Waste of Space - Gina Damico

I received a copy from Netgalley.

This is the second book I’ve read recently with a satirical tone which seems to be poking fun at the absurdity of “reality” TV.  In this reader’s opinion, this is the better book. It’s funnier, and there are an abundance of characters who needed to be punched on lots of different occasions, but it is utterly gripping.

The premise of this one is pretty straight forward as explained in the synopsis. Ten random kids thrown together on what they think is a spaceship, and sent into space. Which is really a big ass soundstage in the Californian desert somewhere with a host of spectacular special effects, built by a team of scientists. Lead by an executive producer who’s a gigantic moron but clearly thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread.  

The casting is the worst type of stereotyping, and personalities will almost clearly clash, with maybe two or three characters who were actually likeable. It’s impossible to recap much without being spoilery.

Of course with this sort of premise, it’s not long before things go hideously wrong. There is a slightly snarky tone to most of it, it’s told in a series of reports and interviews and such of what happened after it all went down. Nothing is as it seems, behind the scenes things unravel fantastically, and the viewing public are utterly fascinated. It’s the type of terrible TV show that you find yourself unable to stop watching no matter how obviously fake it is and how obviously bad it is.

I did find some of the characters to be really surprising, showing a really surprising side to themselves. There were a fair number of them who were idiots. There was also some great twists to the plot as well.  Nothing too deep. It was quite silly in parts, and quite funny. Very entertaining.

Thank you Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group for approving my request to view the title.

I really loved this novel! It reminded me of a Saturday afternoon movie, the ones where you laughed at the characters as you couldn’t believe what you were witnessing and then, the drama and the mystery that was occurring to them held you in a trance, you couldn’t break away at least not until a commercial popped up on the screen. That’s exactly how this novel felt for me, it was humorous, I was laughing out loud continuously throughout this whole novel. It seemed bizarre and unexplainable what they were doing, yet it could happen, of course, it really could happen in the world of sci-fi. The characters were making light of the situations that they were in, while deep inside, they were harboring their true feelings. And I, was savoring every moment that I was with them.

The town of Paraffin, this tiny, happy place on the map was noted for the Grosholtz Candle Factory. Locals thought the town had an odor. It wasn’t the smell of money that reeked through the air, although it could have been, as the factory was the town’s moneymaker but it was factory, it emitted an odor. Poppy was tired of the stench, she was tired of the bus loads of individuals arriving daily to embark upon the factory and she was tired of the locals reminding her of her awful performance in the Sound of Music. Poppy just wanted to be a performer, she wanted to enjoy high school and she wished Blake would leave her alone. Blake was up to his old tricks when he used a wax image of Poppy and now Poppy and her best friend Jill were on a mission to retaliate. Poppy snuck into an “employee only” hallway at the Grosholtz Candle Factory while the girls tried to find the information that they needed. Poppy didn’t expect to find Madam Grosholtz behind the door. Surrounded by her creations, Madam was currently working on a Viking, a Viking that created quite a stir in Poppy. The imagery is wonderful, as Poppy and Madam converse and there is an immediate connection. Madam wants to protect Poppy for she feels danger is looming but Poppy feels she has no need for such protection. Madam talks about the artistic and groundbreaking work that she has been doing down in this room and Poppy asks her why she is in the basement. It’s a turn of events as Poppy starts to feel uncomfortable and she suddenly feels that she must leave. A mysterious edge has taken to the novel. Poppy is relieved to arrive home but gets a huge surprise that changes the course of everything when she meets Dud. I loved Dud, he was great, and he brought plenty of smiles to my face. I was drawn through this novel as Poppy has her hands full. It was a fun read.

This review is also available on my blog, Bows & Bullets Reviews

Max Kilgore is a geeky goodie-two-shoes and he likes it that way. His idea of fun is trying to beat his previous crossword record and spending Friday nights with his mom mocking romantic comedies. That’s all going fine until he accidentally releases a devil (one of 666 apparently) and is forced into finding him shelter and bringing him food. He enlists Lore, a girl with a reputation as a satanist, to help rid him of his unwanted houseguest before things get really ugly. Can they rise to the task, or will they all burn will Burg (the devil) laughs about it?

I loved this novel almost immediately. Max is such a goodie-goodie that I cannot fathom him doing anything wrong. And then he does something bad and his reaction is even better than I could have imagined. He’s also pretty sweet. Really, Max reminds me just a little of my husband. He has that nerdy exterior which hides an even nerdier interior and he’s so unbelievably sweet that you can’t help but root for him. I mean seriously, this boy is sacrificing every thing to try and keep his mom happy. The mom who is on a never ending waiting list for a heart transplant. The mom who will die if she doesn’t get one. Instead of trying to having a normal teenage social life, Max toils away his time at a local convenience store trying to make enough money to pay all the bills. Instead of spending Friday nights with his best friend, he buys a large pizza and rents an over the top cheesy rom-com, opting to stay in and spend this precious time with his mom. After releasing the devil, his reactions are beyond comical.

That’s what I was really looking forward to with this, the comedy. Gina Damico is famous for her dark humor and this doesn’t disappoint. With every new chapter awaited new jokes and situations that make me laugh out loud. With every outrageous request Burg made or action he took, I was rolling on the floor laugh, happy that I was listening to this on audio because it allow such actions to occur while I continued the novel. Just like Croak, this reminds me a great deal of Dead Like Me. The humor is right on that line.

Something else I loved about this was the lack of a love triangle. This has the perfect set up for that. Max’s best friend is a girl named Audi (I’m sorry if this is not the proper spelling, I listened to this on audio) and that leaves great opportunity for Max to pine over her while she happily spends time with her boyfriend. That did not happen. It’s made very clear from the beginning that they have never had a romantic inclination towards each other. They even kissed once and the results were not good. Instead, Aud is happy with her boyfriend and Max is happy for her. It was a very enjoyable arrangement for all involved, including me. Then, you know, you meet Lore, and it’s obvious she’ll be his love interest anyway. Her sarcasm is something I loved immediately. She’s smart and snarky and clearly hiding a tragic past.

The only character I was questionable on was Burg. One minute he was evil and the next he didn’t seem so bad. I was never quite sure how the relationship with him would end up. There were moments when I thought that maybe he wouldn’t be the bad guy. I won’t spoil whether or not he is. I’ll let you see that for yourself! It’s only real downfall is that the ending wasn’t as perfect as I wanted it to be. The ending is not the picture perfect moment I was wishing for. It does end happily for our main characters, but there are….casualties.

This novel is pretty straight-forward on what you’ll get. It is hilarious fluff about a boy who accidentally sets free a devil. Chaos and hilarity ensue and it’s great. If you are looking for a deeply moving book, this isn’t the one for you. If you are looking for something that makes you laugh so hard you cry, then look no further!

Audio Notes:
Macleod Andrews is a narrating god, I’m just saying. I enjoyed him when I listened to Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry and I was interested in hearing him do something else. I was not disappointed. First off, boy has an epic name. MacLeod? Dude, I don’t know who your parents are, but they are awesome. Plus, he has a pretty great voice and amazing control over it. I’m always fascinated by people’s ability to change their voices because I cannot do that. My voice is my voice is my voice. I can’t make it sound any other way. But MacLeod can and I love him for it. You know what’s cooler than reading about a character startled shriek? Hearing a narrator’s startled shriek! I have nothing but good things to say about him. He has a great voice, perfect pace, and enough talent to make every character voice sound different. Seeing his name attached to any audiobook will have me dying to read it, even if it’s outside my normal reading comfort zone. He’s that good!

****Thank you to Esther Bochner at Audible for providing me with an audio copy in exchange for an honest review****

seriously dark book

the ending itself is hilarious though

Sympatyczna, lekka literatura młodzieżowa.

Jak to na literaturę młodzieżową przystało, bohaterką jest nastolatka, Lex. Lex ma kochających rodziców, siostrę bliźniaczkę i… skłonność do agresywnych zachowań. Po rozmowie z dyrektorem szkoły zrozpaczeni rodzice postanawiają wysłać rozbrykaną latorośl na wakacje do wujka (swoją drogą, nieco dziwny pomysł na resocjalizację). Wujaszek Mort mieszka na wsi, co niespecjalnie zachwyca Lex. Dziewczyna nie wyobraża sobie też rozstania z siostrą. Nie ma jednak wyboru. Wkrótce okazuje się, że psychopatyczny krewny nie jest prawdziwym farmerem. Zamiast tego para się… przeprowadzaniem dusz zmarłych na drugą stronę. W dodatku uważa, że Lex również ma do tego dar.

Powieść robi bardzo dobre pierwsze wrażenie, a to za sprawą finezji autorki w kreowaniu Zgonu (rozumianego jako wioska) oraz całego biznesu żniwiarskiego. Wszystko ma tu swoje wytłumaczenie i swoje miejsce. Trio Damico, Repeczko & Repeczko (czyli autorka i tłumacze) nieźle sobie pofolgowało w wymyślaniu nazw własnych. Kwiaciarnia, sklep spożywczy, aleje, drogi – wszystko ma tu nazwę związaną z przejściem na tamten świat. Autorka świetnie poradziła sobie również z oddemonizowaniem śmierci i roli Lex oraz jej – nie bójmy się tego słowa, to robota jak każda inna – współpracowników. Całość jest tak makabrycznie urocza (nie czepiajcie się, to naprawdę dobre określenie), że nie sposób nie zadurzyć się w Zgonie i jego trupio-optymistycznym klimacie.

Szkoda, że wyobraźnia autorki wyraźnie kuleje, jeśli chodzi o fabułę. W tak ciekawym fikcyjnym miejscu akcji Damico nie udało się poprowadzić wciągającej historii. Lex zachowuje się jak typowa nastolatka, która przechodzi okres buntu (nooo, może u niej przebiega to nieco bardziej widocznie i szkodliwie dla otoczenia ;)) i przeżywa nastoletnie zauroczenie. Nie byłoby to nawet takie straszne, bo w końcu wiek nastoletni ma swoje prawa, ale czasem miałam wrażenie, że autorka marnuje objętość książki na coś, co równie dobrze mogło zdarzyć się w Radomiu, Dziwnówku czy Starych Kiejkutach. Natomiast samo szkolenie Lex i jej późniejsze przygody nieco kojarzyły mi się z Harrym Potterem i Hogwartem. Nie muszę chyba dodawać, że losy chłopca z blizną były znacznie (ZNACZNIE) bardziej wciągające.

Książkę oceniłabym na 5 w skali dziesięciostopniowej. Jest to świetna, niewymagająca literatura wakacyjna, ale nawet w tej kategorii daleko jej do arcydzieła. Nie ukrywam jednak, że po „Płomień” (czyli kontynuację) sięgnę na pewno. Końcówka „Zgonu” była dość mroczna, więc liczę na to, że autorka będzie się starała iść w tę stronę, nie kładąc już takiego nacisku na relacje kilkunastoletnich bohaterów. Pozwalam jej jednak na trochę cukru w podziękowaniach, bo te w „Zgonie” były bardzo ciepłe i po prostu urzekające. :)