You’re welcome to your opinion, I hope everyone has their own and not someone else’s. This was a book that drew my interest quickly and lost it almost as fast, because current day politics have to be rammed into everything.
I started this as a 2 star, but the more I wrote the more I realized it has to be 1.
This feels like an abuse of goodwill and fandom. It’s clearly trying to parallel current ideology through Dungeon Crawler Carl (DCC), using that mass fandom to turn a story into a sermon. These are temporary stories that only survive in the time they were written. Not a look to the future, not a solution. Just complaining without action, trying to pull an existing fanbase into a worldview that’ll look completely different in 10 years.
If this was meant as a current-day retelling through Matt’s eyes, say that in the description. Be honest.
DCC is excellent, easy 5 stars. Preachy at times, but focused on the story and the world it built. Operation Bounce House feels like it’s cashing in that goodwill to sell you an opinion. Shame, because Matt Dinniman is a brilliant author. His humor makes me genuinely laugh out loud when most writers barely get a chuckle out of me. I even agree with some of his views on billionaires. But I read fiction to escape the weight of the world, not carry more of it.
The book had me hook, line, and sinker until the sister showed up, and I was genuinely excited for that. Brother and sister duos with all the sibling back and forth is always a fun piece of any story when done right. Then we spend a solid 30 minutes on how she’s an OnlyFans model and that’s okay and nobody understands. Funny enough, the people who loved this book describe that whole section as “the sister works as a cam-girl.” One sentence and they moved on. Matt couldn’t.
Fine point made, but you keep hammering it until the nail’s on the ground and the board is split in half. That heavy-handed this early, I’m out.