Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Kaiju Preservation Society

It's a Scalzi book so it's got its usual Scalzi components: competent people, assholes getting called out, an attempt at a narrator of indeterminate gender, funny bits, a lot of dialogue, and lots of exposition happening in the dialogue.

That said, it's a fun romp and adventure. Reads like it would make a killer screen adaptation. Hollywood, please produce this.

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devynreadsnovels's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious medium-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

4.0

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billievee's review

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

This was not for me. The style of humor here reminded me of the Big Bang Theory and the MCU movies: scientists making nonstop pop culture references and sarcastic, lampshade-y quips; I kept expecting someone to say "Um, so, THAT just happened!" The world building is cool, but that's basically most of the novel. The plot doesn't really take off until the third act, and even then it's pretty thin and goes in predictable directions.

Having said that, the author's note at the end did resonate with me. It sounds like this was the novel John Scalzi needed to write at the height of the pandemic, and that it was healing for him. I can relate to that, and I'm happy this worked for him. I guess it just wasn't the novel I needed to read right now.

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

Another John Scalzi novel and I absolutely loved it. Both this and Starter Villain are just SO funny and refreshing and entertaining and charming. I can’t recommend these two books highly enough.

The lead was the only fully developed character but the plot was so compelling that that didn’t matter. We learned enough about the other people where the lack of character development didn’t detract from the story but allowed more development of the setting and the kaiju.

The encounters with the creatures are tense and often terrifying; even the smallest animals are potentially deadly. But those adventures are also wildly funny, especially the initial helicopter trip with the pheromones. The calmer periods in between the field work are full of laughter and jokes and camaraderie, and I would love to read more about these people. They were smart and fascinating and easygoing and fun.

I loved the revolting descriptions of the kaiju and their smells, their Rottweiler-sized parasites, and all the other fauna, plus all the scientific talk that supported the plot. It was just a delightful book.

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readerette's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? No

5.0

What an absolute delight. The characters are engaging and hilarious, the world is quirky and cool, and I looked forward to diving back in after each time I had to put it down to do inconvenient things like sleep or work.

This alternate-Earth story starts with a decent amount of world-building and character development, and then an emotional twist emerges (that you'll probably see coming if you've read many mysteries/sci fi). The resolution is sweet and keeps the humor alive. I also appreciate the length. Not every story needs to be a tome, and this one was just right. And the villain is very hateable (but not so much that my taste for the story soured, and their arc went the way it should have).

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hendrixpants's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny lighthearted tense medium-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

4.0

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rstegema's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

5.0

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trips's review

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adventurous funny tense 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

3.5

This book was fun, and like Scalzi says himself, like a pop song. Its not super deep, but it is fun and found myself nodding along with the plot.

It honestly reminded me of the summer action movie that gets pushed every year. Its not deep, things kind of happen for conveniences sake but it kept me entertained for a few hours and that's all I think Scalzi really wanted out of this too. A fun story for the sake of being entertaining.

The concepts were cool and the humor was great.

Anyone annoyed that the book is "too woke" is hilarious though, that also gave me a good laugh reading the comments.

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