Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

15 reviews

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. 

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Terminal illness and Car accident

natashalg's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

I had high hopes for this book, but I was left feeling disappointed. The story was fun enough, but the ending left a lot to be desired and felt rushed.  Parts of the book also seemed to drag on when you would expect a villain business to be exciting! Not a lot happened... The cats were by far the best part of the story and why it's a 2.75 instead of a 2.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Death and Gun violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, and Death of parent

trips's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-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

3.0

 So first off, I want it to be known that my 3 star rating is definitely a me thing.

I found this book to be fun fish-out-of-water, light hearted tale, much like KPS! It was easy to read; the prose is fun and the dialogue is witty. I loved all the pokes at how our world is currently run, and I especially loved the cats, Hera and Persephone.

I didn't expect a light discussion on the treatment of workers in our modern world to really come up, but I guess when Charlie is dealing with all these multi-millionaires and their complete lack of care for the general population, it was only natural!

My real reason for it being 3 stars: Charlie's situation at the beginning was way too relatable and at first I was like "huh, ok!" but then the details got too similar and it became kind of like, "huh, my life really is like a story, isn't it?" and it was a weird thing to come to terms with.

Charlie and I's horrific life events are luckily not very common, so I think most people will have a fun time with this book! A part of me is apologetic towards writing this at all but honestly, I really needed to get it off my chest for myself. Thank you for your understanding to whoever is 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cancer and Car accident

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? 

---

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

---

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

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.

---

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

bookwyrmknits's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book was so much fun! I love the way it's both down-to-Earth and over-the-top all at the same time (and often in the same paragraph). The cats are my favorite part of the book, but some of the villain competitors are fun as well. I really enjoyed my time with this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Cancer and Car accident

achay91's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

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

Minor: Suicide, Stalking, Car accident, 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

---

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