#BookBeginnings & #Friday56 (& a bit of a ramble) -- The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss (ARC)

Another Friday, another Friday56 & Book Beginnings! Friday56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences & your thoughts) is at Rose City Reader.

Wednesday I started reading the ARC of Max Wirestone's The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss that I received thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books. The description on NetGalley screamed to me "READ THIS!!! THIS IS ALLLLL YOU!"

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For fans of The Guild, New Girl, Scott Pilgrim, Big Bang Theory, Veronica Mars, or anyone who has ever geeked out about something.

The odds of Dahlia successfully navigating adulthood are 3,720 to 1. But never tell her the odds.

Meet Dahlia Moss, the reigning queen of unfortunate decision-making in the St. Louis area. Unemployed broke, and on her last bowl of ramen, she's not living her best life. But that's all about to change.

Before Dahlia can make her life any messier on her own she's offered a job. A job that she's woefully under-qualified for. A job that will lead her to a murder, an MMORPG, and possibly a fella (or two?).

Turns out unfortunate decisions abound, and she's just the girl to deal with them.

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In case you didn't already know : I'm a geek. Always have been, always will be. I haven't played much in the way of MMORPGs, but back in the day (20+ years ago) I was known to spend many an hour dialing up in order to play MUDs & PBPs. I lost sleep over Diablo. I played Dungeons & Dragons with my brother and his friends ... until I was banished in middle school for killing someone repeatedly ... and gruesomely. I had my own rather awesome deck of Magic: The Gathering cards -- first editions. I dated SCA guys. I girl-crush Felicia Day. My left arm is enhanced with multiple Doctor Who tattoos. I geek.

SO I requested the book and was thrilled when I got my approval and now ... for the unproofed-not-necessarily-final-text Book Beginning and Friday 56!

At the beginning I was immediately filled with the standard questions : why is it the only time they'll meet? Why bothering mentioning him since it is? Why the funky outfit? And then, of course, I remembered : geekdom. As though that makes all of those questions moot points. 

I have yet to get to the 56% mark that the bottom blip is from (I'm almost there, though!!!). I have to wonder what's happened to get "getting killed" even a thought in Dahlia's mind. I've grown remarkably fond of the girl.

I warn you now: if you don't have pre-existing geekish tendencies I don't know how much you'll get out of this book. You may end up spending as much time googling things like "Jigglypuff" as you do reading. BUT if you geek ... and if you geek and mystery ... get your hands on this book. You can pre-order from Amazon or stalk your store of choice on October 20th.