Stellar Catchphrase Forever

Waste of Space by Gina Damico

Favorite Quotes/Lines:

“Meanwhile, the middle of the New Mexican desert is witnessing an altogether different type of erection.”

“According to the laws of astrophysics, everyone has to shut the hell up.”

“KISS MY ASTRONAUT, BITCHAZ!”

“Emily Dickinson says that hope is the thing with feathers. But I think hope is the thing with a doorway.”

“Catchphrase forever!”

4 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes

This book took a little bit to sync with me but when it did, I couldn’t stop reading, it just kind of draws you into its orbit.  Gina Damico’s books are a must read for me because they are often bizarre but brilliant in a uniquely unexpected way.

The setup and style of the book reminded me a lot of Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (another awesome book that takes a look at tropes/satirizes the reality TV shows and politics of the world.)  

Throughout the book you know something really big/really bad happened. You just don’t know what exactly. This book very entertainingly shows you how they all got to this point and how this crazy reality stunt idea imploded. I know it’s a satire of reality shows/culture but parts of it do feel pretty darn believable especially in the world we live in today. I mean just look at the memes and catchphrases like “catchphrase forever” something like that could totally happen.  

These ten contestants check off all the reality show cliche boxes and are a blast to read about. The whole casting process is insane I mean just look at Matt and Kaoru and how everyone is cast one way or another. Nico and Bacardi are my favorite personality wise and because of how the book ends.

Their adventures aboard the Laika ship make for really great reality TV. Plus you will be kept guessing about what’s real and what exactly is happening. Just when you think nothing Science Fiction-y is going to happen then WAM you’re in for quite the intriguing surprise.

The ending is stupendous and will make you wonder what would happen to these characters and their futures.

Magic, murder, mayhem = this book has it all

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

* Book read via the publisher for review.

4 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes

This book is one heck of a great fractured fairy tale. I can see the tagline for the hopefully future movie now, “Not your Mama’s Wizard of Oz.” I loved this book but I highly recommend reading the prequel first so you can ease yourself into this crazy world.

I like the Wizard of Oz movie but I loved the books by L. Frank Baum about Ozma and all the other characters in Oz (I don’t think I’ve read all of them but it has been a while.) If you too read the old Oz books about Oz like then you’ll definitely figure out one of the twists. This author is a master at mixing characters from the Oz books and movie and twisting everything into something new.

In this Oz don’t be surprised by the f-bombs getting dropped and other assorted curse words, it’s a much darker place but it’s also intriguing to see how much everything has changed. Also, beware if you are prone to getting very attached to all the characters in the story.

Amy’s story starts off showing how her life isn’t exactly easy and how she gets to Oz is fitting to the original story. She’s a strong character who needs to get even stronger if she’s going to survive in this warped version of Oz. Amy is quick at making friends and enemies and you can’t help but hope for the best for her.

Through the story you’ll have no doubt that Dorothy does indeed need to die. Dorothy is one evil witchy woman. She’s not the only witch out there though which makes things extremely interesting.

Be prepared to look at Good and Wicked in a new way in this book that’s kind of like what I imagine would happen if The Wizard of Oz and Kill Bill had a baby. I’m looking forward to whatever happens next.