Book Review: "Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend" by MJ Wassmer

It was going to be the perfect vacation for Dan and his girlfriend Mara: a newly opened resort on a remote island in the Bahamas. For the first few days it really does feel like paradise. And then the sun explodes.

The resort guests panic. They have no phone or internet access to see how their families back home are—and they can’t reach the airlines to try and get out of there, not that they know whether planes would still be able to fly. Plus, there’s the fact that without the sun, the temperatures will start to drop.

When the wealthiest resort guests stage a coup, anger erupts along with the panic and paranoia. The leader of the coup, the head of a fitness pyramid scheme, pretends to be folksy and faith-based, but she’s actually a dangerous threat. Supplies start to be rationed and tensions between classes intensify.

Dan has been content to let life go by, although he always wanted to make a difference. Somehow he is pressed into duty to fight for the non-wealthy guests, and although he’s a bit of a bumbler, as things get crazier, he starts to relish his role as hero. But what will that mean for him and Mara?

I thought this was a terrific concept and parts of the book are hysterically funny. But as things went further and further off the rails, the story went way over the top, and I found myself not caring that much.

Book Review: "Now Is Not the Time to Panic" by Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson's latest novel is an absolutely excellent book about friendship, growing up, finding your place in this world, and the effect of art.

“How did you prevent your life from turning into something so boring that no one wanted to know about it?”

Frankie is 16. She’s a loner, growing up in Coalfield, Tennessee, ready to face another long, boring summer. She wants to be a writer but she doesn’t know if she’s any good.

One day she meets Zeke, who has moved to Coalfield to stay with his grandmother, hopefully just for the summer. Frankie and Zeke connect quickly and are determined to do something with impact this summer. They decide to create a piece of art that will get people’s attention but one that no one will know was created by them.

In a burst of inspiration, Frankie comes up with the phrase “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.” Zeke creates a drawing to accompany the phrase, and they create posters that they put up all over town. The posters create a sensation—no one knows what they mean or who is responsible, but they touch off a frenzy of imitators and panic throughout Coalfield, which leads to tragedy.

Twenty years later, Frances gets a call from a reporter who wants to write about the Coalfield Panic and believes she was behind the posters. This is a secret she's kept all of this time. Does she reveal the truth? What will happen if she does?

I thought this was absolutely fantastic, poignant and thought-provoking. I’ll read anything that Wilson writes!!