General Humorous Fiction

I got myself in a little bit of a pickle. I couldn’t remember if I’d promised a review here on See Sadie Read or a promo over on Sadie’s Spotlight of One Dark and Froggy Night, by Jade Greenberg. So, I opted to do both, just in case. You can find more book and author information over on Sadie’s Spotlight.

Danny made the mistake of crossing the wrong witch. Now he’s a warty amphibian. At least until he learns his lesson.

When my witch ex turned me into a frog, I was pissed. But it didn’t take long for me to realize how good I got it. Life as a magic frog is figata, baby. Close to perfecto. But it has its downfalls. One formerly very big downfall to be exact.

Now the King of Atlantis is granting wishes to anyone who can help him find a lost mermaid fairy princess.

A magic wish is just what I need to live the perfect magic froggy life. All I got to do is find her.

If I was a mermaid and wanted to go missing, I’d go somewhere no one would expect to find me. Like the sky. No one would think to look there for a fish. But I’m a frog. How would I get to the sky?

This one’s a corundum, but I’m going to figure it out.

I thought I had it good before, but now that I know the impossible is possible, I got a plan. A big one. If you know what I mean.

This is a truly odd book to review. Danny is both intensely unlikable, and adorably himbo at the same time. He is dumb as a box of rocks, but also not the most off the wall aspect of the story. Plus, for all his faults, he is actively becoming a better person before the readers eyes.

I think, for me, I have to admit though, that even if being ridiculous is the story’s purpose—it is literally the book’s shtick—it was just too much for me. I appreciate the nods to mysticism, mythology, and machismo. But it wasn’t quite the sort of humor I most appreciate. That, however, is wholly subjective and the right reader will likely find this uproariously funny.

Other Reviews:

I accepted a review copy of Chris Towndrow‘s Tow Away Zone from Rachel’s Random Resources.

When a travelling salesman with monochromatic vision finds a town that’s not on the map, he must choose between romance and a long-held promise of untold riches.

Beckman Spiers is a grey man in a grey world—and he’s happy with that. After 12 years of routine and grind, he’s again fighting to become Number One Salesman of the Year. Legend has it, Number Ones get so rich, they never work again. With a week to go, Beckman is gaining on his nemesis, smooth-talking Tyler Quittle. When a chance blowout on a deserted Arizona highway leaves Beckman stranded, the mysterious Saul arrives, and tows him to the strange neon-lit town of Sunrise. Here, he meets the glamorous Lolita Milan and his fortunes change. Yet, Sunrise’s small-town charms conceal secrets, and his world becomes one of private investigators and backstabbing business deals. What will he have to do to reach Number One? And what will he do if he wins the race?

I thought this was a fun read with quirky, likeable characters that kept me interested. While the writing was perfectly readable and well edited, it did occasionally slant a little too far toward trying so hard to be witty that it fell flat instead. Such as the times it read like this, for example:

Mercifully, before long, a shape rose from the heat haze. A stationary shape. A building-shaped shape. A gas station-shaped building shape. (pg 15)

Yeah, this is my *blank, un-amused stare.* I see what the author is doing there, but can we not? Similarly, I occasionally didn’t understand what the characters were actually trying to relay in some of their verbal byplay.

But more often than any of that, I chuckled along with the what on earth is going to happen next-ness of the book, appreciated how things wrapped back around on themselves, and I’d happily read another.