This was beautiful and charming. I loved the art style and the story! (How dare something so short give me so many emotions.)

Qual è la "vita vera" di Anda? quella in cui è una solitaria ragazzina sovrappeso, brillante nella programmazione ma altrimenti del tutto normale, o quella in cui è una delle migliori giocatrici di Coarsgold Online, il popolarissimo multiplayer in cui tutti la conoscono e la ammirano?

E qual è quella di Raymond poverissimo ragazzino cinese, che lavora su Coarsegold predandone le risorse su commissione di un'azienda, mantenendosi così in una situazione di sopravvivenza - ma, appunto, riuscendo a vivere?

E cosa succede quando le due realtà collidono, e Anda si rende conto, grazie a Raymond, che quello che succede online può influenzare la realtà e viceversa, e che i soli pericoli non sono le creature fantastiche che popolano i vari livelli del gioco?

Gradevole riflessione sulla realtà virtuale e i rapporti che si creano fra i giocatori, Real life è anche una riflessione sull'economia dietro la rete, e sulla vita in Paesi privi delle tutele ottenute in Occidente in decenni di lotte. 

Gradevole graficamente, la graphic novel soffre forse di un'eccessiva semplificazione delle problematiche, ma può comunque essere un buon punto di partenza per approfondime e discussioni sul corretto utilizzo della Rete e su realtà distanti dalla nostra.

I received a copy of this graphic novel from net galley in exchange for an honest review. I am not a gamer, but I have always enjoyed Cory Doctorow's books, so I decided to give a graphic novel a chance which is totally out of the norm for me. Overall, it was a fast moving cute story with a strong young woman as the main character. the illustrations were gorgeous and I really enjoyed the graphic format of the book.

However, I found it to be much too short and predictable. There was not much substance to the novel.

I didn't realize this was a graphic novel when I requested this, but that didn't stop me from loving it just the same!
As a gamer, I really connected to this story. I love PC gaming, and it's important to remember that not everyone is who they say they are when it comes to the online world.
I love that the main character felt the pain within the gold farmer, and stuck it out to help him through his troubles. She found it was worth it in the end!
A great read and I definitely plan on picking up a physical copy!

A nice easy read for people who love gaming, especially those who play MMORPGs and have knowledge of the gaming world. This covered a lot about gaming in the real world, how people are not as they seem on the internet. It covers different cultures, gaming gold vs real money, internet bullying, hours spent gaming, real life verses online life. It was an interesting read but not a gripping story, although I did end up caring for the characters.

Great story that will speak volumes with MMORPG gamers around the world. No longer will I be frustrated by Gold Sellers and spammers after reading this heartfelt story.

After having this book on my "to-read" list for some time now, I immediately requested it when I saw it was available for review on NetGalley.

IN REAL LIFE is one of those books that is about something that has become so important in recent years following the Gamer-gate stuff. While I didn't particularly care for the artwork most of the time, I did like the fact that the book celebrated gamer girls and tackled the subject of bullying. However, I had to dock one star because I didn't care for how the relationship between Anda and Raymond was handled. (For me, Raymond wasn't a fully developed character, which was unfortunate; he seemed more like a story device.)

I should note that while I didn't particularly care for the artwork in the beginning, the design of the story when in the game are absolutely stunning. The colors pop and create this vivid online world. It's outside of the game when I felt the artwork suffered.

All in all, IN REAL LIFE is a positive story that deserves to be read.

This is a great graphic novel about reality vs online gaming.. And globalization too.

As always, Cory Doctorow is great. The artwork is lovely and complements his writing very nicely. The feminist message in this book made me cheer, but there's some white savior stuff going on here that makes me a little uncomfortable. I know a lot of girl gamers who will just love this, though. I can definitely foresee using this as a MS/HS book club book, for sure...lots of discussion jumping off points.