Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Lynnie

Amy    

contemporary fiction, science fiction, thriller

 

As the book jacket states, Charlie is not living his best life. Recently divorced, he is working as a substitute teacher and living in his father's home with his cats - the home his siblings would like to sell out from under him, in fact. Charlie's prospects are bleak. That is until his estranged Uncle Jake - billionaire, business mogul, and (surprise, surprise) supervillain - dies and leaves his estate to Charlie. And, as happens in all of my favorite books, shenanigans ensue.

Lynnie's Review

Starter Villain is the second book I've read by John Scalzi & it was wonderful, silly fun.

This book amused me quite a bit and you can tell Scalzi had a wonderful time writing it. You must suspend the realities of normal life to enjoy this book and just go along for the silly, often profane, adventure. It's super quick read at 264 pages, and it was nonstop from start to finish. I enjoyed all the side characters, particularly the other villains and all the animals.

This would be a great book if you just need a quick escape over a long weekend.

Amy's Review

While I found parts of Starter Villain charming, funny, and spirited, a lot of it was slow, far-fetched, and ludicrous. It took me a very long time to get through it because it just didn’t call to me. The belligerent dolphins, who were intended to be highly entertaining by the author, were simply ridiculous to me. In fact, it was about the time the dolphins entered the story that my interest in reading more of the novel began to wane. I felt the already outrageous but cute story had gone too far into the realm of absurdity.

I finished only because my sister was also reading it and I like it when we both read the same novel. But, I’m sorry to say, I likely won’t be reading more John Scalzi.