Monday, November 25, 2024

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend 
by M. J. Wassmer 
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2024. 371 pages. Fiction 

Professional underachiever Dan Foster is finally taking a vacation. Sure, his life has been average at best and, yeah, he has never quite lived up to his potential. But after a few Miller Lites in paradise with his girlfriend Mara, things are starting to look up. 

 Then the sun explodes. 

With the island suddenly plunged in darkness (and Mara pestering him for not springing for the up-charged travel insurance), Dan's holiday takes a surprising turn when the elite guests install themselves as the new ruling class. As temperatures drop and tensions rise, revolution begins to brew on the island, and Dan accidentally becomes a beacon of hope for the surviving vacationers. But when one six-person plane is discovered that could send them back to the mainland, Dan realizes he has a choice to make. Does he find a way to escape the island with Mara? Or does he stay and fight to become the most unlikely hero of the end of the world? 

 A cursory glance at the cover might have you thinking Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend is a romcom, but don’t miss those balls of flame flying from the sky. This satirical, dystopian story will have you chuckling from the first pages, even as it delivers clever social commentary. You’ll recognize elements of real-life personalities in the diverse cast of characters, even in their exaggerated form. In spite of a plot twist you’ll perhaps see coming, readers of many genres – humor, apocalyptic, survivalist, contemporary, and satire – are likely to enjoy M.J. Wassmer’s unique and entertaining debut. 

If you like Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend, you might also like: 

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Chronicles the off-beat and occasionally extraterrestrial journeys, notions, and acquaintances of galactic traveler Arthur Dent.



Yellowface
by R.F. Kuang
William Morrow, 2023. 323 pages. Fiction

After the death of her literary rival in a freak accident, author June Hayward steals her just-finished masterpiece, sending it to her agent as her own work, but as emerging evidence threatens her success, she discovers just how far she'll go to keep what she thinks she deserves.




SGR

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