A review by briophyta
Starter Villain by John Scalzi

  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Charlie is excruciatingly obnoxious, so much so that I almost returned the book to the library within the first few chapters. None of the people in this are really likeable or interesting, except
all the talking critters 😍  who are way smarter, more interesting, entertaining, class conscious than any of the humans. Those were the parts I did enjoy. It was very satisfying when the dolphins were hurling insults at Charlie and telling him to shut the fuck up, because that was also what I was doing the whole book. My eyes hurt from rolling so much.  Normally Scalzi manages to pull off the sarcastic humor, but this one was a miss s
and overall just not as pleasant or rewarding as what I expect from Scalzi. I know he was in COVID brain fog while writing this though, so it's understandable that this feels more disjointed than normal. There were parts of this and a few cha acters I loved, but mostly it was just fine. 
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