Solve the World: Part One by Dante Stack

The Synopsis:

Seventeen year old Jennifer Dash leaves her Louisiana home in search of the key to life. Her quest begins humbly enough amidst the swamps of the Pelican state, but forces beyond her control will propel her past many nations, oceans, cultures, and fairy tales… to the very limits of reason and myth itself.
Written as a spiritual and philosophical adventure saga, Dante has sculpted an epic to beat all epics. In Part One of Solve the World, you’ll be submerged into a stew of philosophy, religion, theme parks and relentless adventure.
Prepare yourself, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Beware the Pied Piper.

I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

Jennifer Dash is lost in her current place in the world and decides that there is more to life than her mundane, day-to-day routine. So she sets out to Solve the World and gets a little more adventure than she anticipated.

Solve the World: Part One can be summed up with one word: Interesting. It is a mind-boggling, very philosophical story that deals with the type of thoughts and scenarios that makes your head spin if you dwell on them too much.

At the beginning of the story, I really wasn’t impressed. I didn’t like the way it was written (it seems to jump from first person to third person depending on the scene, which was very inconsistent and drove me crazy), and I had a difficult time liking Jenn as a character. She struck me as a ditz who was so stupid/gullible to everything she heard, and far too, hmm, overthinking. Some of her (chapter long) thoughts was just nonsense and I really had to push myself to finish the book.

But the last half of the book really picked up in adventure and storyline. There were far less of Jenn’s paper-filling, confusing thoughts, and more mystery and action that actually became quite enthralling. And though it certainly ended to be completed through a sequel, the story was a good one and I’m glad I pushed myself to finish it, even though there were still parts that confused me.

I will say that Jenn’s character development from the overthinker at the beginning of the book, to her quick-witted, moral-having self at the end is likely what the focus of Solve the World: Part One is actually all about. She grew a lot in herself, and discovered a lot about the world that shaped her into a much more likeable character. But getting to that point just made my head spin and a lot of her “conclusions” made me pause, shake my head, and, flabbergasted, say, “what”?

So overall, if you enjoy the type of book that likes to mess with your version of the world and you prefer books about character building rather than storyline, I’d say you might enjoy this book. But, personally, I only give it 2 out of 5 stars.

There is some mild sexual content (no details) that deal with an almost rape scene. Lots of action, and a slight bit of psychological thrill/horror in that some of the action is just a little weird and creepy. There is no cursing however.