good as the book. I loved the illustrations, the writing, and the story. Some great messages about bullying, seeing someone else's point of view, being brave and trying to make a difference. Highly recommend this one!

This was a really cute graphic novel. It's about a high school girl who finds the different sides of MMRPG. I find it hilarious that her class had a speaker come in and sell the game to them. When I was elementary school, Subaru did the same thing to us even though we couldn't drive so that very believable to me. It's short so I find her conflicts and resolutions too quick. Should have been longer.

I received an electronic copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was definitely very interesting. I went into it knowing nothing and having only been familiar with it in any way because I had seen the cover floating around booklr and bookstagram. But story-wise I had no idea what this was going to be about... and I was pleasantly surprised! It is fantastically devoid of a love story, thank god! It focuses on the main character, Anda, who is offered by a guest speaker at her high school to join a guild on an online game. This guest speaker happens to be a fairly well known gamer, and Anda is inspired because she is a female gamer in an area dominated by males. So she joins, and the situation ends up being way more complex than she anticipated.

This book managed to tackle a couple of much more serious issues than I thought it would. I was thinking it would be Anda's coming of age story of her trying to fit in as a geeky game girl. But it's so much more! It's about learning about the world around you while your young, and figuring out how you can actually make a difference in the world. And most importantly it's about being as open and accepting of those around you as possible. Don't be a short-sighted bigot; you pursue your passion, and be kind and let other pursue theirs to. And help them along the way if you can.

At a couple of various points I do think the topic/theme of the book was a bit more grand than the story's setting. It's a graphic novel that takes place in high school and has a contemporary feeling - sometimes trying to tackle worldwide issues is just too big for this novel.

I would definitely recommend this graphic novel. It's a sweet story, very original, and easy to get through.

This beautiful, thought-provoking graphic novel introduces Anda, a high schooler newly-moved to Flagstaff, Arizona. This book avoids so many cliches: it doesn't dwell on angst about her move, she has a loving relationship with her parents, she's a girl gamer and programmer and that's no big deal, and she's overweight and that is never once an issue. There is no pursuit of a romantic relationship, either. This is about her--in current online parlance--"getting woke." She thinks gold farmers in her beloved Coarsegold Online are horrible until she actually gets to know one.

There is a lot of nuance and moral complexity to the book when it comes to the gold farmers, their roles within the online economy, and what their real lives are like: logged in at a computer for hours a day for little pay and likely no access to healthcare.

The artwork is incredible. Anda real-life body reminded me a great deal of myself as a teenager, and I immediately felt invested in her as a character. Jen Wang really did an extraordinary job illustrating the entire book. It's a joy to the eyes.

This is a book with continued relevance as online gaming becomes more mainstream and the economies within those digital worlds become more real, in a microcosm.

I am in the beginning phases of appreciating the beauty of graphic novels, and this is the first I’m reviewing. I received and eARC and read it on my iPad Pro and it was such a wonderful experience. The illustrations in this graphic novel were definitely some of the best I’ve ever seen. The colors were so vivid and eye catching, they were one of my favorite parts of this graphic novel.
I thought it had a very interesting storyline, like nothing I’ve ever read before. The game that was portrayed in the graphic novel seemed very fun, yet addictive at the same time. I loved that the story was based on friendship and not romance. It was quite the breath of fresh air. I almost felt as if the plot got lost throughout the middle of the story though.
Overall I had a wonderful time reading and enjoying the illustrations. I think if you are a fan of graphic novels you will definitely enjoy it. If you are new to graphic novels I also feel this is a wonderful place to start.

I have complicated feelings about this one.

On one hand, I love the art. Jen Wang is obviously a huge talent and it shows through each panel. I loved that Anda was fat and that she enjoys playing online games and is in a club that plays D&D. It was also super cool to see this all girl gaming league. Anda’s parents are definitely on top of what’s going on in their daughter’s life and it was refreshing to see her mom take a stand against Anda receiving money from strangers online. I’ve seen a few reviews that talk about “What parent would care?” and the answer is… most parents. In the end, I was glad Anda’s mom relented on letting her play (even though she was still playing at internet cafes. It showed a nice balance between worrying for your child and monitoring their internet activity and letting them continue to pursue their hobbies and interests.

As for the subject matter in the book, I think it was a little heavy for the medium and the length of the book. Anda is being hired to kill other players in this game- “farmers” who collect gold that’s used for currency in the virtual world and selling it for actual money. I don’t know enough about online gaming to really comment on how this works, but Anda finds out that this person works 12 hours a day harvesting gold. They make a connection and she finds out that he is sick but isn’t allowed (or is to poor) to go to the doctor. This is really where the story lost me. I think it glosses over what’s going on in these game sites concerning poor people being used to harvest online currency to sell for real money. I’m still a little confused about how it all works. If the author wanted to bring up the terrible workplaces these people have to work in, I would think they would spend a little more time explaining it.

But they don’t. Instead, Anda tells Raymond (his “American” name) that he should stage a protest… which ends up costing him his job. But in the end, it all turns out ok because Raymond finds another job and the workers stage a protest and, hey, since a white girl led the rebellion, everything is super ok!!! White saviorism once again save the poor PoC and she did this from thousands of miles away! WOW!!!

And that’s where it lost two stars.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the artwork, this would probably be a 2 star book. Maybe even a 1.

I’m not recommending this one.

Doctorow has once again been able to make a relevant commentary on technology issues that will appeal to teen readers.

I really want to read this but many of the panels are blank and in a GN, that is not ok. Will you update the file? I have tried this on multiple devices . I will pick it up in February for sure. I recently heard Cory on IA he was great. I look forward to picking this up.

Would love to have read this but the format would not download and the only option i could download was a protected pdf and neither my laptop nor my iphone would download and open it

23343364
Emily Kopf's review Aug 08, 2017 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: contemporary, graphic-novels, review-copies, ya-na

Anda recently started playing Coursegold Online, a massive multiplayer role playing game. She loves it, especially when she discovers how to make real-world cash from it. Then she meets a young Chinese boy whose family and future depend on the money he earns from scamming the game, money Anda scams from him. The way both of them earn the money is morally wrong, and yet there is more depending on it than Anda first thinks.

In Real Life is a graphic novel about a teen girl playing a video game. The graphics were pretty good. They illustrate the story, the video game world, and most importantly, the differences between them. I mean, they are obviously different universes, but first time players can sometimes get mixed up between the fantastic beauty of the avatars verses the actual appearances in real life. That wasn't the issue in this book, but I was glad it was there all the same.

The real issue was the ethics of online game economics. It is ethically wrong to spend the time in the game only "farming" the resources for their gold in order to gain money in real life. The game isn't meant to be played that way, which is Anda and her friend stole from those farmers. But the book digs deeper into why the characters were farming the resources in the first place and examines it in the light of ethics and human need. The story does well in explaining it, and it is something people need to hear. However, that is the plot. It is so strong on the message that the plot isn't very compelling. Maybe the author wrote the story to fit the message?

In Real Life is an interesting graphic novel for teens that addresses some of today's problems in MMO's through story.

I received a complementary copy of this book. All opinions are my own, and I did not receive compensation.

This graphic novel was a nice break between larger books. I enjoyed the fact that it was short and light, but I wish there had been a bit more depth. In the prologue, the author writes a heartfelt message explaining the economics involved with gaming and how the internet is a human construct (along with many other things) that has provided a means for organization in a new way. This little introductions was actually quite fascinating, but I wouldn't have gotten the message from reading the graphic novel alone. In this case, the author had to tell instead of show. The plot of the novel itself was short and sweet, if not predictable and simplistic. That being said, it was entertaining, but not as profound as I would have expected given the introduction. The ending seemed a bit rushed and a bit too perfect, so I think that could have been fleshed out a little more.

The art style was lovely--the characters were well-drawn and the scenery was consistent. The paneling seemed a bit lazy compared to what I usually read (which is manga), but I think it worked well with the cutesy aesthetic of the story. If I'm being honest, I enjoyed the art itself more than the story.

I would recommend this as a quick read for anyone in need of a break from more complex, involved books. It was sweet, simple, and entertaining.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and First Second Books for the advanced reading copy of In Real Life by Cory Doctorow. I can't wait to start this book.

I absolutely loved this graphic novel and the message it sends! In Real Life is a graphic novel about a girl named Anda who loves this multiplayer online role-playing game called Coarsegold Online. Through this game Anda meets a Chinese boy that is a gold farmer (which is illegal in the game). This graphic novel explores gaming, poverty, and adolescence. This graphic novel is an easy read with amazing art. It takes a deeper look into culture and poverty. Not everything is black and white. What is justice? What is equality? I loved that a gaming graphic novel tackled such big topics.

A good, quick read. I loved the artwork, and would definitely recommend this book to teens who like graphic novels and video games. It was nice to read a graphic novel featuring a girl, that isn't based on a fairy tale, but on real life.

I found this graphic novel charming. It's really well situated for a young reader with a passing interest in gaming and a nice and relatively light introduction to economics, unions, and a lot of heady concepts. That said, it was charming for me (a former MMORPG player) as well- I identified with the young girl gamer, and simultaneously imagined handing this off to my gamer students. It might open their eyes. It opens with an introduction that situates the comic in terms of very real-world concerns, without talking down to the reader. And the art and dialogue felt very evocative and lush. A winner!

This is my first graphic novel type book and I absolutely loved it! The illustrations were beautiful and I cant stop looking at it!
I don't think the story is particularly innovative but I think it sends a really good message.
It was a great read and I'll happily read more from Cory Doctorow in future!

A teen gamer, Anda, is invited on missions with real-world earning potential: money will be deposited in her PayPal account if she kills “gold farmers” in the game.

At first, Anda is excited by the opportunity to earn easy money, but soon discovers that the gold farmers she is killing are not game-generated “bots,” but people who make their living by harvesting in-game artifacts so their employer can sell them to players who want to acquire them without making their own effort.

In Real Life presents readers with a lot to think about. In the role-playing game community, who is exploiting the game — and are the ways that they do so, equivalent?

Other issues include ways that people might view themselves based on how they style their avatars, and ways that they treat people whom they perceive to not be like them.