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New Bizarro Author Series
There's No Happy Ending
The world is rotting away. Bodies are melting, buildings dissolving and it's only a matter of time before the world completely disintegrates.
Despite the world rotting away, lovers Isobel and Dresden are fighting for the future, and their wedding day. Unfortunately, the rotting world isn't their only challenge. Dresden's mother is a wealthy woman with powerful secrets who wants only the best wife for Dresden, and Isobel isn't it.
Dresden's mother has him kidnapped and held hostage so he'll not only miss his wedding, but alters him so he'll survive the rotting world and live with her forever.
It's up to Isobel to search the apocalyptic world for Dresden while he fights his mother's mansion of horrors. If luck is on their side, Isobel and Dresden may be able to find one another before the world completely disappears.
Despite the world rotting away, lovers Isobel and Dresden are fighting for the future, and their wedding day. Unfortunately, the rotting world isn't their only challenge. Dresden's mother is a wealthy woman with powerful secrets who wants only the best wife for Dresden, and Isobel isn't it.
Dresden's mother has him kidnapped and held hostage so he'll not only miss his wedding, but alters him so he'll survive the rotting world and live with her forever.
It's up to Isobel to search the apocalyptic world for Dresden while he fights his mother's mansion of horrors. If luck is on their side, Isobel and Dresden may be able to find one another before the world completely disappears.
- GenresBizarro FictionHorror
98 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
May 9, 2014
Worst. Massage parlor. Ever.
The book is pretty darn good though. When I opened up the book and saw that this was going to be a ‘love story’ I kind of groaned a little bit. But, I powered through my inhibitions and was quickly surprised at how gruesome the story was.
I really dug the concept of the plague and its origins. I won’t ruin the story by explaining it in this review but I felt it was very clever and unique. The writing was solid and the story was entertaining.
Recommended for people who hate their Mom.
The book is pretty darn good though. When I opened up the book and saw that this was going to be a ‘love story’ I kind of groaned a little bit. But, I powered through my inhibitions and was quickly surprised at how gruesome the story was.
I really dug the concept of the plague and its origins. I won’t ruin the story by explaining it in this review but I felt it was very clever and unique. The writing was solid and the story was entertaining.
Recommended for people who hate their Mom.
July 18, 2014
Born in 1971, Tiffany is an American singer, actress, and former 80's teen icon most famous for her 1987 cover of "I Think We're Alone Now", a song first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells in the 60’s. Tiffany also posed for Playboy at one point. Her musical nemesis was Debbie Gibson. This one time at some stuffy red carpet affair in Hollywood, Tiffany slapped Debbie Gibson so hard that Ms. Gibson’s face flew off like a cheap Halloween mask, exposing a screaming, beet-red, bulging-eyed, muscly-face that, up until that point in her life, had always been concealed behind her moisturized, unblemished, milky white face-skin....
Oh, wait...oops. Sorry. Wrong Tiffany!
Rather, we’re talking about Tiffany Scandal here, author of There's No Happy Ending. In this apocalyptic bizarro love story, two separated lovers attempt to find their way back to one another before the world dissolves to nothing. Don’t be put off by the spoiler alert in the title: Yes, we know where things are headed from the get-go, but that doesn’t make the ride any less entertaining. Scandal balances out the sentimentality of her story with a simple but visceral prose style, touches of surrealism (e.g., the Earth literally bleeds as it dies), and a creepy sci-fi/horror subplot concerning the male protag and his diabolical mother, so that the pathos of the separated-lovers-attempting-to-reunite trope never becomes stale or maudlin. Another solid debut from this year’s NBAS bunch.
Oh, wait...oops. Sorry. Wrong Tiffany!
Rather, we’re talking about Tiffany Scandal here, author of There's No Happy Ending. In this apocalyptic bizarro love story, two separated lovers attempt to find their way back to one another before the world dissolves to nothing. Don’t be put off by the spoiler alert in the title: Yes, we know where things are headed from the get-go, but that doesn’t make the ride any less entertaining. Scandal balances out the sentimentality of her story with a simple but visceral prose style, touches of surrealism (e.g., the Earth literally bleeds as it dies), and a creepy sci-fi/horror subplot concerning the male protag and his diabolical mother, so that the pathos of the separated-lovers-attempting-to-reunite trope never becomes stale or maudlin. Another solid debut from this year’s NBAS bunch.
March 17, 2014
Id Says:
…And they lived happily ever afterrrrrrrr!!! Or not. Let’s just say that these two lovebirds have a lot of shit to put of with to get to any ending at all. It’s not exactly the kind of world you think about a future with husbands, wives, kids, white picket fences…etc. in it.
There’s his megabitch mother for starters. A certified Rich Old Fuck and totally against her son getting jiggy with some low-classer he met god knows where. She’ll not see her rearing efforts sullied by a whore-slut the boy’s just met, heaven’s no! She’ll have to take more precautions is all, just like she’s always done for her family.
But perhaps the cranky ROF won’t have much longer to worry about her son’s raging commoner boner. You see it appears the world is sick. It was an old fuck long before we got here, and now our diseases are its diseases. Nothing but rot and ash, rust and bone, tremors and slow, slow death.
If it’s all fucked, done, and over, and you’re truly going out for good, forever, what would you do to die with the one you love?
Ego Says:
I admired Isobel’s seeking to balance her life amid a chaotically crumbling world. She wants Dresden’s love above all else, but is willing to work for total equilibrium in regards to Dresden’s mother, Elise. Though he believes their efforts are futile, she still hopes for some conciliation.
In the inverse, I see Dresden wanting more disorder in his rebellion against his familial norm. Mirroring the outside world, the one he’s been carefully sequestered from all his life, he wants his old life to fall apart. From the moment he chose to move against the grain, he worked to destroy the path behind him.
Both characters are sure of one thing, and one thing only: each other. Their strength lie in the desire to be together. To overcome even the end of the world for those few precious moments when they feel complete and totally satisfied.
Elise only wants what she believes is best for Dresden, which is to survive. Due to her high class status, she has been able to afford the best medical care this apocalyptic future can provide. It’s kept her alive and relatively healthy for over a century. But why would Elise be so opposed to her son’s happiness? There is something more than class division going on here, and methinks the answer is lurking under those bleeding gloves.
Super-Ego Says:
Bittersweet love stories always get you every time. Something about being swept up in waves of emotion ultimately dashed against the rocks and receding into sad memory resonates with the human struggle. Sometimes, the end result is so clearly visible it pains us to open our eyes. Thank the fates that love is blind.
Our protagonist’s struggle is more on the bitter side of things. It feels like a downward spiral. Yet for all her faltering, she stays singularly focused on her choice. It is the need for one last connection with love that keeps Isobel limping forward. Where others would have simply given up and lied down among the mountains of gangrenous corpses, she does everything in her power to stay alive, believing he is doing the same.
At first, I believed Dresden’s mother, Elise, to be the antagonist, but as I delved deeper into the text, I realized it seemed the entire world itself was trying to keep the lovers apart. Every move against Isobel is like a reiteration of the title. It is a warning, a prophecy, and a fate all tied into one.
Ms. Scandal has woven a tightly knit book here, one devoid of extraneous background characters or background story. The sentences are clear and concise, the exposition comes in only when necessary, and the action and emotion carry the plot to a beautiful finale.
…And they lived happily ever afterrrrrrrr!!! Or not. Let’s just say that these two lovebirds have a lot of shit to put of with to get to any ending at all. It’s not exactly the kind of world you think about a future with husbands, wives, kids, white picket fences…etc. in it.
There’s his megabitch mother for starters. A certified Rich Old Fuck and totally against her son getting jiggy with some low-classer he met god knows where. She’ll not see her rearing efforts sullied by a whore-slut the boy’s just met, heaven’s no! She’ll have to take more precautions is all, just like she’s always done for her family.
But perhaps the cranky ROF won’t have much longer to worry about her son’s raging commoner boner. You see it appears the world is sick. It was an old fuck long before we got here, and now our diseases are its diseases. Nothing but rot and ash, rust and bone, tremors and slow, slow death.
If it’s all fucked, done, and over, and you’re truly going out for good, forever, what would you do to die with the one you love?
Ego Says:
I admired Isobel’s seeking to balance her life amid a chaotically crumbling world. She wants Dresden’s love above all else, but is willing to work for total equilibrium in regards to Dresden’s mother, Elise. Though he believes their efforts are futile, she still hopes for some conciliation.
In the inverse, I see Dresden wanting more disorder in his rebellion against his familial norm. Mirroring the outside world, the one he’s been carefully sequestered from all his life, he wants his old life to fall apart. From the moment he chose to move against the grain, he worked to destroy the path behind him.
Both characters are sure of one thing, and one thing only: each other. Their strength lie in the desire to be together. To overcome even the end of the world for those few precious moments when they feel complete and totally satisfied.
Elise only wants what she believes is best for Dresden, which is to survive. Due to her high class status, she has been able to afford the best medical care this apocalyptic future can provide. It’s kept her alive and relatively healthy for over a century. But why would Elise be so opposed to her son’s happiness? There is something more than class division going on here, and methinks the answer is lurking under those bleeding gloves.
Super-Ego Says:
Bittersweet love stories always get you every time. Something about being swept up in waves of emotion ultimately dashed against the rocks and receding into sad memory resonates with the human struggle. Sometimes, the end result is so clearly visible it pains us to open our eyes. Thank the fates that love is blind.
Our protagonist’s struggle is more on the bitter side of things. It feels like a downward spiral. Yet for all her faltering, she stays singularly focused on her choice. It is the need for one last connection with love that keeps Isobel limping forward. Where others would have simply given up and lied down among the mountains of gangrenous corpses, she does everything in her power to stay alive, believing he is doing the same.
At first, I believed Dresden’s mother, Elise, to be the antagonist, but as I delved deeper into the text, I realized it seemed the entire world itself was trying to keep the lovers apart. Every move against Isobel is like a reiteration of the title. It is a warning, a prophecy, and a fate all tied into one.
Ms. Scandal has woven a tightly knit book here, one devoid of extraneous background characters or background story. The sentences are clear and concise, the exposition comes in only when necessary, and the action and emotion carry the plot to a beautiful finale.
May 24, 2014
I opened the book and the rest was history!! I didn't put it down until I was finished. Love stories are a no go reading for me, but from the very first page I was in a love hate relationship with every last one of the characters. I wont say to much about that cause you should read it and see what I'm talking about. Very talented writer to be able to pull the story line together the way she did. All I can say is that Dresden's mother would never win mother of the year award!! Do yourself a favor and read this book !! Great job Miss Scandal!!
January 12, 2018
When I was sixteen I became obsessed with Thomas Hardy. Before I hit the eleventh grade I had read all of his books that I could find.
Thomas Hardy didn't write There's No Happy Ending, though, but I think he may have traveled through time and lifted some ideas from Tiffany Scandal.
Even though I found this beautiful love story difficult to follow here and there, I enjoyed being immersed in it's dark, crumbling world, which Ms. Scandal succeeds famously at creating in vivid detail with short, economical prose. (How did she do that?)
It's totally dark and emo and leaves you pulling for our heroine and hero while biting our nails and fearing for the worst.
I also have to say that I love the fact that it is the female character coming to the aid of the prince charming in distress. This is a refreshing role reversal that I personally hope to see more of.
Isobel rules!
If you like quirky, unconventional love stories that carry that high level of emotional intensity, definitely check this one out!
Thomas Hardy didn't write There's No Happy Ending, though, but I think he may have traveled through time and lifted some ideas from Tiffany Scandal.
Even though I found this beautiful love story difficult to follow here and there, I enjoyed being immersed in it's dark, crumbling world, which Ms. Scandal succeeds famously at creating in vivid detail with short, economical prose. (How did she do that?)
It's totally dark and emo and leaves you pulling for our heroine and hero while biting our nails and fearing for the worst.
I also have to say that I love the fact that it is the female character coming to the aid of the prince charming in distress. This is a refreshing role reversal that I personally hope to see more of.
Isobel rules!
If you like quirky, unconventional love stories that carry that high level of emotional intensity, definitely check this one out!
August 11, 2016
Ever since reading Gabino Iglesias’ Gutmouth, I’ve been more and more interested in the New Bizarro Author Series (NBAS for short) put together by Eraserhead Press. Without beating a dead horse, what they do is give a chance to promising new authors who haven’t yet published their first novel.
With five to seven releases each year, we get a fresh taste of weird and wild writers we may or may not have already been familiar with, writers who, depending on their success, might just become household names as part of the Eraserhead family. The most recent wave of new authors has been a great one, and I’m proud to bring my thoughts to all of you kind readers. We’re gonna start with an absolutely amazing first effort by Tiffany Scandal, her debut novella, There’s No Happy Ending.
Put together the cover image (more great artwork by Jim Agpalza) with the ominous and depressing title, and you can guess that the book you hold in your hands isn’t full of sunshine and puppies. Rather, it is one of the more eerie and hopeless apocalyptic tales I’ve read. Take, for example, everyone’s favorite zombie show, The Walking Dead. Now, in addition to the people slowly deteriorating, make all of the surrounding buildings and infrastructure also suffer from the same crumbling decay. I mean, the opening line of the book is “Smells like they’re burning bodies again.” Again! Nonchalant, like it’s a regular thing. Images of Vincent Price’s The Last Man on Earth come to mind, images that don’t have happy connotations. We’re talking bleak with a capital B, here.
But amongst all the chaos and despair, we have our heroes. Isobel and Dresden are a young couple who have managed to find true love, despite all odds, something that the author shows very well throughout the book. They are our post-apocalyptic Jim and Pam, our bizarro Shaun and Liz, and we find ourselves as readers completely drawn into their relationship. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, I’d go ahead and say There’s No Happy Ending is a love story. Now, don’t get scared off by my vocabulary, but think about this: some of your favorite horror movies, underneath the blood, gore, and entrails, could be considered love stories, or at least belong in the same neighborhood. In Dead Snow, amidst all the Nazi zombies, we have Vegard trying to find his girlfriend, Sara. In American Psycho, Patrick Bateman is always looking out for the one person he loves the most, Patrick Bateman. And in There’s No Happy Ending, Isobel is trying to find Dresden after he just kind of disappears on the day of their wedding.
The thing is, Dresden’s mom, Elise, doesn’t think Isobel is good enough for her son. She probably doesn’t think anyone is good enough, but definitely not the strong, independent woman that Scandal has written us, and so she has Dresden kidnapped and held hostage before they can get married. She even tells her son that his fiancée is dead. Isobel holds out hope that he is just meeting her at the wedding chapel, but soon she finds herself stuck in a (literally) crumbling city in a wedding dress with all sorts of horrors awaiting her around every corner. It’s no wonder that “Ring Around the Rosie” seems to be playing everywhere she goes.
The way Scandal writes would make Hemingway proud (if anything would actually make Hemingway proud). The book is only about eighty pages, but she manages to cram so much story in there by staying focused on a tight, sparsely worded delivery. There’s no extra adverbs. Yet we have a very imaginable world with a handful of well developed characters. There are parts where Isobel is making her way through town that remind me of scenes from 28 Days Later, and a part where Dresden stumbles upon a room full of display cases that makes me think of Ripley and what she discovers in Alien: Resurrection. It’s a punk novel that is a little bit sci-fi, a little bit horror, a little bit love story, and a little bit bizarro. In other words, it appeals to a wide audience. And it has a strong female lead, a detail I think we can all agree is something that we should see more of. And the most exciting thing about this amazing novella? This is just the beginning for Tiffany Scandal, our introduction to an exciting new writer. I can’t wait to see what come next!
With five to seven releases each year, we get a fresh taste of weird and wild writers we may or may not have already been familiar with, writers who, depending on their success, might just become household names as part of the Eraserhead family. The most recent wave of new authors has been a great one, and I’m proud to bring my thoughts to all of you kind readers. We’re gonna start with an absolutely amazing first effort by Tiffany Scandal, her debut novella, There’s No Happy Ending.
Put together the cover image (more great artwork by Jim Agpalza) with the ominous and depressing title, and you can guess that the book you hold in your hands isn’t full of sunshine and puppies. Rather, it is one of the more eerie and hopeless apocalyptic tales I’ve read. Take, for example, everyone’s favorite zombie show, The Walking Dead. Now, in addition to the people slowly deteriorating, make all of the surrounding buildings and infrastructure also suffer from the same crumbling decay. I mean, the opening line of the book is “Smells like they’re burning bodies again.” Again! Nonchalant, like it’s a regular thing. Images of Vincent Price’s The Last Man on Earth come to mind, images that don’t have happy connotations. We’re talking bleak with a capital B, here.
But amongst all the chaos and despair, we have our heroes. Isobel and Dresden are a young couple who have managed to find true love, despite all odds, something that the author shows very well throughout the book. They are our post-apocalyptic Jim and Pam, our bizarro Shaun and Liz, and we find ourselves as readers completely drawn into their relationship. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, I’d go ahead and say There’s No Happy Ending is a love story. Now, don’t get scared off by my vocabulary, but think about this: some of your favorite horror movies, underneath the blood, gore, and entrails, could be considered love stories, or at least belong in the same neighborhood. In Dead Snow, amidst all the Nazi zombies, we have Vegard trying to find his girlfriend, Sara. In American Psycho, Patrick Bateman is always looking out for the one person he loves the most, Patrick Bateman. And in There’s No Happy Ending, Isobel is trying to find Dresden after he just kind of disappears on the day of their wedding.
The thing is, Dresden’s mom, Elise, doesn’t think Isobel is good enough for her son. She probably doesn’t think anyone is good enough, but definitely not the strong, independent woman that Scandal has written us, and so she has Dresden kidnapped and held hostage before they can get married. She even tells her son that his fiancée is dead. Isobel holds out hope that he is just meeting her at the wedding chapel, but soon she finds herself stuck in a (literally) crumbling city in a wedding dress with all sorts of horrors awaiting her around every corner. It’s no wonder that “Ring Around the Rosie” seems to be playing everywhere she goes.
The way Scandal writes would make Hemingway proud (if anything would actually make Hemingway proud). The book is only about eighty pages, but she manages to cram so much story in there by staying focused on a tight, sparsely worded delivery. There’s no extra adverbs. Yet we have a very imaginable world with a handful of well developed characters. There are parts where Isobel is making her way through town that remind me of scenes from 28 Days Later, and a part where Dresden stumbles upon a room full of display cases that makes me think of Ripley and what she discovers in Alien: Resurrection. It’s a punk novel that is a little bit sci-fi, a little bit horror, a little bit love story, and a little bit bizarro. In other words, it appeals to a wide audience. And it has a strong female lead, a detail I think we can all agree is something that we should see more of. And the most exciting thing about this amazing novella? This is just the beginning for Tiffany Scandal, our introduction to an exciting new writer. I can’t wait to see what come next!
June 24, 2014
When my best friend and I were teenagers we vowed that if the doomed world were ever to come to the swift and painful end that surely was in store for it, we’d find each other and go down together. Tiffany Scandals’s There’s No Happy Ending brought back some of those memories for me, because hell. You never know. One minute you’re tucked up with the one you love amidst the smoking ruins, and the next minute, the planet actually starts spewing blood, flesh eating… things are on the march, even the buildings have gone gangrenous, and the countdown has begun. Happy Endings take time, y’all, and what if there’s none?
Kind of a cool concept for a writer to tackle and Scandal has all the makings of a great story teller. She creates some of the most visceral body horror I’ve read in a while. Like tough bride-to-be Isobel ripping the femur out of a corpse and tearing off strips of her wedding dress to make a splint for her own broken leg. Or doomed groom Dresden stumbling upon his gene-splicing bitch-mother’s ‘trophy room,’ where his mutant siblings are kept in jars, and where he and his cyclopean sister reminisce about a vile tonic mom used to give them that tasted like ‘potpourri or maybe Sears.’
I read that at 5000 feet on the plane from LA to Sydney and as the aisles and hole-puncher windows gave way to Scandal’s dark hilarity and her ruinous, flickering world peopled with ulcerated heroes, shuffling cannibals and indifferent Elvises, I only wished there had been more time.
I would have liked a happy ending
Kind of a cool concept for a writer to tackle and Scandal has all the makings of a great story teller. She creates some of the most visceral body horror I’ve read in a while. Like tough bride-to-be Isobel ripping the femur out of a corpse and tearing off strips of her wedding dress to make a splint for her own broken leg. Or doomed groom Dresden stumbling upon his gene-splicing bitch-mother’s ‘trophy room,’ where his mutant siblings are kept in jars, and where he and his cyclopean sister reminisce about a vile tonic mom used to give them that tasted like ‘potpourri or maybe Sears.’
I read that at 5000 feet on the plane from LA to Sydney and as the aisles and hole-puncher windows gave way to Scandal’s dark hilarity and her ruinous, flickering world peopled with ulcerated heroes, shuffling cannibals and indifferent Elvises, I only wished there had been more time.
I would have liked a happy ending
December 4, 2013
There is No Happy Ending is the dark debut from Bizarro newcomer Tiffany Scandal who is cool as fuck and a suicide girl.
The novella revolves around Isobel and Dresden who plan on getting married; however, there’s a few problems: Dresden’s rich mother doesn’t approve and the world’s beginning to fall apart. To make matters worse, Dresden and Isobel become separated and have to fight their way through a dissolving world to find each other and the odds are stacked against them.
This is far from a spoiler alert, but there is no happy ending which Scandal warns you about from the get go, but the enduring bond between Isobel and Dresden is so strong you can’t help but hope for a positive outcome.
Another thing that impressed me was Scandal’s ear for dialogue. It flows smoothly and doesn’t seem forced at all. Kudos.
Most bizarro books are bursting at the seams with humor, but Scandal decides to take the less traveled path and deliver a dark, poignant novella about two lovers struggling to find each other in a diseased world devoid of happy endings.
I can’t wait to see what else Scandal whips up in the future.
The novella revolves around Isobel and Dresden who plan on getting married; however, there’s a few problems: Dresden’s rich mother doesn’t approve and the world’s beginning to fall apart. To make matters worse, Dresden and Isobel become separated and have to fight their way through a dissolving world to find each other and the odds are stacked against them.
This is far from a spoiler alert, but there is no happy ending which Scandal warns you about from the get go, but the enduring bond between Isobel and Dresden is so strong you can’t help but hope for a positive outcome.
Another thing that impressed me was Scandal’s ear for dialogue. It flows smoothly and doesn’t seem forced at all. Kudos.
Most bizarro books are bursting at the seams with humor, but Scandal decides to take the less traveled path and deliver a dark, poignant novella about two lovers struggling to find each other in a diseased world devoid of happy endings.
I can’t wait to see what else Scandal whips up in the future.
August 20, 2015
This one's a little trickier to get into than her subsequent novel JIGSAW YOUTH because of the tone. The setting is gritty and tough and yet the tone is very classic, almost fablelike. You won't find a valid reason why Isobel and Dresdan are separated, but they are and it's something you have to get over it if you want to get into THERE'S NO HAPPY ENDING. Think of it as ROMERO & JULIETTE meets FALLOUT.
Say what you want about Tiffany Scandal though, but she writes female characters I care about and that I really want to read. Isobel's going through a worst case scenario of being stranded at the end of the world and puts herself through the grind of finding her lover like a champ. She's both feminine, courageous and righteous. I'm more convinced than ever that Tiffany Scandal write female characters better than almost anybody in the business right now.
Say what you want about Tiffany Scandal though, but she writes female characters I care about and that I really want to read. Isobel's going through a worst case scenario of being stranded at the end of the world and puts herself through the grind of finding her lover like a champ. She's both feminine, courageous and righteous. I'm more convinced than ever that Tiffany Scandal write female characters better than almost anybody in the business right now.
April 11, 2014
Romance In A Rotting World
This is a great example of how varied the bizarro genre can be. It's definitely a romance story. But it's a romance story set in a world that is diseased. People are sick. Even the buildings are sick. There's some startling, vivid imagery in here, notably a scene in which Dresden, the male lead, ends up in the room where his creepy mother keeps his brothers and sisters. What he does is intense. Oh, and geek alert: keep your eyes peeled for the Batman Batcave reference!
This is a great example of how varied the bizarro genre can be. It's definitely a romance story. But it's a romance story set in a world that is diseased. People are sick. Even the buildings are sick. There's some startling, vivid imagery in here, notably a scene in which Dresden, the male lead, ends up in the room where his creepy mother keeps his brothers and sisters. What he does is intense. Oh, and geek alert: keep your eyes peeled for the Batman Batcave reference!
May 24, 2014
I just have to say, I believe Ms. Scandal has a very bright future in writing books. I can't wait for her next to come out. I think that she will give Stephen King some strong competition in future. Keep up the great work Tiffany!!!!
November 26, 2013
A fast paced love story for the morbid among us. Tiffany has a lot more love to give. I'm waiting.
June 8, 2014
I love apocalypse love stories with diseased mutants. Who doesn't
December 27, 2017
All of my quibbles with this book could have been fixed with some more care given to the editing - even the forward has some typos and missing words.
I would have liked to have given this four stars, but my reading flow was interrupted quite a bit by some weird sentence structures and ways of phrasing things. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the plot which was certainly not your average bear. The characters were pretty varied for a short story only spanning less than 80 pages, too.
Glad that I picked this one as my introduction to the Bizzaro World!
I would have liked to have given this four stars, but my reading flow was interrupted quite a bit by some weird sentence structures and ways of phrasing things. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the plot which was certainly not your average bear. The characters were pretty varied for a short story only spanning less than 80 pages, too.
Glad that I picked this one as my introduction to the Bizzaro World!
September 17, 2017
a short but suspensful and depressing post-apocalyptic love story that will leave you both angry and sad, but happy for going through the experience.
December 6, 2013
Gee, nice title. Spoilers...
As an entry in this year's New Bizarro Author Series, Tiffany Scandal gives us something very different with the standout There's No Happy Ending. This series is something I've looked forward to every year since its inception because it gives us new authors and new voices in fiction that we haven't read before, and the results are often unique and in some ways challenging.
This is the case with There's No Happy Ending. The story revolves around Isobel and Dresden, and couple who plan to get married. However, Dresden comes from money and his mother does not approve of his plans to wed Isobel. In addition, the entire world, buildings and people included, are literally falling apart for reasons unknown.
To start off, the book is bleak. It doesn't let you down with its title or description. This is not a book I would recommend for the seriously depressed. Or maybe I would, and say “Remember, at least the world isn't falling apart.” Yet there's still something that grabs the reader. One thing that makes this book so different from the other entries is the lack of humor. That's not say that there aren't a couple of funny moments to be had. But the humor is used sparingly, and it's a far more serious book than the others in this year's series.
It's a love story in its purest form, as Isobel tries to find Dresden and Dresden tries to escape the clutches of his mother to reunite with Isobel. Even as the world is falling apart, the characters never lose sight of their desire to find one another. And, despite how it may sound, this central character trait comes off as endearing rather than annoying, something that isn't always easy to accomplish. You find yourself rooting for the main characters and wanting them to find each other before the end of the world. And it's not a cheesy love story by any means. This is probably why this otherwise bleak book is so tolerable: In a world suffering from the worst case of entropy imaginable, the author gives the reader something to hope for, to watch two likable characters do everything they can just to be with one another, even as the world ends around them.
The prose flows beautifully. While not lyrical, it's clean with few errors and the words roll over your eyes and mind smoothly with no discomfort. It makes it very easy to read and enjoy the book. As I've stated in other reviews, technical errors really bug me, but there are very few to break the flow of the prose and keeps the reader trapped in the book.
That's not to say that everything is hunky dory. There is an unanswered question or two that leave the reader at a bit of a loss. It's probably supposed to be left up to interpretation, but it still becomes an annoyance. An oddity and a minor blemish on an otherwise great first novel.
If you're looking for a book that, while part of the bizarro genre, is rather bleak and yet manages to inspire the reader to hope in its own way, this is the book for you. Simply keep in mind the usual bizarro humor is kept at a minimum and remember that, of course, there' no happy ending.
There's No Happy Ending by Tiffany Scandal earned 4 entropic zombies out of 5.
As an entry in this year's New Bizarro Author Series, Tiffany Scandal gives us something very different with the standout There's No Happy Ending. This series is something I've looked forward to every year since its inception because it gives us new authors and new voices in fiction that we haven't read before, and the results are often unique and in some ways challenging.
This is the case with There's No Happy Ending. The story revolves around Isobel and Dresden, and couple who plan to get married. However, Dresden comes from money and his mother does not approve of his plans to wed Isobel. In addition, the entire world, buildings and people included, are literally falling apart for reasons unknown.
To start off, the book is bleak. It doesn't let you down with its title or description. This is not a book I would recommend for the seriously depressed. Or maybe I would, and say “Remember, at least the world isn't falling apart.” Yet there's still something that grabs the reader. One thing that makes this book so different from the other entries is the lack of humor. That's not say that there aren't a couple of funny moments to be had. But the humor is used sparingly, and it's a far more serious book than the others in this year's series.
It's a love story in its purest form, as Isobel tries to find Dresden and Dresden tries to escape the clutches of his mother to reunite with Isobel. Even as the world is falling apart, the characters never lose sight of their desire to find one another. And, despite how it may sound, this central character trait comes off as endearing rather than annoying, something that isn't always easy to accomplish. You find yourself rooting for the main characters and wanting them to find each other before the end of the world. And it's not a cheesy love story by any means. This is probably why this otherwise bleak book is so tolerable: In a world suffering from the worst case of entropy imaginable, the author gives the reader something to hope for, to watch two likable characters do everything they can just to be with one another, even as the world ends around them.
The prose flows beautifully. While not lyrical, it's clean with few errors and the words roll over your eyes and mind smoothly with no discomfort. It makes it very easy to read and enjoy the book. As I've stated in other reviews, technical errors really bug me, but there are very few to break the flow of the prose and keeps the reader trapped in the book.
That's not to say that everything is hunky dory. There is an unanswered question or two that leave the reader at a bit of a loss. It's probably supposed to be left up to interpretation, but it still becomes an annoyance. An oddity and a minor blemish on an otherwise great first novel.
If you're looking for a book that, while part of the bizarro genre, is rather bleak and yet manages to inspire the reader to hope in its own way, this is the book for you. Simply keep in mind the usual bizarro humor is kept at a minimum and remember that, of course, there' no happy ending.
There's No Happy Ending by Tiffany Scandal earned 4 entropic zombies out of 5.
February 27, 2017
Tiffany Scandal writes in her bio that she enjoys things that make her uneasy. It shows in this solid, bizarro fiction debut. The end of the world? Check. Being separated from the love of your life just before you're about to be married? Check. A mother with an unhealthy obsession with her son? Check.
If you're looking for an emotional and gory apocalyptic tale of love and separation, this is it.
If you're looking for an emotional and gory apocalyptic tale of love and separation, this is it.
October 7, 2014
Isobel and Dresden are lovers who are about to get married. The world around them is rotting away, some strange sickness that afflicts not only people, but even buildings and cars. Dresden's mother does not approve of the wedding, and goes to great lenghts to prevent it from happening. Now, separated from each other with a dying Earth in between, the two lovers must find each other before the end of all things.
"There's No Happy Ending" is a good description for this book, not just its title. We know right from the start that things will not end up well. But the love between Isobel and Dresden it's so strong (and so well-written by author Tiffany Scandal) that we can't help but root for them. We root for a Deus Ex Machina scenario, even though we know it's not coming. And it's love that drives this book, the infinite love one have for the other. All the violence and gore that follows are more of a filling, a way to make the apocalyptic quest more believable. The climax scene is scripted perfectly written, and we hope all through the end.
A fantastic, solid book.
"There's No Happy Ending" is a good description for this book, not just its title. We know right from the start that things will not end up well. But the love between Isobel and Dresden it's so strong (and so well-written by author Tiffany Scandal) that we can't help but root for them. We root for a Deus Ex Machina scenario, even though we know it's not coming. And it's love that drives this book, the infinite love one have for the other. All the violence and gore that follows are more of a filling, a way to make the apocalyptic quest more believable. The climax scene is scripted perfectly written, and we hope all through the end.
A fantastic, solid book.
September 27, 2014
I’m a sap, and I dig love stories. I also dig Elvis, labyrinths, mutants, zombie street warfare, urban apocalypse, mad science experiments, and creepy family dynasties. If you are into any of these things you will have fun reading this novella by bizarro author Tiffany Scandal.
It’s about two young lovers, Isobel and Dresden. In a perfect world they would simply be together. But the world is disintegrating before their eyes, people are turning into monsters, and Dresden’s rich and powerful mother hates Isobel, who is of lower station than Dresden’s family.
It’s only the end of the world and Mom who get in their way, forcing the lovers to fight like hell to get back to each other. Gory descriptions, sharp dialogue, and fast episodic pacing weave together their dual narratives as Dresden searches for a way out of his mother’s clutches and Isobel and her tattered wedding dress kick ass across an urban wasteland.
A great blend of love, weirdness, and horror.
It’s about two young lovers, Isobel and Dresden. In a perfect world they would simply be together. But the world is disintegrating before their eyes, people are turning into monsters, and Dresden’s rich and powerful mother hates Isobel, who is of lower station than Dresden’s family.
It’s only the end of the world and Mom who get in their way, forcing the lovers to fight like hell to get back to each other. Gory descriptions, sharp dialogue, and fast episodic pacing weave together their dual narratives as Dresden searches for a way out of his mother’s clutches and Isobel and her tattered wedding dress kick ass across an urban wasteland.
A great blend of love, weirdness, and horror.
August 25, 2014
Bizarro is a genre where one can and should expect anything in fact its better not to expect anything in particular and just run with what the author throws at you. There’s No Happy Ending is like that and can I say not wrong on the title. Yikes!
This world that Tiffany has created is crumbling to nothing and with a pair of lovers who are so much in love getting to your wedding is quite the predicament. Throw in the most horrible mother/mother in law to be who will go so far as to kidnap her son to lets just say change him and keep him from the woman she doesn’t approve of. Though, I doubt any woman for her little boy would do.
A good read and one worth the sample for those who are new to bizarro and certainly one to check out for those who frequently partake.
This world that Tiffany has created is crumbling to nothing and with a pair of lovers who are so much in love getting to your wedding is quite the predicament. Throw in the most horrible mother/mother in law to be who will go so far as to kidnap her son to lets just say change him and keep him from the woman she doesn’t approve of. Though, I doubt any woman for her little boy would do.
A good read and one worth the sample for those who are new to bizarro and certainly one to check out for those who frequently partake.
September 20, 2014
This is probably the first bizarro book that made me all teary and sappy. I never expected that to ever happen.
This is a bittersweet, heart-wrenching love story. Two ridiculously in love people, Isobel & Dresden just want to get married. First, can they get the approval of Dresden's deranged mother Elise?
Can they even manage to get to the chapel?! Wait, then some awful apocalyptic disaster happens. How did this happen? What the hell is going on? Will Isobel & Dresden find each other again? Is the book title just ironic sarcasm?! Maybe THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING!
This was a very strong and new story in Bizarro. I'd like to see more weirdly and achingly sweet romances, more kickass female antagonists.
This is a bittersweet, heart-wrenching love story. Two ridiculously in love people, Isobel & Dresden just want to get married. First, can they get the approval of Dresden's deranged mother Elise?
Can they even manage to get to the chapel?! Wait, then some awful apocalyptic disaster happens. How did this happen? What the hell is going on? Will Isobel & Dresden find each other again? Is the book title just ironic sarcasm?! Maybe THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING!
This was a very strong and new story in Bizarro. I'd like to see more weirdly and achingly sweet romances, more kickass female antagonists.
July 18, 2014
This book is dark, compelling, and nightmarishly surreal. Scandal controls her prose with the precision of a (deranged) surgeon. There's not much I can say about this book without giving away not the ending (which is given away by the title) but the process of getting to the ending. A challenging mix of star-crossed lovers, zombie survival horror, mad science body horror, and snide asides delivered by an Elvis impersonator.
There are moments of brilliance here that are stunningly brutal and foreshadow many good things to come from this budding author.
There are moments of brilliance here that are stunningly brutal and foreshadow many good things to come from this budding author.
June 23, 2014
Apocalyptic story of two lovers finding their way back to each other for there to be no happy ending for them.
I do enjoy 'end of the world' type stories and this really was an end of the world story, there is no surviving what was happening. I liked that a lot. There are too many happy endings for a lot of stories these days.
Well written and easily read. Enjoyed a lot.
I do enjoy 'end of the world' type stories and this really was an end of the world story, there is no surviving what was happening. I liked that a lot. There are too many happy endings for a lot of stories these days.
Well written and easily read. Enjoyed a lot.
September 14, 2015
This reminds me of something I would have read in high school when I was getting acquainted with surrealism and dadaism. I haven't read something like this since then too, over 20 years ago. It felt like an acid trip, a really deep one, both exhilarating and terrifying. It was an interesting read. I think I was too sober to enjoy it properly.
April 24, 2015
All the feels.
Reading this book was like having a shot of hot sauce forced down your throat then getting punched in the solar plexus. Definitely not a run of the mill love story and viscerally enjoyable because of it.
Reading this book was like having a shot of hot sauce forced down your throat then getting punched in the solar plexus. Definitely not a run of the mill love story and viscerally enjoyable because of it.
December 29, 2014
Think Brazil by way of John Waters with some extra nasty body horror and you're on the right track of this oddball bizarro tragedy.
September 8, 2016
This was an interesting read. I have never read from the Bizzaro Genre before, but this is a personal friend and just had to read her creation. I enjoyed it.
October 2, 2018
It was a fast paced book and was a fun read, great job to the Author Tiffany.
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