#BookReview – Strungballs by Mike Russell

Strungballs by Mike Russell

This book by Mike Russell is another short story. It’s a great read for those who want a short, exciting read (and for those like me who didn’t want to commit to another Games of Thrones book right away…).

This book is weird, if I put it lightly. The thought of a strungball was not something I have ever dreamed up in my life, but Mike Russell somehow thought this up and created a story about it! It’s unique and enticing to me when someone can create such interesting thoughts, which is why I enjoyed this book.

Getting to see this unique and different world through out main character’s eyes was great! It’s kind of sci-fi/dystopian-esque, which would be great for readers who are interested in those topics! It’s such a utopia that it’s a dystopia…those books are always interesting!

The book is so precise, and so fantastical, it’s hard to explain it in my own wording without ruining it. This utopia, perfect world that is so perfect that it’s not is probably the best way I can word it. I love how Mike made this world so perfect, because it makes you feel uneasy and thrilled by each turn this short story takes.

Our main character seems to be the only person questioning or going against the true perfection in this novel. While this has been done a hundred times over, it’s very fitting in this novel. Normally I would be annoyed and disgusted by seeing this trend over and over, but I liked it here. Mike makes it fit just well enough that I’m not questioning it.

Like Mike’s other books, you will begin questioning reality and life itself. It raises so many thought provoking questions in such little space, but that’s why I found it to intriguing. I have to say this is definitely my favourite book by him and I want to come back to it at a later date to see if my feelings change on this novel or not.

Overall, this maddening book will drive you over the edge with peculiarity! It’s a great read!

Five out of five!

Quick Book Review: Jacob’s Odyssey by Russ Melrose

Photo via Goodreads.

Jacob’s Odyssey was an interesting zombie apocalypse novel.

I found this book to be well written, but the first half of the book left me rather bored. The main character, Jacob, does not speak to anyone for the first half of the novel. Without any conversation the novel seemed rather bland. It’s like watching someone play a video game of trying to survive the zombie apocalypse – it can be an interesting read, but it wasn’t something I enjoyed.

Jacob’s first contact with someone other than zombies is half way into the book, once I got there I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. The mixture of conversation and action worked perfectly well.

If anything, I think the author could work on putting more speaking roles in the beginning of a novel. Perhaps the sequel to this book will be different, but I was left feeling cheated. Half of the book was boring, always reading about how Jacob was moving around just trying to survive. The lack of conversation made it incredibly boring for me.

Overall, I did enjoy this novel. It is well written and is a good fiction read. Anyone who likes fantasy, supernatural or zombie apocalypse dystopias would enjoy this book.

Three out of five stars due to the first half of the novel.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.