Bitter Reality

A New Kind of Freak, Book 1

By: Bananalloy

Narrated by: Ben Farrow

Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

A newborn dragon is forced to come to terms with his reality: his body is not made of flesh and blood—but of ice cream.

No fate is worse than being a failure before birth. His future holds endless troubles and dangers—wild animals, greedy humans, and ancient secrets. What can a small mutated hatchling do?

He must grow stronger.

With few options besides magic, he turns to the Nexus, a being of untold power that rewards its users with experience and stat points at great cost. But that does not mean his enemies are without strength. Levels and stats are available to all in this dragon-eat-dragon world.

©2022 Bananalloy (P)2023 Podium Audio

Can’t wait for seconds.

Though I thought the ice cream was a metaphor at first I was pleasantly surprised. The story is quite interesting and fairly original. The only complaint I have is that the occasional shifts in perspective are a bit jarring with little to notify the listener without some brief mental gymnastics.

When the egg cracks ice cream must

When the egg cracks ice cream must flow this is the way with this main character a mistake that is not a mistake in an area that is both overpowered and underpowered it's not something I'll keep in my library but it was something That had an interesting premise and had great promise and could be a really good series

ice cream

when I got this book I didn't think the mc actually was made out of ice cream I thought that was like a joke but I was wrong. it's kind of disappointing because the evolution and the awaking mechanics are pretty good. I hope the author makes another book about a dragon or some other creature with those mechanics because I would listen to that.

Far from expected.

So I have just finished book 2 and I am leaving my review here on book 1. This story might be about an ice cream dragon but this is NOT a story about happy children and a tasty lizard. First thing to know is that this first book is a SLOW burn at the start. This is where the MC is trying to learn some basic spells and nothing of note happens for quite some time. The story really starts to pick up when humans enter the scene and really drive home how weak our protag is, which serves as the biggest drive to improve. This is where the story got it's hooks in me and by the end of book 2 I was chomping at the bit for book 3.

I do have plenty of gripes with the story though. First off is the narrator, there is plenty of mispronunciations and strange pauses (this persists in book 2 as well). Second is the pacing of the first book (it was hard to get into). The jumping between characters that are far apart and seem to have no connection can be annoying too (it all comes together in the second half of the book though).

HOWEVER, this story really picks up once humans arrive and absolutely SHINES in book 2. This is why I am leaving my review here. Book 1 is mediocre for the first half and hooks you in the second. Book 2 takes those hooks, digs them in and wraps the lead around your neck for good measure. In my opinion it makes up for the slow first half of book 1.

Good

Good but not cute . I was expecting cute or reincarnation it was neither but still good

significantly better than expected

I went into this book expecting something boring or just to odd to be fun, but what I got is a funny, whimsical and yes odd book but in a very good way.

I recommend you listen

is it just me or does the narrator sound like.....

jermey wade from river monsters???
it says it needs 15 words so I'm doing this to make it count

Loved it.

I love a silly premise treated seriously with logical solutions. I love how the system works and how a dragons spell casting grow. Already bought the second and can’t wait to start the listen.

I thought it would be bad but it was really good!

This is in deed about a dragon with a mutation giving it a body of ice cream which sounds like a terrible premise. however it works really well and the story is a great progression story. The MC has a few moments of rambling for exposition purposes but they are manageable.

The story was intriguing.
The narration was pretty good with only minor flaws.

Hits the spot

Took the chance with this one, so happy I did. hit the spot perfectly for me, mc is not stupid and is likeable, gains power in interesting and system breaking ways, no plot armor, it's pretty damn good and I'm surprised it's not more popular.