Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Starter Villain

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

14 reviews

trips's review

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

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melodyseestrees's review against another edition

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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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almaprincess66's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book hit my funny bone.

Had a rough start but it evolved real fast.

I would watch this if it would be a movie

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mandareads222's review against another edition

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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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rwsmith's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

this was such a fun read. i loved the pace and length of this book. its very quippy, but not so much that it gets old or annoying. its predictable enough to be satisfying, but not enough to be boring. i haven't read any other works by john scalzi, but this was so fun i might put some of his other work on my tbr.

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reading_srsly's review

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.75

* Sudden Inheritance

* Rags to Riches

* Spies & Assassins

* Romance free

When Charlie’s estranged Uncle passes away with the request to have his last normal living relative represent him at the funeral, how is Charlie supposed to say no? Especially with the promise of some sorely needed financial help in return for those few hours of empathy. Unfortunately, he gets a little more than he bargained for as his Uncle’s enemies fixate their sights - and assassination attempts - on him.

Written in a zany tone reminiscent of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this novel casually blends the ridiculous with a classic spy adventure. Despite the impossibilities of the story the writing style does a good job of making everything seem just within the realm of plausibility. The characters are very charming, if a little over the top. Hera is definitely a stand out favorite, with the dolphins as a close second - there’s no shortage of strong personalities in this story. While the banter is a little clunky at times and had me searching whether this started as a web serial, after the first few chapters it’s easy to look past.

This story doesn’t take itself seriously, so if you’re looking for something with depth and gravity you might want to keep searching. But if you’re in the mood for a light read, filled with sentient cats and cutthroat multi-billion dollar villainy, this is the book for you!

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bookwyrmknits's review

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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.

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iono's review against another edition

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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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alisonvh's review

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

This book is every bit as much fun as the rest of Scalzi’s work. He’s one of the few writers who can make me LOL while reading.

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thereadinghammock's review

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adventurous funny reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

A wild ride filled with top tier millennial humor. Charlie was so, so relatable in his "wait... what now?" moments. He really rolled with curveball after curveball, taking familial villainous revelations, spy cats, cetation labor relations, and Caribbean volcano lairs in stride as each new wild layer of his uncle's business empire was revealed. The humor through the whole book kept me laughing constantly and reading passages to my partner and my friends at every opportunity. The Zoom meeting from hell was particularly inspired. I think I was crying laughing by the end of that chapter.

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