Review: Magnificent Vibration

Title: Magnificent Vibration
Author: Rick Springfield
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: May 6th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Touchstone

★★★

Three stars.

---

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I picked up this book. I saw the name Rick Springfield and fangirled a little since I'm a fan of his music, and added it to my Kindle. I definitely wasn't expecting the reading experience that I received, which left me with torn, relatively neutral feelings about it.

This book follows the main character, Bobby, who calls an 800 number he finds tucked away inside of a self-help book, and discovers that the phone number reaches the one and only big man upstairs, God. He picks up a partner, the very pretty Alice, and together shenanigans and debauchery ensue.

On the one hand, I give Springfield credit. The book made me chuckle out loud quite a few times. There's some very funny one liners and comebacks that kept my interest throughout. I also really liked the concept of someone getting a phone number that belongs to God. Could you imagine? It got me thinking, admittedly, about what I would do. What would I ask for? Would I take it seriously? Would I act as hilarious and crass as Bobby does?

However, on the other hand, I had a bit of issue with the dialogue in this book. While some of it was really amusing, the parts that weren't came across as choppy and forced. It didn't always feel like a natural, real conversation and I had to reread a few lines a few times to make sure I was following correctly.

The blurb on this book's Goodreads page labels it as "over the top", and I have to agree. This book squeezes sex, religion, God, the Loch Ness monster, hot nuns, and saving the world into one adventure. Unfortunately for me, over the top wasn't necessarily a good thing. It was bizarre, and in some parts it really worked, but fell short in other bits, leading me overall to an in-the-middle rating of three stars.

This book is good if you want a strange, often funny read, but be warned that there's some sex and language. In a nutshell, this book made me laugh and had a great concept, but didn't always "click" with me as a whole. Thanks to Netgalley and Touchstone for my chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.