First of all, the clear and welcomed feminist message of the book. There are, I think, three aspects of the novel worth exploring. The book portrays how Anda – the shy and lonely main character trying to fit in at her new school – starts playing Coarsegold Online, a MMRPG (for the non-initiated: massively-multiplayer role playing game) and gets involved with the real-life consequences of playing it. About how social media and the Internet can potentially shape and change the world.

In its heartfelt introduction, Cory Doctorow says that In Real Life is about game and economics, about the – political, economical, social – choices that we make on a daily basis and their consequences. In Real Life, this new graphic novel written by Cory Doctorow with art by Jen Wang is full of them. This early work of hers showcases some of the cornerstones of her designs that now frequent her stand-alone books, so it's nice to see some of the development of that style here.The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The biggest bright spot in this book is Jen Wang's beautiful colors and innocent illustrations. Hopefully, families won't read this and assume all MMORPGs lead to subjugation and predation around the world. This book doesn't paint the greatest picture of online gaming, which isn't always a negative or predatory experience for the players. There are a lot of really complicated elements that have their surfaces scratched, and many of which Doctorow dives into a little deeper in the introduction - problems with world economics, the unknown effects digital environments and economies have on physical people and their lives, and the issues of predatory and bullying behavior that can happen in online gaming.

The ending leaves on a hopeful note for Raymond’s coworkers, but I doubt they would have had any more success than Raymond did in trying to unionize what is essentially a sweatshop for digital products. It is hinted that Anda has some mental health issues in her real life with her peers and her parents, but none of them are really explored or dealt with aside from a very surface-level first-step that she takes towards the end of the story.

We never see Raymond in real life even though we do see some of his surroundings, like his place of work. The storyline moved pretty fast and could have benefited from some more space and more pages.

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow