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jhbandcats's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
readerette's review against another edition
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).
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).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Violence
hendrixpants's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
rstegema's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Violence
trips's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Deadnaming and Blood
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
The topical real world pandemic/politics mentioned felt like a time capsule reminder of an era that was terrifying and sucked. In that regard, I felt it did a bit of disservice to the rest of the book because I genuinely loved the premise/worldbuilding of Kaiju Earth (I have a pet peeve of it being "kaiju" instead of the more proper kaijū).
The humor was full of nods to pop/nerd culture and some repetitive gags which was generally tied to the burgeoning found family vibes from the crew. I would say that some of the characters felt a little one dimensional, which can kind of be explained away with the job attracting a certain type of person, but it felt a little lazy. I did appreciate the non-binary rep for one character though.
The majority of the book had you learning everything via the protagonist trial-by-fire style which lent itself well to exploring a new world. If there was more expansion about the multiverse situation I would probably gobble it up, but I think I'm a little scarred about current(-ish) events/politics in books at the moment.
At the end of the day, it was a predictable story, but I'm pretty sure that was the point.
The humor was full of nods to pop/nerd culture and some repetitive gags which was generally tied to the burgeoning found family vibes from the crew. I would say that some of the characters felt a little one dimensional, which can kind of be explained away with the job attracting a certain type of person, but it felt a little lazy. I did appreciate the non-binary rep for one character though.
The majority of the book had you learning everything via the protagonist trial-by-fire style which lent itself well to exploring a new world. If there was more expansion about the multiverse situation I would probably gobble it up, but I think I'm a little scarred about current(-ish) events/politics in books at the moment.
At the end of the day, it was a predictable story, but I'm pretty sure that was the point.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
athryn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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
This was great, I devoured it in one day, almost in one sitting! To be fair, I was camping, so there wasn't much to distract me, but this was a great light read.
Scalzi is definitely back to form after the somewhat disappointing Interdependency series. This had some great fantasy/wish fulfillment going on. I could kind of see this getting turned into a film or a TV series.
Scalzi is definitely back to form after the somewhat disappointing Interdependency series. This had some great fantasy/wish fulfillment going on. I could kind of see this getting turned into a film or a TV series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ehmannky's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was such a fun and sweet little read. I think the first 2/3 are a bit slower paced for me, with it mostly just focused on this little group of nerds trying to study the big kaiju, and then the last 1/3 really kicks into gear with its Terrible Billionaire Plot (which I loved). It was a very kindhearted read, with a focus on love and friendship and giving a big fuck you to entitled billionaires. Very fun and I can see my friends who did field work really loving this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
saltycoffee's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic
shoffschwelle's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
4.75
A wonderfully fun John Scalzi book featuring big monsters who are similar to dinosaurs but not quite. Set during the early stages of the COVID pandemic, we follow Jamie Gray as he loses his job at a startup, reluctantly takes a job delivering food for an Uber competitor, and is recruited by a former acquaintance for a mysterious job taking care of large animals. Jamie's background as a PhD candidate in science fiction provides wonderfully meta commentary on the whole situation. Just a fun read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence
Some Kaiju eating people. Very minor and not detailed.