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A review by merieshenanigans
Blank Mastermind by Rosey Mucklestone
5.0
I give it one million stars out of five.
Blank Mastermind is seriously one of the best books I've ever read. I'm not a huge fan of superhero stories or stories about amnesia, but it didn't matter because this book was AWESOME. The best thing I can state in this review is GO READ IT NOW. But since that's unlikely to convince you, I suppose I might as well explain why.
This novel is written in first-person, past-tense, which was just fine with me but you might as well know. It's generally a widely-known fact that the best way to reveal a character's sarcastic humor is to get inside his head. Well, Rosey Mucklestone did that-- and believe me, his head is not a boring place. She could fill a book with the internal ramblings of Wolfgang Dankworth... (who by the way is the most amazing guy EVER). I spent a good deal of my time reading chuckling.
The characters are all so precious and lovable. Of course there's Wolfgang, probably my favorite hero of 2018, and his ridiculously villainous name and his epic cluelessness. Dallas was a great character too, as was Amazing Man (I beg your pardon but I crack up every time I hear that pseudonym). Bad News, Liza, Cardboard, and the rest of the gang were cool too. Also Lucius. <3 <3 <3
Now despite what I've said about the humor and the characters and such, this book is definitely not a light and fluffy summer read. It deals with a lot of serious topics, but very gently and slowly, and it doesn't seem out of place at all. After all, this book is about a villain who has amnesia and can't remember what he was trying to do-- nor why he wanted to. Some parts of this story broke my heart... and then other parts knitted it back together. Some parts are hilarious, but others brought tears to my eyes. Don't be fooled by the humor; this story is one of redemption and realization and it was certainly very touching.
Content-wise, it was fine. Prayers were scattered throughout (mostly not by the protagonist at first, of course), and I loved that the author wove in a Christian theme to the story. Swearing is mentioned but is kept mild and shown in a negative light. There was violence and blood, but not described or gory or beyond tolerance. I commend the author for keeping it clean!
So... if you like a good book, read this. It was so beautiful. Here I am, wanting to tell everyone I know to read it and sulking because most of the people I know can't read it in English. (Why is it so difficult to translate books??!) Anyway, I loved this book and you people need to have Wolfgang Dankworth in your lives. So there.
*I received a review copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. A positive review was not required. All opinions expressed are my own. Really, they are.*
Blank Mastermind is seriously one of the best books I've ever read. I'm not a huge fan of superhero stories or stories about amnesia, but it didn't matter because this book was AWESOME. The best thing I can state in this review is GO READ IT NOW. But since that's unlikely to convince you, I suppose I might as well explain why.
This novel is written in first-person, past-tense, which was just fine with me but you might as well know. It's generally a widely-known fact that the best way to reveal a character's sarcastic humor is to get inside his head. Well, Rosey Mucklestone did that-- and believe me, his head is not a boring place. She could fill a book with the internal ramblings of Wolfgang Dankworth... (who by the way is the most amazing guy EVER). I spent a good deal of my time reading chuckling.
The characters are all so precious and lovable. Of course there's Wolfgang, probably my favorite hero of 2018, and his ridiculously villainous name and his epic cluelessness. Dallas was a great character too, as was Amazing Man (I beg your pardon but I crack up every time I hear that pseudonym). Bad News, Liza, Cardboard, and the rest of the gang were cool too. Also Lucius. <3 <3 <3
Now despite what I've said about the humor and the characters and such, this book is definitely not a light and fluffy summer read. It deals with a lot of serious topics, but very gently and slowly, and it doesn't seem out of place at all. After all, this book is about a villain who has amnesia and can't remember what he was trying to do-- nor why he wanted to. Some parts of this story broke my heart... and then other parts knitted it back together. Some parts are hilarious, but others brought tears to my eyes. Don't be fooled by the humor; this story is one of redemption and realization and it was certainly very touching.
Content-wise, it was fine. Prayers were scattered throughout (mostly not by the protagonist at first, of course), and I loved that the author wove in a Christian theme to the story. Swearing is mentioned but is kept mild and shown in a negative light. There was violence and blood, but not described or gory or beyond tolerance. I commend the author for keeping it clean!
So... if you like a good book, read this. It was so beautiful. Here I am, wanting to tell everyone I know to read it and sulking because most of the people I know can't read it in English. (Why is it so difficult to translate books??!) Anyway, I loved this book and you people need to have Wolfgang Dankworth in your lives. So there.
*I received a review copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. A positive review was not required. All opinions expressed are my own. Really, they are.*