Erica L. Satifka

I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher, the ever fabulous Apex Publications.

Stay Crazy follows Em, a mentally unstable young woman who is trying to get her life back after a previous breakdown. When she starts work at the local Savertown USA, she is unnerved when she is contacted by an otherworldly entity asking her to help it save the world from an evil otherworldly entity.

Yes it sounds a bit nutty but Satifka creates an interesting world. Em isn't always a likable character. This made it hard to care for her but the more I got to know her, her attitude felt like a defense mechanism coupled with all she'd been through. The town itself is reminiscent of a lot of small places now and the commercialization of our lives to the point where we are happy with crappy products that don't last. No wonder Em is always so cranky.

Stay Crazy is definitely worth a read. It's not all sunshine and rainbows but what in life really is.… (mehr)

Despite this being a novella, I had to DNF this at about 50%. I just couldn't care less about what was happening to the characters. It's a shame because it's a story about AIs being introduced to society, first to help after the events of natural disasters in the US, then eventually taking over many jobs and leaving large groups unemployed and unable to access the "nicer" areas of the country. The story introduces one AI in particular and I was hoping to be sympathetic towards her journey, or at least interested in what was happening to the human characters, but I didn't care about any of them. Even given the short length, it wasn't worth continuing for me - I have too many other books to read!… (mehr)

Stay Crazy is a good alien invasion story relying on alternate realities and hierarchical planes of existence for both the threat and the solution to the threat. Em is one of the few that can save the world, and being young and unsure of herself, must grow up fast to fulfill the task given her. That her task is to save the world (and the next) is just another bit of pressure on her life.

Either that, or the fact that she is a schizophrenic depressive suffering from illusions and risks being a danger to society.

It's a fun read.… (mehr)