Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

15 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

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: Blood, Murder, and Gun violence

Minor: Terminal illness and War

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

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

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

alisonvh's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Bullying, Abandonment, and Gun violence

Minor: Suicide, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Cursing

elizabeth_lepore's review

adventurous funny lighthearted 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Terminal illness

axel_p's review

challenging lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

not my kind of humor

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Death, and Death of parent

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

beepbeep101's review

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

No animals die, yay!