Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend: A Novel by MJ Wassmer
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Web ID: 19876236Perfect summer read
This book is exactly what I look for in a summer read. It’s dark, weird, chaotic, and full of biting social satire—with just enough of a happyish ending to keep you from spiraling. There were moments I had to physically put the book down because of the sheer anxiety it induced… but honestly, that’s half the fun, right? M.J. Wassmer nails the mix of absurd apocalypse and emotional depth, and I’m still thinking about certain scenes days later. Highly recommend!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Highly recommended, (and did I mention, funny?)
A totally unique Sci-fi/Thriller mashup that will make you laugh, quake, shake your head in wonder, and most of all, keep on reading as the story takes you into places heretofore completely unimaginable. Dan Foster- our third person POV narrator, is a twenty-nine-year-old lovable angst-ridden loser — who also happens to be handsome, charming and really really drop-dead funny (the “loser” label, perhaps, existing only in Dan’s head, as his beautiful and sensitive girlfriend, Mara, would be the first to point out). When Dan and Mara take a long-awaited vacation to an all-inclusive resort in the sun-soaked Bahamas, they have no idea that their world is about to change. Unbelievably, in fact. As that “sun”, so bright, and such a beautiful feature of any Caribbean island, is about to suddenly explode. What happens next is about as outrageously frightening and catastrophic as a reader might expect. As the population of vacationers currently visiting the resort, (divided between three residences, ranging from high to low in the luxury of the experience offered) scramble to survive their dark and rapidly glaciating surroundings, Dan and Mara find themselves unwittingingly participating in what may be the strangest revolution to grace the pages of a literary novel. With savage chills redolent of Animal Farm, and an absurd grotesqueness deeply reminiscent of Kafka, our heros’ journey is like no other - guaranteed to intrigue, and captivate, right up to the unexpected (and totally satisfying) ending. Highly recommended, (and did I mention, funny?) this reader is looking forward to reading more from this new (and very talented) author. A great big thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loved it! Loved it!! Loved it!!!
MJ Wassermann hit it out of the park with his debut. The first thing I did when I finished reading it was to look and see if he had other books. It is a great speculative fiction read. The characters are well drawn. The pacing is spot on. It is incredibly funny and I didn’t see the ending coming, which is unusual for me. It was a page Turner. I spent all day the day after Christmas reading it and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. If you like TJ Klune you’ll LOVE this.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
It's TEOTWAWKI!
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this title to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own. The blurb for this book drew me right in. Dystopian? Check! A little romance? Check! Male narrator? Check! I was excited to see what it was all about. Plus the blurb was giving me Seeking a Friend for the End of the World movie vibes and I really enjoyed that film. I want to let the author know that I loved how he took his own experiences with work and sewed them into this book. I loved that he had that first hand knowledge and was able to use it to build his main character's personality. It made the character much more authentic and real. I was able to connect with this character so well as he was flawed in ways that were concrete and genuine. He wasn't a super hero and he knew it. He was straight forward about who he was and what he could do. But despite his flaws, he still put himself out there and tried his hardest to be better and do better. The other characters were developed well. I loved all the different personalities Wassmer wove into the book. It was really important to the theme he created. And he used so much humor in a situation that was quite dire. I definitely had laugh out loud moments. But the author was also able to create a lot of tension between the characters. And he demonstrated well how each character played off the others emotions and reactions. The theme of the sun exploding and the characters' world coming to an end gave the book a very tense feel. This is not the first book I've read these past months that has taken place on a secluded island. As a matter of fact, it's my fourth. The plot gave an almost Lord of the Flies quality to the book. A testament to what humans will do when put into a position where they must defend themselves and their lives against other humans. The book dug down to basic human needs. The pacing in this book was hard for me. If there was something I didn't like about the book it was that. This being Wassmer's first book I wasn't sure what to expect. Overall, he did a good job moving the book along. However, I did find it a bit slow. And while I liked the characters and the theme, I didn't feel an extreme pull to continuously have it in hand to see what would happen. It dragged a bit after the first 20% or so. I will say the last 25% really picked up and I tore through that much more quickly than the rest of the book. The twist was great. I did know there would be one somewhere. There had to be. But I wasn't sure how it would play out and I really loved where the author took it. Overall, this was a fun story and I'd love to read more from this author in the future.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loved this book!
This was a total cover purchase as I saw it at that big round table when you walk in. I was not disappointed. You will laugh and cry a little and inhale this book and immediately want more.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Original!
I liked this one! When I saw this title, I knew that I needed to get a closer look. I decided that it was worth a try pretty quickly. Imagine being on vacation at a tropical island resort when the sun decides to disappear from the sky. That is exactly what Dan, Mara, and the rest of the island’s visitors must contend with. I had a great time with this one and really appreciated the humor woven throughout the story. Dan is not always a nice guy. He just wanted to enjoy his vacation but he somehow becomes one of the people others look to after the sun goes away. I thought that his flaws made him seem a lot more realistic. It doesn’t take long before the wealthiest of the island’s current residents start hoarding resources and trying to keep the lower classes down. Dan bands together with a few friends to try to find a way to survive the end of the world. Stephen R. Thorne did a great job with the narration of this audiobook. I believe that this was the first time that I have had the opportunity to listen to this narrator’s work and I must say that I was impressed. He was able to heighten the humor of the story through his delivery and I thought that he added just the right amount of emotion to his reading. I liked the voices that he used for the various characters in the story which helped to bring the story to life. I am certain that his performance added to my overall enjoyment. I would recommend this book to others. I thought that the premise was really unique which was a big drawn and I appreciated the author’s sense of humor. I look forward to reading more of this author’s work in the future. I received a review copy of this book from Recorded Books, Inc. and Sourcebooks Landmark.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
5 Stars
I did not expect to like an apocalyptic end of the world satire book as much as I enjoyed this one! There were elements that were a little much, naturally, but I thought the story was certainly original and I really enjoyed the themes touched on in this book. I suggest going in completely blind and enjoying your time with this book. I found Dan to be quite obnoxious in an older brother way, where you just wanted to roll your eyes at some of his decisions but could totally see somebody making the same poor choices. I really enjoyed the side characters much more, especially Lenny. He was definitely a real one. The narrator did such a fantastic job of bringing each character to life. I thought this was a fun ride, and will likely be one I think about for a long time in the future. Highly recommend if you like thinking about what you would do if it was the end of the world as you know it, and you enjoy a little laugh along the way. Thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia for an advanced listening copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Kept me guessing!
This book kept me up past my bedtime for several nights because I absolutely had to see what would happen next! The characters are engaging and the observations of society and the way we treat each other are funny and surprisingly sweet. Loved it!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com