Review: Always Greener (The General Buzz Book 1)

Author: J.R.H. Lawless

Started reading: December 24th 2020

Finished the book: DNF

Pages: 263

Genres: Science Fiction

Published: February 18th 2020

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads score: 3.44

My score:

Synopsis

Life's biggest victim, please step up and claim your prize!

A smash-hit reality show is offering a lifetime of luxury to the one person living the world’s worst life, and now everyone is out to prove just how bad they’ve got it. Want in? All you’ve got to do is accept ocular implants that let the whole world see life through your eyes, twenty-four hour a day, seven days a week.Fortunately, there’s still one person who hasn’t lost faith in all humanity. The show’s ever-smiling host is determined to wring some tiny bit of meaning out of this twisted competition and your unhappy existence.
There has to be a purpose behind all this misery, doesn’t there?

My thoughts

This book sounded so good when I bumped into it on Netgalley. I was really curious and eager to read it, and when the moment was finally there, I felt very let down. I didn't understand much of what was going on, didn't find it funny at the least and just overall couldn't wait to DNF it... Really sorry.

Pros

• Unique concept: The plot made me so curious and it would've been such a good book, if executed better. It's really something unique that I haven't come across and I think that the story is original in the sci-fi genre.

Cons

• Funny?: I don't like funny books that try so hard to be funny. There are footnotes in this book that just bothered me and didn't add anything to the story, in my opinion. I already started ignoring them after chapter 3, because there were so many of them and they just distracted me. How can I get into the story with a footnote every page?
• Confusing: The big problem with this book, for me, was that I had NO idea what was going on. The AR-stuff in this book was really unclear and I couldn't picture anything that was happening in this book. There were multiple pages that I had to re-read, just to understand what was going on.

Overall

Just not my book. If it takes too much work to read something, it's not fun and relaxing for me anymore. I did see a lot of people on Goodreads that DID enjoy it, so maybe this will be a book for you. Sadly I had to DNF this book. I felt actually kind of relieved that I could put the book away. That's when you know a book really wasn't for you.

Other opinions on this book

"A stinging science fiction satire that takes the downside of modern living to their hilarious and horrifying conclusion."

- Foreword Reviews

"A cultured, witty and very British attack on vapid reality TV values, set in an empty-souled tomorrow."

- Kirkus Reviews

Thanks for reading!

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