Buzz's Babbling Book Opinions- p1

Hi! Welcome to my unsolicited book opinions. I have a lot of them. I read 109 books in 2023 and 42 books so far this year, so it's safe to say there were a lot of good, and A LOT of bad. I refuse to dnf most books too because I just hate myself ig idk. I also read and usually enjoy books from across all genres.

I'm going to start with some books from 2023. I'm not gonna talk about all of them obviously, I may have no life but I don't have /that/ much free time.

I do try to avoid spoilers.

1. Daughter of the Pirate King- Tricia Levenseller.

⭐/5 stars.

"Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map―the key to a legendary treasure trove―seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

In Daughter of the Pirate King, author Tricia Levenseller blends action, adventure, romance, and a little bit of magic into a thrilling pirate tale."

I read this book for a book club I was in. Oh my god, I did NOT enjoy it. I thought most of the characters were genuinely so fcking insufferable. Alosa, our protagonist, was the most guilty of this. She spends so much time telling the reader how cool, and swag, and badass she is, but she doesn't actually do anything remotely interesting. Instead her character is very reliant in the fact that her daddy is the pirate king. Her paternal linage is practically drilled into the reader's brain. Like that's the title. We get it already. She doesn't come off as confident, just cocky. In addition to Alosa there is her "love" interest Riden. They must have failed chem101 with how little chemistry there was between them. It's actually impressive how a character more one dimensional that Alosa manages to exist. There's no depth to these characters, and they're hard to care about.

Not only is there a lack of characters, but there is a lack of action and adventure, despite what's advertised. I genuinely cannot remember any action that takes place in this book, expect for the initial fight that gets Alosa taken in the first place, but even that is vague at best. As for the adventure, tell me where it is right meow. For a fantasy book (and it is fantasy btw not just pirates), I expected so much more world building wise. Alas, all potential for a fantastical world was lost and the majority of the book takes place on a very boring ship.

Plot holes, plot holes, plot holes. I can't talk about this too much, as I stated before I am trying to avoid spoilers. What I will say is that characters jump of the ship and ended up on a deserted island despite previously being in the middle of the ocean. The events that follow are the most plot hole riddled infuriating part of the book.

As a final nail in the coffin, our dear author misunderstood show not tell, and instead told not shown. Once again the one dimensional characterization is victim number one. It's almost vomit inducing how bad this book is.

2. World Catcher- Casey Waldam.

⭐/5 stars.

"From the sun-drenched streets of Riverside, California to the chilling, unfathomable void of space, unfolds a tale of love, lost memories, interdimensional war, and the relentless search for identity.

Ben Kensi, a top high school basketball player, is haunted by dreams of a green-eyed girl wielding PSI powers. When tragedy strikes heartbreakingly close, he's cast into a realm beyond our galaxy. He soon finds himself aboard the flagship of a beleaguered human civilization from another dimension—the Alliance.

As he endures grueling training and stands on the precipice of war with the dreaded Acheron, pieces of Ben's obscured past collide with his reality. The mysterious green-eyed girl transitions from a figure in his dreams to a tangible link to a history rife with love, betrayal, and powerful PSI abilities.

Yet, with Earth's very survival at stake, revelations arise that shake the core of Ben's identity. Is he truly the savior foreseen to prevent interdimensional war, or is he just a pawn in a grander scheme? As destiny's crossroads near, Ben is forced to face the ghosts of his tormented past and determine his role in the looming cosmic conflict.

In "Worldcatcher", alliances waver, hidden truths surface, and the very fabric of reality becomes questionable. Dive into an epic interstellar journey where nothing is as it seems."

I got this book from a Goodreads giveaway, but it might have well been a mediocre wattpad story. It sure read like one. 

The characters are so one dimensional and I started skipping pages and felt like I wasn’t missing anything. On the other hand, I felt like things came out of nowhere. I would reread the pages and still feel confused. I would go back to the pages I skipped and still be confused. Somethings in this book severely lack explanation. On top of that, all the “twists” were so predictable.

It’s advertised as a “sci-fi romance.” Is the romance in the room with us rn? Like seriously. There isn’t anything remotely romantic in it. Is there a love interest/girlfriend (I think)? Sure. But they don’t even meet face to face until over halfway through the book. Even then there's no chemistry between them. It in unclear why they even like each other and their personalities are so flat (although that's not unique to just our lovebirds). There's not enough going on with the characters to care about them or want to root for them. 

As I stated earlier, I won the book from a giveaway. It was for kindle specifically. I always read digital books on dark mode. Huge mistake. The formatting was just wack. I really don't know what happened here I never experienced this with any other e-book. The font kept switching between gray and white. Sometimes it would be chapters, pages, paragraphs, or sometimes random words would be a different color. At one point it even changed mid word. Also, there were so many spelling and grammatical errors. Did no one edit or peer review this? For example, "thighs" was misspelled as "tights."

The plot itself had so much potential, but it fell flat so hard. Huge waste of my time and not worth it. Everything done in this book was done better elsewhere. 

3. Tender is the Night- F. Scott Fitzgerald.

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

"Set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character, Tender Is the Night is lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative."

I wanted to like this one. I really, really did. I do enjoy Fitzgerald, so I thought it was gonna breeze when I was assigned this for a book report. Because I spent so much time thinking about this book already, and no longer have my notes to reference, I'm going to keep this section short. I would rather not spend too much more time thinking about it, but it stood out to me while I was going through my books, so I think it's worth a mention. I did enjoy some parts of this book, but other parts I had to read the spark notes after I read the chapter. I actually reread a few chapters after the spark notes, but then it just got too time consuming reading every other chapter twice.

This book is a tragedy about couple Dick and Nichole Diver, although the first few chapters has a focus on Rosemary. The readers meet the couple through Rosemary's eyes, so the Divers are at first glamorized before the focus switches and the story unravels. This is interesting. It really is! It's just as I stated before, this book was so unclear and hard to understand. I would miss events completely or misunderstand them without the spark notes. 

Furthermore, many events in this book felt more like filler than plot, it was just people hanging out, talking, and drinking with only a couple of lines of real substance.

4. Looking Glass Sound- Catriona Ward.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

"Looking Glass Sound is the newest twisty psychological horror novel from Catriona Ward, the internationally bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial.

In a lonely cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of his childhood summer companions and the killer that stalked the small New England town. Of the body they found, and the horror of that discovery echoing down the decades. And of Sky, Wilder’s one-time best friend, who stole his unfinished memoir and turned it into a lurid bestselling novel, Looking Glass Sound.

But as Wilder writes, the lines between memory and fiction blur. He fears he’s losing his grip on reality when he finds notes hidden around the cottage written in Sky’s signature green ink.

Catriona Ward delivers another mind-bending and cleverly crafted tale about one man’s struggle to come to terms with the terrors of his past… before it’s too late."

My first Catriona Ward book, but definitely not my last. I also got this book from a giveaway (I enter a lot of giveaways- I definitely have a book hoarding problem).

Looking Glass Sound is a mind bending phycological horror/thriller. As soon as you think you get what's going on, Ward starts sprinkling more details in that continuously blur the lines of reality. Nothing in this book felt forced or absurd.

I don't know how to say too much without spoilers (clearly I love to complain more than praise), but this book is so well written and enjoyable. I highly recommend. If you read any book in this list make it this one. Expect the unexpected.

And for the final book of tonight's review:

5. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Novelization- Jeff Strand.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

"The government has swiftly dealt with many a crisis... But can it survive the diabolical ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES?

After a series of bizarre and increasingly horrific attacks from pulpy, red, seeded fruit, Mason Dixon finds himself leading a "crack" team of specialists to save the planet. But will they be quick enough to save everyone? To save you? You can't run! You can't swim!

There's nowhere to hide! THE KILLER TOMATOES ARE EVERYWHERE!"

I would rate this book a million stars if I could. It's truly gem. One of the greatest pieces of American literature and should be added to school curriculums everywhere.

The og Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 movie parody of low budget horrors. It's comical, campy, and wacky, and the 2023 book is no different. Strand successfully transcribes the nonsensical movie into written form, of course with some more embellishments. It's a spoof of a spoof. If you thought the movie was ridiculous, the novelization takes it to a whole new level. I actually found myself laughing out loud. Like who does that at a book of all things? Usually not me that's for sure. 

Also included is movie trivia. Did you know that the helicopter crash was real and not scripted? I didn't, not until I read this. In addiction to the trivia are stills from the movie. Less exciting, as I could just you know, watch the movie, but fun nonetheless. 

Anyways I highly recommend both book and movie. The movie may not be for everyone, as it's older and I've seen some reviews describe it as dull at some points, but the novel is so fun and easy to digest, dull would be the last word to describe it.

-buzz :)