3.5 Stars.
Well, this book caught me by surprise, in a good way. I was not sure what to expect, as I chose it solely to complete my A-Z challenge. The premise of the story is on an apocalyptic event and how humans will show up in such an event. The writing was witty and displayed how by nature humans tend to group up or find a “tribe” in difficult times as a way to survive. The characters and the setting were well written. The author did a good job of showing how people have both a shadow and a light side and how a situation can exacerbate which side a human will tap into when in the face of a challenging situation. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book and would recommend for someone looking for something different, yet light to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved the concept of this book! I loved the small nuggets of home I picked up from reading- TN stand up! The plot thickened as it moved along. It was witty and quite controversial in some aspects. The character development was interesting to follow as we neared the end. I will say that it felt like the book dragged on aimlessly for a minute which made me put it down for days at a time, I just became bored with reading it after-while.

I was drawn in to this book by the cover and the title. I went into this book blind as I do most books and I am so glad I did. It was fun discovering the characters and watching their development throughout the book. I really enjoyed the humor the wit and the plot twists oh my! I love a book set in a post apocalyptic world. It had so many twists I didn't expect and just had me needing to keep reading so many times. This book definitely sucks you in and makes it hard to put down. Loved that it was different than most of the books that I usually read. I will definitely need a copy for my book shelf.


Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Not at all what I was expecting, but everything I wanted. Dan Foster may be my new favorite fictional character.

Wassmer has clearly spent time with Southern mega-church folks, because some of his characters could have been biographical. Absolutely hit the nail on the head.

In fact, his characterization of each social subset was nearly perfect - a testament to the author's travels, colorful acquaintances, or simply that he's a very skilled writer.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page, and am eagerly anticipating Wassmer's future efforts.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

This is a hilarious book about one man navigating the potential end of the world while stranded on an island resort with a bunch of panicked vacationers.

Dan is on vacation with his girlfriend at an island resort when the sun explodes. But the world doesn't immediately end, curiously enough; they're just plunged into darkness. There's some panic, of course, and then when reality sets in, Dan has to figure out who he can trust and how to get them all out of this situation. Told through Dan's hilarious, often sarcastic and self-deprecating voice, this is a very funny look at how the potential end of the world might go. I loved all the commentary on class differences -- it was so spot on -- and how vividly the characters are drawn. 5 stars, would recommend this book to anyone looking for a funny and thought-provoking read.

This is not my typical genre but the title looked interesting.

A couple go on vacation and while on vacation - the sun explodes. Follow along as they figure out what to do and whether they join an alliance to get necessities and survive.

Interesting book. Funny and dark!

Loved the White Lotus vibes of this books. It was very entertaining. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with an early copy! Loved the satire and wittiness throughout the story.

I was drawn to the title and cover, and stayed for the plot! Funny, dark, a wild ride from start to finish. Kudos on this great debut novel. I don't to give anything away, but this book is certainly what you least expect on so many levels!

Zero stars was an amazing read from start to finish! The title sucked me in, then reading it was so fun and unlike my typical genre!! Highly recommend you read this book when released!! Looking forward for more books from MJ Wassmer!!

Dan is enjoying an all-inclusive vacation with his girlfriend when the sun explodes. The resort turns to class warfare when the elite guests determine themselves the ruling class.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads this year. It had the perfect mix of humor and darkness. It is laugh out loud funny, despite some serious tragic events occurring. It’s very clever and the characters true to life. We all know a Lenny and Lillyanne (unfortunately). This will be a hit for 2024!

“Each of us is just figuring this out as we go. There’s no playbook, or secret to success, or even one definition of why the hell success is.”

Zero Stars Do Not Recommend comes out 8/6.

Four stars, do recommend! I was immediately drawn in by the interesting title of this book and the storyline kept me on my toes. The story is about a couple who goes on a vacation to a new resort and when they're there, the sun blows up. The couple and other guests are forced to work together to come up with ways to survive. I took a chance on this one thinking it wouldn't be what I usually enjoy but I am so glad I did. I really enjoyed the satire and wit throughout the book and would recommend to my audience. Full review coming about a month before publication per publisher.

What a fun read. I loved everyone’s unique personalities, and the banter was unmatched.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.

Wow, such a fascinating read. I've never read anything like it! The two main characters were interesting, I enjoyed them the most and truly loved watching their character development throughout the story. It had so many twists I didn't expect and just had me on the edge of my seat many times. Many cute moments that made me giggle as well. This is in 3rd person, which was really hard for me to get into for many chapters due to that factor. I took off 1 star for that and the way the MMC descriptive states things from the 3rd person perspective. If it would've been in first person POVs I think this would've been a brilliant book!

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

This book was different from anything I've ever read before. It is hilarious and full of fun with relatable characters and unlikely friendships.

Wassmers writing is so easy to fall into and devour. It was witty and funny and just an overall good time!

I must be in the minority because i could not get into this book. I really enjoy beach books so thought I would give it a try. But the sun exploded....interesting concept right there. Then people steal food, kill people, make them do chores. I just couldn't get interested in any part that I tried to read. Then when I skipped to the back and understood what happened, I didn't even care to finish it. Not for me.

This was such a funny and entertaining story. I had no strong or any specific expectations going into this book and still, it was nothing like I expected. It was such a bizarre mix of so many bad things happening juxtaposed with so much humor and sweetness. There were twists, there were turns. There was a lot of cheesy humor that somehow escaped the feeling of being cheesy.
The ending…will be something that you either hate or don’t mind one bit. I didn’t mind it at all, as strange as it was. For much of the book, the facts of the story require significant suspension of disbelief. However, what this story said about human nature was insightful and all too real.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS landmark for providing the free e-galley copy for review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Besides the hilarious title, the blurb hooked me right away because I LOVE the TV show White Lotus so I was all in on this.
This story was a lot of fun and filled with jaw-dropping moments that make you think "What the......". Several characters are absolute extremes of specific stereotypes which I could see some people may think is too over the top, but I truly believe these extremes exist out there in the wild and this is exactly how I would expect them to react in an apocalyptic event.
The plot is fast paced and has so many "laugh out loud" moments. I didn't want to put the book down so I could see what would happen next. The main character, Dan, was relatable in a way that sometimes I genuinely felt sorry for him or was rooting for him only for him to turn around and make a complete idiot of himself. Humanity at it's finest when placed in a high stress situation.
Without spoilers, I did feel like the ending was extremely rushed and I would have liked some more information about the situation at hand and how it unfolded. It left me slightly disappointed to end the book that way.
However, this will certainly be a book that I DO recommend to my book club group when members ask for a book that will make them laugh!

This book sucked me in from the first page. I loved The White Lotus vibes it had. But really any locked door mystery always makes me happy. This book also had so many other tropes I loved, which I can’t say or they would be a spoiler. This is a page turner that will keep you up all night trying to figure out the mystery.

Unlike the title, I do recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks and MJ Wassmer for an eARC for an honest review of the book.

While this started off slow with disliking the main character, I ended up loving this! It was hilariously written and while I saw the twist sort of coming, I wasn't disappointed in the least. Very well written, and would love to read more by this author.