You know those times when you’re surrounded by a squadron of blood-thirsty ninjas, your back is to the wall, you’re down to your last heart container, and all hope seems lost? In situations like that, it’s important not to panic, to take a deep breath, and to remember that even if you do shuffle off this mortal coil, by the laws of Etheria you’ll shuffle right back on it again.
Meet Tasha, a couch potato with no accomplishments to her name. That all changes one fateful day when she gets sucked into the world of Etheria. Here, in this world of adventure, she can become the strong person she’s always wanted to be.
After rescuing a princess from ninjas, one thing leads to another, and before she knows it, she’s drawn into a massive quest to save Etheria. With friends by her side, Tasha must figure out who she really is.
My Opinion: 496 pages, $4.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
This is transported to a game world story that depends heavily on nostalgia, parody, and satire.
Game mechanic wise, most readers will feel a familiarity with the mash of mechanics pulled from video game franchises. The game world is a mash up of older games like Zelda, Mario Bro, Final Fantasy, and some D&D. The main character (MC) Tasha, has a normal character sheet and she levels as she fights. However, instead of HP, the MC has hearts, and magic containers to fuel spells. Her unique class of ‘Couch Potato’ is interesting and requires her to regularly entertain herself to get bonuses and unique skill opportunities. It’s actually a very fun over powered class, but is utilized for comedic purposes in the story more than anything.
Story wise, the novel depends on gamer jokes and parody references. The humor is either going to land with you or it isn’t. For me, all the video game parody was entertaining at first but by the 15% mark it got tiring. Additionally there’s not much of a plot as much as there’s a series of fights and sometimes very silly adventures. Some of those adventures are fun and interesting, but many feel like filler.
Overall, I appreciated the nostalgia pulls, heavy parody, and satire. That aspect stopped being funny after a while and I wanted more original world building or a story interesting enough to keep me hooked. This just didn’t do that for me.
Score: 6 out of 10
Couch Potato Chaos - Gamebound