Pit Fighter 1: The Opportunity

The entire premise/idea of this book is good. Very good even. I went into this thinking I would really love it. A world filled with animals, fighting and maybe some steam on the side. But it didn't live up to any of that. The story doesn't actually go anywhere. It reads like the opening to a part one or a full novel instead of a fully completed part one. There's no end goal reached so it's a cliffhanger ending instead of an ending that leads into the next part. It doesn't succeed at fulfilling the needs of the first, of coming to a conclusion but not reaching the end goal, Which I'm assuming is finally getting to meet his crush.

Rick is really hard to like. He's almost 20. I'm assuming this means he's 19. But he reads like a fourteen-year-old. He gets nose bleeds at any sign of heightened arousal which is supposed to be quirky but just comes off as juvenile and gimmicky than something serious. And I'm supposed to feel for him being weird or awkward but he mostly just seems clueless, naive and a bit whiny instead. He joined a combat sport to meet his crush as if he'd just walk in be at the top of his game and immediately be granted the chance to meet a celebrity and.... That's the problem right there. and what. Date him, marry him, just do things naked with him, what? There's no clear reason or end goal as to why he joins other than to meet him. But there are a million ways to meet a celebrity without endangering your life so what else? There has to be more.

His reaction to the contract was way over dramatised. Too much woe is me and I'm like yo, you joined a multibillion-dollar fighting entertainment club. He couldn't have honestly thought it be easy. That's like joining the army and thinking you're going to walk right in and be a commander. No mate, you're a private and could be one forever if you don't have what it takes to rise the ranks.

Also everyone is gay. Everyone. And here's this scared, whiny almost-adult who gets nose bleeds whenever he's aroused and he's a virgin. Saving himself for marriage. Who knows how many guys his crush has been with but he's concerned his mom will think he's a slut but care no which way his crush is one. Hell everyone in this fight club is a slut and this one guy is continuously turning down advances. It's supposed to be endearing but it comes off as sad instead. Which is a shame because, as he says, there isn't anything wrong with it. It's just how it stacks in with his character and the world that's being built around him that makes it seem gimmicky instead just like the nosebleed stuff.

All that aside, as I said the book is incomplete. He should've made it all the way to his first fight, possibly lost, and then had to deal with the complexities of what he's gotten himself into with the debt and so on and so forth and then pick that up in the next book. Giving this book a full circle, cycle conclusion and setting up the next one. Instead, it reads like it's leading up to orientation, or a first fight, or some sort of revelation and doesn't get there. It's a cliffhanger and now you're left with an angsty, lost, confused, helpless lead and having no clear idea of where the book is going. 

It was a tad too slow for a first part especially since it's short. I still have no idea what he plans to do when he meets his crush which means I don't know why he joined. When asked why he joined his response was he has a crush on Sultan and his bunkmate legit says he's a good kisser. Eyeroll. That alone killed the virginal angle cause clearly Sultan is out there getting his and not hung up on purity at all. Still his bunkmate was right, everyone joins to get something out of it, what is Rick's reason and if he didn't know his real motives why didn't we delve into that in this book. That would've been a clear point to reach for part one. Also it seems designed for an adult audience but the main character reads like he has only just hit puberty and isn't on the verge of adulthood. Like his teen years haven't happened yet but, as he says, he's almost 20 so this makes no sense.

I felt going in, and still do feel that there's so much that could be amazing about the story. But it didn't take advantage of everything. Without a clearly defined plotline and a main that comes off more helpless and annoying than learning and growing from the big mess he got himself into, it reads like an incomplete tale that needs to be longer or more condensed so that more can feature in this book. As it is, it kinda ambles along and takes the cliffhanger route leaving an unsatisfied feeling instead of a wanting to read more feeling.