I’m so disappointed. There have been so many comparisons made to Ready Player One and John Green and I was expecting something fun and fresh and a little nerdy – but in a good way! After all, the author is a publisher at Quirk Books, you know, that publishing house with books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Yeah, that. Instead I got a novel full of fat-shaming, a plot that centered on a centerfold in Playboy, and a horrible, heinous act that absolutely ruined the book.

Billy is 14 years old in 1987 and a photoshoot of Vanna White is in the latest issue of Playboy. What 14-year-old boy wouldn’t want to see that? Unfortunately, Billy and his two pals are a few years too young to buy a copy for themselves, so they start work on a plan, a plan that will allow them to see those nude pictures of Vanna and possibly make them rich in the process. The key to securing the magazine, however, lies in a keycode for the local corner store and, in order to get it, Billy offers to get close to the owner’s overweight daughter. In doing so, however, he discovers Mary is actually crazy smart when it comes to computers and, over time, he realizes he enjoys spending his afternoons with her as they create their own computer game.

So where’s the bad, right? Throughout the novel there is an absurd amount of fat-shaming. Mary can’t possibly be seen as attractive because she’s overweight. Behind her back the boys refer to her as Miss Piggy and act as though Billy is doing the ultimate sacrifice by going near her. I saw red when, surprise, it turns out that Mary was just pregnant! Well thank goodness for that, since after the baby is born she no longer hides behind oversized, shapeless clothes. She has a slim and slender figure and, only now, is totally hot. Spare me. I wanted so much more from this book.

Really enjoyed the first 80-90% of the book. Felt the author did an excellent job capturing the people, personalities and computer situations, challenges and capabilities. Was really disappointed with the ending and that significantly dampened my enthusiasm.

An 80's flashback of the best kind. Witty and honest writing with a touch of sentimentality, the reader is taken on a journey back to the advent of PC's and teenage obsession. Though the "surprise" ending was not a true surprise to any other than the narrator, it makes the reader laugh and cry simultaneously. A quick, amusing read worthy of a reminiscence.

First off, The Impossible Fortress is not Ready Player One. They have nothing in common except a teenaged protagonist and computer games, but one of the author blurbs says “Fans of Ernie Cline and Chuck Klosterman – this is your next favorite book” so I need to get that out of the way.

I was very disappointed in The Impossible Fortress. It didn’t have to be the next Ready Player One for me to enjoy it, but I found so much wrong with it. The Impossible Fortress is a coming of age story about three incredibly dense 14 year old boys in 1987. Their quest for a copy of the Playboy featuring Vanna White was amusing and believable until it took a very dark turn. I did not buy how stupid the boys behave in a climactic scene, especially main character Billy.

Mary, the 14-year-old girl in the story, is likable but one dimensional. She is often described as fat and therefore unattractive, and the boys never come to see otherwise. I had so many problems with the various plot twists. I think the author wrote this book imagining it as a fun, throwback movie. The setting and language are fine; the characterization and plotting are weak.

I didn’t catch any 80s references that were wrong, and the parts about writing computer code to build a video game were good, definitely the best part. I’m not sure who I could recommend this to.

I read an advance reader copy of The Impossible Fortress.

I enjoyed that this book had a male protagonist. The characters were well developed and had their share of flaws to overcome. I was a little disappointed with the ending, but overall enjoyed the book and finished it quickly.

(This review will be posted at the CCLaP website [cclapcenter.com] on February 7th, 2017. For any questions concerning it, please contact Jason Pettus at cclapcenter@gmail.com.)

Ever since James Woods accused Donna Tartt's Pulitzer-winning <i>The Goldfinch</i> of being "the world's most overhyped Young Adult novel," back in the pages of <i>The New Yorker</i> in 2014, there's been an ongoing debate in the literary world about just how much the Great Dumbing-Down of America has or has not reached its tentacles into the normally safe world of intellectualism; I mean, sure, we all just rightly accept the fact that something like <i>American Idol</i> has turned all the usual mouth-breathers into screaming obsessive fans of children's talent shows despite being fully grown adults, just like the mouth-breathers we already knew they were, but what does it say about the decidedly adult world of the arts and letters when even children's books like the Harry Potter series are critiqued and promoted as proper fare for grown-ups? How much of that attitude then bleeds over into the books that are legitimately supposed to be just for grown-ups, and how do we even define what a term like "literature for grown-ups" means within a world of endless childhood nostalgia turned into a permanent murky blurring between adolescence and adulthood?

I think about this subject a lot, it seems, anytime yet another "coming-of-age" novel lands in my hands as a book critic, with Jason Rekulak's <i>The Impossible Fortress</i> being just the latest in a long line of these over the last few years; for to give you the tl;dr version right away, this is basically a children's book being passed off by Simon & Schuster as an adult one, and as a middle-aged intellectual who enjoys intellectual work designed for middle-agers, it makes me not only disappointed every time I come across a book like this, but despairing over the entire subject of the future of adult literature in this country. Set in the late 1980s, Rekulak's novel has a cute premise at its core, which is why I decided to read it in the first place: a trio of horny fourteen-year-old boys conspire to steal the infamous Vanna White issue of <i>Playboy</i> from the one and only store in their small New Jersey town that stocks the magazine, namely by one of the boys "seducing" the store's homely, unpopular teenage daughter and convincing her to pass along the code to the store's burglar alarm, just for the boy to discover that the girl is a fellow Commodore 64 aficionado and computer programmer, sparking a geek romantic relationship that threatens to make their potentially lucrative erotic heist (they've been pre-selling promises of color xeroxes of the White pictorial to other fourteen-year-olds) fall apart before it's even begun.

But alas, instead of the novel being a story for adults that just happens to nostalgically look back at one grown-up's childhood, what the definition of "coming-of-age novel" used to be, <i>The Impossible Fortress</i> is instead written in the simplistic language and style of an <i>actual</i> book for children, one that skips decent character development or any kind of adult insight for instead these endless, <i>endless</i> cheap expository references to '80s pop-culture. (Actual quote from near the beginning of the book: "We all knew that buying <i>Playboy</i> was out of the question. It was hard enough buying rock music, what with Jerry Falwell warning of Satanic influences, and Tipper Gore alerting parents to explicit lyrics." And stay tuned for a preview of next week's <i>Basic Cable Nostalgia Pandering Exposition Hour</i>!) It could be argued that the difference is a slight one that's hard to define, and I suppose there's some validity to that, of where exactly the line lays between a story for grown-ups that happens to be about a teenager coming of age, and a story specifically for teenagers who are going through that transition at the exact same time they're reading a book about the phenomenon; but certainly Rekulak is doing himself no favors regarding this question with his plodding, obvious plotline, his half-baked characters who come off as cheap ripoffs of a Netflix cheap ripoff of an overly sugary Spielberg film, and his belief that simply listing things that existed in the '80s is somehow a decent substitute for story development.

Perhaps that's the best way, then, that we can mark the distinction between literature for adult intellectuals and literature specifically designed for children themselves; this book lacks any of the fundamentals of story development that we typically use as the benchmarks for critically assessing a piece of adult literature, things like a mature voice and style, surprising turns in the plot, an escalating sense of stakes, sophisticated use of metaphor, simile and symbolism, well-rounded characters who both infuriate and delight, a sense that these characters are learning and growing from their mistakes, etc. Rekulak trades this all in for a hole-filled Encyclopedia Brown story and a thousand instances of, "Hey, do you remember this thing that happened in the 1980s? How about <i>this</i> thing that happened in the 1980s?;" and while I suppose this will sit fine with those adults who are fans of Harry Potter and <i>American Idol</i>, it will leave those seeking out stories for actual grown-ups empty and disappointed, a book with its heart in the right place but that I can't in good conscience recommend.

Out of 10: <b>5.8</b>

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC of The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekultak. As a teacher, it always enlightens me to take a look at the struggles and hopes of teenagers, and take a look back at what we thought were struggles in our lives and how we survived. The characters in this book struggled with the usual teen angst of dating, being popular, and finding their inner selves and what they believed in. The main character, known as Mass, suffers from face blindness, but doesn't tell anyone, until he meets that one special girl, who shares his love of computer technology. Together, they explore friendship, death, abandonment, values and goals for the future. This is a delightful book that I will share with my young readers.

I taught English from grades 9 to 12 for many years, and was always on the lookout for books that would interest my students, especially the BOYS, because so few books do interest boys. I think "The Impossible Fortress" would be a good choice to have on the bookshelf for that age group. The story is fast-paced, hits the right note of adolescent angst, and has enough action, drama and adventure to keep the reader interested and engaged. Some ultra-Christian schools might take issue with the plans to steal a Playboy magazine for its photos of Vanna White, but the crazy scheme is the impetus for the story. Anyway, if one is honest about the nature of adolescent boys, they are indeed interested in the nude female body, and their raging hormones can push them to do nonsensical things with sometimes disastrous results!

"The Impossible Fortress" stands out for the quality of its writing, and the ability to capture authentic reactions to the stresses of teenage life. The characters are likeable and well-delineated. There are also several instances of teenage "lack of judgement" and the consequences thereof. The book may provide a cautionary tale about allowing your friends to drag you into situations that you don't feel right about. It is a learning experience.

All in all, I highly recommend this book for young adult as well as adult readers who enjoy the YA genre. I certainly enjoyed the book!

The Impossible Fortress is Impossible to put down! So before you begin make sure you are nice and comfortable and have some hours clear.
I spent yesterday doing the ole "just one more chapter" to myself all night until my eyes could take no more and I had already finished 80% of the book.

There is something about these characters and the unraveling of the story that completely absorbed me. You find yourself quickly aligned with the main character, Billy as he struggles through an awkward freshman year and a Vana White obsession. Billy's world of 1987 is full of nostalgia for those of us old enough to recall the days of record stores, cassette tapes, and bulky slow computers. So there is something comforting about the setting in which this story takes place. But aside from all the 80s references I loved the cast of characters (except Tyler), and all the adventures Billy, Alf and Clark go through that had me biting my nails, frozen in suspense, and rooting for them. The last few chapters (on the hike to the girls school) were truly hilarious.
I have no background in computers or programming, but I really liked how it was a constant thread throughout the whole book. It was probably my favorite aspect of the story.

Overall I thought this was refreshing and funny. Well done! 4.5 stars

Mid way through the book I was wondering what will happen as it seemed to be coming close to the end of the story when the twist came and it was like a gut punch just like the character felt and then when the reason for the twist came you were like "WOAH!" and then it all fell into place and it was awesome!

When I saw this book was set in the 80's, that involved young love, and computer programming, I thought I would give it a shot. I am glad that I did. This book was an interesting read and I appreciated the opportunity to read it.

The best part of this book was the amount of action filled pages that the characters get themselves in. I would love to see this made into a movie because there is alot of it! I enjoyed that the characters have to make decisions about their loyalties and that everyone learns something in the end.

If you enjoy books that are a little off the beaten path, then this may be the book for you. Thank you for the opportunity.

Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from the publisher. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.

This is my favourite book of the moment. A heart warming story of love, friendship, geeks and the uncool kids in life. Brought back memories of early computer games and all things retro. Wonderful read.

Loved this book. Had some pretty high expectations, after Ready Player One, but this book was different enough to both set it apart and make me really enjoy it!

I just think the pregnancy surprise was a little ham-fistedly handled. Not too plausible. But not enough to make me dislike the title.

Delightful, amusing, and totally entertaining. For all ages.

Great book. I will look for more books from this author.

The Red Headed League + the Commodore 64 + Wheel of Fortune + the 80s = greatness!
However, this is tempered by the fat-shaming and inherent bullying found in that decade too.
The consequences of that, or lack of them, is the one thing dragging this book down.
4.0/5