Buzz Kill

by David Sosnowski

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Buzz Kill through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Buzz Kill is the latest novel from David Sosnowski. You probably recognize the insanely bright colors used on his covers! Marketed as a hilarious read about hackers, this novel is as creative as it is quirky.
Amazing – or dreadful – things can happen when two hackers put their heads together. At least, that is the case for Pandora Lynch and George Jedson. Together these two are about to create something new, and that’s arguably about to get out of hand.
Pandora grew up in Alaska, with the internet as her best friend and teacher. That is, up until it was decided that she needed to learn how to interact with real people her age. That didn’t go over so well. But it did give her some ideas.
George is a hacker, but not what you might expect. He loves breaking into systems, cleaning them up, and leaving them even better than what he found. It sounds counterintuitive, because it is. And it’s also probably still very illegal.
Buzz Kill is actually the prequel novel to Happy Doomsday. But don’t worry if you haven’t read that one yet – it isn’t a requirement to follow or understand this one. Though perhaps one would appreciate some of the elements more, knowing where they’ll lead.

“In retrospect, she could see how her revenge might be mistaken for an act of terrorism.”

Warnings: Buzz Kill touches upon bully, abuse, and mental health issues all at once. All of these elements are all fairly integral to the core plot, and thus fit in nicely, and more or less provide a bit of warning before they happen.

Buzz Kill was an entertaining – and highly unique read from start to finish. I didn’t read Happy Doomsday, but I had no problems following the vein of this rather chaotic and compelling tale.
This novel is told through multiple perspectives, namely that of Pandora and George. These two characters are extremely different, so getting to see their way of thinking was very much appreciated. It did a great job of setting the tone – and explaining their future attempts and actions.
I think my biggest complaint (if you want to call it that) is that Buzz Kill was marketed as a hilarious read, when I honestly found it to be a bit of a well, downer. It was fairly depressing at times, including the introduction. This is a novel that did not showcase the best that humanity has to offer, and boy do you feel that.
On the whole, Buzz Kill was an interesting read, though perhaps not the read I was expecting going into it. I don’t regret having read it, which is certainly something. And I’d probably pick up Happy Doomsday and give that a read. I would be curious to see if my appreciation for this novel would change, after reading it.

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