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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
Discount Dan by James A. Hunter can best be described as visiting Willy Wonka’s factory on acid, only the walls aren’t made of chocolate and might just try to kill you.
I struggled at first to get a feel for the protagonist (Dan), as it took some time to get a sense of his character, other than being randomly dropped in a hellish haunted world there wasn’t a whole lot about who he is.
As I got past some of the intentionally creepy imagery, which thankfully was outlandish enough that I shouldn’t have nightmares (fingers crossed), the character became more relatable as he struggled to figure out how to survive in his strange new surroundings.
The ‘system’ interface that you see in many LitRPGs is somewhat unique and thankfully the author doesn’t throw in the 2-3 page status recaps in every chapter as some do. I was particularly happy that there wasn’t a lot of in-depth descriptions on the mechanics with supporting characters lecturing, instead I found the book did a decent job of using the character learning through encounters with a few ‘instructional discussions’ here and there when an observation couldn’t fully explain.
So, while I struggled to push through the intro, I’m glad I did. I enjoyed the story as more characters were introduced and look forward to the next installment.
I struggled at first to get a feel for the protagonist (Dan), as it took some time to get a sense of his character, other than being randomly dropped in a hellish haunted world there wasn’t a whole lot about who he is.
As I got past some of the intentionally creepy imagery, which thankfully was outlandish enough that I shouldn’t have nightmares (fingers crossed), the character became more relatable as he struggled to figure out how to survive in his strange new surroundings.
The ‘system’ interface that you see in many LitRPGs is somewhat unique and thankfully the author doesn’t throw in the 2-3 page status recaps in every chapter as some do. I was particularly happy that there wasn’t a lot of in-depth descriptions on the mechanics with supporting characters lecturing, instead I found the book did a decent job of using the character learning through encounters with a few ‘instructional discussions’ here and there when an observation couldn’t fully explain.
So, while I struggled to push through the intro, I’m glad I did. I enjoyed the story as more characters were introduced and look forward to the next installment.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thank you to BookSirens for providing a review copy.
I had an absolute blast with Discount Dan. The LitRPG format works so well with the Backrooms horror format. All I had to read in the blurb was Backrooms, and I was already in. I wasn't sure what to expect, but this book is literally like reading a horror Dungeons and Dragons campaign. It's also very clever, funny, and unsettling as hell. I'm so pleased this is book 1 of a series - I'm absolutely going to read the rest. 5 stars
I had an absolute blast with Discount Dan. The LitRPG format works so well with the Backrooms horror format. All I had to read in the blurb was Backrooms, and I was already in. I wasn't sure what to expect, but this book is literally like reading a horror Dungeons and Dragons campaign. It's also very clever, funny, and unsettling as hell. I'm so pleased this is book 1 of a series - I'm absolutely going to read the rest. 5 stars