Author: Mike Russell Series: Standalone Genre: Fiction Release Date: October 31, 2016 Book Length: 66 pages Publisher: StrangeBooks Review: 3/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
Strungballs is an extraordinary novella from Strange Books author Mike Russell. What are Strungballs? Ten-year-old Sydney is about to find out… but first he must have a cube of his flesh removed. Sydney will transgress everything he was taught to believe in when he embarks upon a journey that will reveal the astonishing secrets hidden by the red balls on white strings known only as… Strungballs. Inspiring, liberating, otherworldly, magical, surreal, bizarre, funny, disturbing, unique… all of these words have been used to describe the stories of Mike Russell. Remember: Once a Strungball is inserted it must never be removed.
My Review:
Thank you to the author for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review 🙂
Goosebumps meets Adam and Eve is the best way I can think of to describe this. This author lives up to his theme of strangeness in every book. It has a dystopian feel to it, where the main character, Sydney, is living in this city that revolves around Strungballs—a little ball on a string that attaches to your body after a piece of flesh is taken from you and placed on the ‘Sphere of Flesh’. Are you grossed out yet, because I was.
These Strungballs have value in the society—the more you have, the more you are working for the greater good and therefore have higher status. The story starts off with 10 year old Sydney getting his first Strungball, and he is living in ignorant bliss. As the story progresses, he begins to wonder what the purpose is and if he can survive without them and he goes on the pursuit to find out. There was also this really weird element of procreation near the end which is where the Adam and Eve relation comes in. Honestly one of the strangest things I have ever read, but I would recommend it for anyone who likes dystopian novels, sci-fi, or quick and odd reads!
cat @ thisisoneforthebooks 
This book sounds really bizarre, but it seems like it might be an interesting read… maybe? It actually sounds like a premise that might be covered in “Black Mirror,” which is one of my favorite shows. The things on the cover (um… I guess those would be the ‘strungballs’) look like a weird cross between cherries and sperm. If this book is cheap on Kindle I might give it a try, it definitely seems like something I could read in just one afternoon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting is an understatement! It was so twisted, but like you mentioned, it reminded me of Black Mirror. And yeah they do, I never realized that before 😂 it’s a really quick read that you can get through in one sitting for sure!!
LikeLiked by 1 person