Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

20 reviews

pvp_niki's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Suicide, and Terminal illness

briophyta's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Charlie is excruciatingly obnoxious, so much so that I almost returned the book to the library within the first few chapters. None of the people in this are really likeable or interesting, except

all the talking critters 😍  who are way smarter, more interesting, entertaining, class conscious than any of the humans. Those were the parts I did enjoy. It was very satisfying when the dolphins were hurling insults at Charlie and telling him to shut the fuck up, because that was also what I was doing the whole book. My eyes hurt from rolling so much.  Normally Scalzi manages to pull off the sarcastic humor, but this one was a miss s

and overall just not as pleasant or rewarding as what I expect from Scalzi. I know he was in COVID brain fog while writing this though, so it's understandable that this feels more disjointed than normal. There were parts of this and a few cha acters I loved, but mostly it was just fine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Car accident, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness

nekoshka's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Terminal illness and Car accident

deedireads's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

All my review live at https://deedireads.com/.

As you would expect of a book with a cat wearing a suit on the cover, and as you would expect from John Scalzi in general, this book was a HELL of a good time. What a quick, fun read!!

Starter Villain is basically Despicable Me for adults. The main character finds out he’s inherited his estranged uncle’s villain business, complete with a spy network of hyperintelligent cats, a volcano lair, and a workforce of foul-mouthed, class-conscious unionized dolphins (they were my favorite). Then he finds out that all the other villains have it in for him, and he has to rely on his uncle’s team to help him outwit them all. WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?

Truly, I could not have had a better time reading this book. The pacing was great (I read it in a day), the voice was great, the cats were great — just great all around. The perfect lighthearted read to squeeze in between heavier and/or thicker tomes. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness

melodyseestrees's review

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

The most loveable characters are easily the cats and dolphins, both of which are way more fleshed out than one might expect. This is also a pretty realistic idea of a regular schmegular character being thrown into the world of cartoon villainy. The plot can be hard to follow in a very saturday-evening cartoon special kind of way. If you suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow the experience is fine. 
I have some feelings on every non-white character being nepo-babies and generally morally corrupt bad dudes. They are supposed to be characters with more money than brains,

except the money isn't real and they definitely do not have it

. This was my first Scalzi so maybe there isn't a theme and the diversity of the villains was to really point out their gender bias or something? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Terminal illness, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

mandareads222's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

obliquity's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Took a while to get into the story and the conclusion felt a little anti-climactic, but the faster pace helped with the former. Little monologue-y in places, but fun.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Terminal illness and War

hal00alex's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Perfect for people who liked Kaiju Preservation Society and Assistant to the Villain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

iono's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Sexism, Terminal illness, Car accident, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic