The White Lotus meets Kevin Wilson was a perfect description of this book. Kevin Wilson is one of the few white guys on my short auto-buy list so I had to give this book a try. It didn’t disappoint. Funny, heartfelt, fast paced, and a little twisty, it will have you rooting for the Dan the average dude.

A thought provoking and fun read! Fans of dystopian or end of the world novels will like this book.

The main character, Dan, was super likeable! The way Dan reacted and how he dealt. with the events going on felt very believable. At times I felt like I was in the Bahamas with them!

Love to see a solid debut novel! Narrator was also good!

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for this advanced audio copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Loved it. My teenager and I listened to this audiobook together and we couldn't stop laughing. It was highly entertaining. I loved the whole concept of this book, and although we sort of figured it out a little over half way, we still really really enjoyed the book. It was very entertaining, and we couldn't stop listening! Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a satirical end of the world storytelling. I am looking forward to more M.J. Wassmer books for sure!

Dan and his girlfriend, Mara, are enjoying the second day of their all inclusive island vacation when the sun explodes. With the resort plunged into darkness, tensions quickly rise when the elite guests decide to take charge, rationing food and electricity to everyone else. Dan, who just wants to keep Mara & himself safe, soon becomes the unwitting voice of the disgruntled lower class. Dan must decide to protect his own or to become an unlikely hero of the apocalypse.

This book was so much fun! Dan’s humorous commentary felt all too relatable. There was an interesting cast of characters, and a plot that kept you guessing.

All and all this was an incredible debut novel, and I look forward to reading what M.J. Wassmer creates next!

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

Book: Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend
Author: MJ Wassmer
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Stephen R. Throne
Publisher: RM Media
Genre: Apocalyptic, Sci Fi with a bit of Humor
Audiobook Pub Date: August 6, 2024
Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: 384

There is no doubt This TITLE ‘had me” Plus the promise of Humor!
Twenty-nine year old, San Foster is finally taking a vacation with his girl-friend of two years. Dan was describes as a near genus when he was sever years-old. He is now described as average but never lived up to his potential.
Only this dream vacation in paradise is now a nightmare as the island resort suddenly plunged into darkness. They are trapped after the sun appears to have exploded.
Hmmm it appears ones sense of humor might be a bit generational.
The narrator was okay – actually couldn’t decide if it was his performance of the characters or if the main characters just wasn’t all that likeable.

In any case, I was disappointed but I am sure there are readers who will love this!

Want to thank NetGalley and RBMedia for this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for August 6, 2024.

This was....bizarre?

But I enjoyed it?

I honestly can't make much sense other than this was a fun ride and I enjoyed it from start to finish.

vacation checklist: pack swim trunks. apply sunscreen. survive the apocalypse? ☄️ I requested zero stars, do not recommend on a whim & I think I just found one of my new favorite books of 2024!

heading into this one with zero expectations (HAH), I was beyond impressed with this DEBUT by mj wassmer! this was a whip-smart social satire about a man who finds himself trapped on an all inclusive island resort after the sun explodes, and suddenly must choose whether to save himself from the chaos, or help the fellow guests make it off the island alive ✨

you’ve got action, drama and a fantastic cast of characters! SO many times I found myself laughing out loud from the one-liners and top tier humor. I was here for the simon cowell cameo & slander about classifying yourself as a life coach, ptsd from my ex’s mom, don’t get me started.

I did see the ending coming but watching the story unfold, almost like the sky, was a delight. five exploding stars, I DO recommend 🌌

You know how in movies ordinary people can suddenly do extraordinary things in the face of doom? Well, this is the story of an ordinary man (Dan) who continues to be ordinary (and sarcastic to a fault) during the end of the world. He doesn’t become Superman when the sun explodes. He continues to be weighed down by self doubt and negative inner self talk. He second guesses every plan that materializes and constantly nags at himself for not being “man enough”.

Mara is his wonderful counterpart. She’s beautiful, has a heart of gold, and sees the good in each person. She also has a great sense of humor and is down-to-earth.

I loved how much I hated the MLM boss babe leader and her preacher husband. They were the most wonderful hateable couple. Plus so more well written characters!

All these people are in the Bahamas enjoying the grand opening of a new remote island resort when they witness the sun exploding and are plunged into an eternal darkness. There’s no way to communicate outside the island and their only hope is to find a way to leave the island by plane to see if survival is more likely back in the US with more resources.

This was an AMAZING debut! It starts with a BOOM (literally) and quickly moves along making it easy to consume the whole book in a matter of hours. The whole apocalyptic island world that was created was cohesive. Everything comes together with a satisfactory ending.

Audiobook: the narrator did a great job! Each character had a distinct voice that fit their personality and background. This is one of those books that think I enjoyed even more as audio because it felt like I was watching a movie as I listened.

My favorite quote: “If you are good then the world is good”.

Thank you NetGalley and RBMedia for this audio ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Pub Date Aug 06 2024

white lotus had an under current of chaotic energy from the start which built up so much tension over the time of the vacation before everything that actually could go wrong, went wrong. everyone who enjoy the summer and having fun for a short while before it all went very south but this novel did not have that. I think I'd would have appreciated the effects of the sun exploding if I had read more about how much fun everyone on the island was having before that nightmare happened.

This book was dark and funny at the same time but maybe that’s what you would expect if the sun exploded. I enjoyed the characters and felt the narrator did a great job with all of the voices of the characters. I was gripped from the beginning all the way to the end. Thank you Net Galley and RB Media for the advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my feedback.

This book really pulled me in with the title, the blurb and the cover but I was really disappointed. The premise had such potential but wasn't executed well. It's all quite pretentious and very saying rather than doing. It took a while for the story to pick up and none of the characters were particularly likeable.
None of this is aided by the narrator of the audiobook. His voice is better suited to reading an encyclopedia, it was so monotonous that I found myself really struggling to take in what he was saying. I think had I just read it for myself I maybe would have given it at least an extra star but the audiobook is a definitely 1 star.

I won't be sharing this review publicly as I do not like to give negative reviews on a public platform.

This book was quick-paced and an entertaining read that felt a little like an adult version of "lord of the Flies' - but with more humour and wit. Dan and Mara and a cast of characters are trapped at an island resort after the sun explodes and it takes less than 24 hours for class wars to break out. The tensions between building A, where the wealthy are located, and buildings B and C are real and the fight for resources and coping with the cooling weather cause a rapid decline in behaviours and alliances. There is a lovely assortment of characters and some serious topics are covered. I found the book engaging through to the end. It also made me a little bit leery and my next vacation will have a different feeling. :)

'Stephen R, Thorne does a great job of narration. His tone and pacing was engaging and made it easy to listen to, and his character differentiation was excellent.

'But then there was this soft low rumble, a flicker, and the sun exploded. It was upsetting.'

'And after a few coconut rum and pineapple juices Dan started tipping Julio two singles per drink because - What the hell! - and he kind of felt like Oprah.'

'That was one thing they didn't touch on in post apocalyptic movies - human beings turned rank in a matter of days. We don't keep well.'

'Dan rolled his head and sniffed real loud. Tough guys always sniffed real loud before a fight.'

'What happened on Tizoc wouldn't stick to Lilly Anna like it was going to stick with Dan. At a certain tax bracket trauma is deductible.'

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

(quote punctuation is my best guess as the book was in audio format)

I liked this even more than I thought I would. What a delightful apocalypse adjacent read. The narration was also good, the voices were really well done. I went in a little blind but wasnt able to guess the plot. This was funny, entertaining, intestine and made you think about what you would do in that situation. Five stars, do recommend.

A dark, funny (potential) apocalypse tale set on a remote Caribbean island. Such a unique read, but I don’t think the White Lotus comparisons are entirely warranted (though this would make a killer limited series!) and the cover is a bit too rom com-y, but it’s so good.

There are certain books that push boundaries not to necessarily test the limits of a genre but to act as as a transitional key for readers of one type of story to test the waters to see if they might be interested in expanding their reading go-to list. This is the seat I feel "Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend" fills. For better or worse, these types of stories seem to be the most susceptible to the 'you either adore it or you hate it' reaction set. I can easily see why this will be a lot of people's joy ride. Personally it feel short.

While I believe my reactions and assessment aren't severely impacted by some personal failures, there is no doubt that it did make me a little less receptive to things I might let breeze over otherwise. So, in the interest of full disclosure I'm making note before review.

First, I thought it would be a brilliant pick up after I had just finished a very traumatic and intense read. That's usually when I'm most receptive to humorous tales that more often miss than hit with me. Except instead of setting this up for a more favorable intro, for the first time I think it did the book a disservice as I think my brain had to sit longer with the previous read. I had the best of intentions.

The second I have no excuse for. I skim read the pitch. I've grown accustomed to this as too many descriptions these days give away more of the plot than I enjoy. in this case, I somehow thought I was going into a heavier sci-fi setting. Going into a book and not getting what you were expecting can be great, or just set you up to being a little grumpy.

On the positive side, there were many very quirky moments and snappy witticisms. Lighthearted banter and pop culture/generational references are a choice and for my demographic I can see them working very well. i appreciated the various backgrounds of the characters and there were some I gravitated to. This will also be a great book for people who are getting a little tired of the weight that comes with disaster-survival but still like the concept.

The problems start with me when it comes to the overall humorous tone. if you're going to make something like this work for my personal tastes, you're probably going to have to take all of it to over the top. Make the world entirely bonkers. I think the author was trying to tap into the the hitchhikers vibe of sardonic in middle of the whimsical. But by playing a middle ground it never really lands for me. in fact, you start to feel just as frustrated with the main character as his partner does.

The problem is that the author does address the source of this character's attitude, it is called out, and there is a very touching couple of conversations that i absolutely did love when it came to the primary romantic relationship. I do love the set up of someone stuck because they didn't slip into the slots that they presumed they were groomed for growing up. All of this would have been great... except for the other residents.

The ring leaders that come to play at this hotel are such over the top caricatures of how a certain type of people are in our current political and business world that it just felt like we're going to shove all the negative personality traits culturally associated with X and try to sound like we're calling out this sort of behavior'. It didn't want to lean into the humor or make it more literary, but it ends up feeling like a punchline before you have the joke.

Then you have the action, the mystery, and to be frank I didn't catch the actual twist, but I came in close enough, very early on. Between that and this initial timeline set up, I confess I kept listening thinking: okay just get to it now! Stir in that one of the bigger twists is half way through the book...needless to say it dragged for me. I can understand there was still story to execute after that, but it just felt drawn out.

Despite all of this, when it was being more heart felt, I did enjoy it. It wasn't a bad read at all. It just didn't bring me as much amusement or giggles as I think it intended. I will say that I think it would be perfect for fantasy or humor fans who are curious about say, romance or scifi. i think it just suffers from a little bit of a crisis of intent.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ALC. Dan and his girlfriend Mara are on the vacation of a lifetime when the sun explodes, plunging the newly opened resort into darkness. White Lotus x Lord of the Flies is a perfect description of this book. Recommended for fans of Alissa Nutting's
Made for Love or Liane Moriarty's Nine Perfect Strangers.

It's the grand opening of a beautiful new hotel complex in the Bahamas. Dan and his girlfriend, Mara, are having a great time. Then the sun explodes. On the dark and increasingly cold island, the guests scramble to figure out what happened and what's next. This dark comedy pokes fun at our worst human traits. It's a physical and psychological adventure for the guests and staff, and a fun read or listen. I can't say more without spoiling it, but think of popular shows at fancy resorts and books about people stranded on an island. Now add a ladle of humor and a dollop of the absurd.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, the audiobook producer, and #NetGalley. Four stars for #zeroStarsDoNotRecommend. Recommended escapist reading that can't help but make you think about what one might do in a similar situation.

I really Enjoyed this book, thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the audiobook.

This book had great plot and charter development. I enjoyed the pacing and thought the book was unique.

Given that this was the first time I have read this author this book is one of my top reads of the year.

Apocalypse meet the Truman show.

Zero Stars Do Not Recommend was witty and clever, depicting what can happen when a self serving few put their desires before the good of others.

A laugh out loud, lighthearted, tale with an unexpected turn of events.

Wassmer’s main character was relatable and fun - like spending time with a sarcastic friend.

After an early copy thanks to NetGalley, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an enjoyable read.

I liked this one! It was funny literally laugh out loud funny. The whole concept was original and great. Some of the characters were a bit over the top but that made it all the more funny. I did see the twist coming which always bugs me but it was done well.