Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

5 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

thereadinghammock's review

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny, Cancer, and Gaslighting

saltycoffee's review

funny lighthearted mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

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

fiagarrod96's review

dark funny 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? Yes

5.0

This Science Fiction book was absolutely fantastic! The premise is insane and the way the story was told was just hilarious. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I absolutely loved it!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Stalking, Suicide, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Murder, and Terminal illness