Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

8 reviews

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

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: Murder, Death, and Gun violence

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

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

mandareads222's review against another edition

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

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

meladriel's review

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

Overall, I highly enjoyed this book! Scalzi's style is down-to-earth and his main character, Charlie, read like a realistic person thrust into circumstances beyond his control. The inclusion of animal labor relations and general calling out corporate b.s. was fantastic, humourous, and enjoyable. A quick read and an highly entertaining one for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and Death

hal00alex's review

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, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Terminal illness

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

mollyb13's review

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

I enjoyed John Scalzi's book, 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' last year, but what really made me pick this book up was the cover lol. And the book lived up to the cover! What an absolutely wild and fun ride that was! I was laughing out loud at the ridiculous scenarios but also completely invested in the plot. I loved the book length - 260ish pages meant that the story was boiled down to the best parts. The dolphins and cats were amazing. And I'm glad to know that villains have just as tough of a time with getting each other to unmute themselves on Zoom as the rest of us 😂 I will be recommending this book to all my friends and family during the upcoming holiday season!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness and Suicide

readerette's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.5

If you like cats, gentle humans, some morally gray characters, and examination of what makes a person villainous, you should read this. I laughed a bunch and felt a few tugs at my heartstrings.

Charlie was a little too good at speechifying given his other character traits and the plot twists were pretty transparent, but this is not a thriller; the twists are not the point. A great story and the perfect length. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic friendship

caseythereader's review

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? Yes

5.0

Thanks to Tor Book for the free copy of this book. 

- Bless a sci-fi book that doesn't take itself too seriously. STARTER VILLAIN is silly and over the top, but at the same time it's making real points about who the real villains are in the modern world.
- Truly, this is a book you'll fly through, cackling the whole time. Space lasers! Foul-mouthed dolphins! Double, triple, quadruple crossing each other!
- And personally, I couldn't disagree with the notion that cats - specifically a pair of orange and white ones - are secretly running the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Suicide

devynreadsnovels's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Terminal illness, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Sexism, and Suicide