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@wondereads
Welcome!
Hi, I’m Amaryllis, and this is my recommendation and review blog. On this page, I pretty much only discuss books, maybe occasionally an adaptation. Currently, I'm just reviewing books as I finish them (occasionally out of order).
Here is my linktree for all my other platforms:
Book reviewer and aspiring writer
There’s more about me, my system, and my books under the cut.
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Review: Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Genre: Sci-Fi
Age Range: Adult
My Rating: ★★★☆☆.5
Down-on-his luck former journalist Charlie Fitzer is struggling to get his life back on track after the death of his father. He's a substitute teacher still living in his father's house when his estranged uncle passes away leaving a significantly bigger inheritance behind: a thriving supervillain business. Charlie is his uncle's heir apparent, which means he has to deal with nosy government agents, unionizing dolphin security, and a host of gadgets that can shoot satellites out of the sky, all before he attends a convention for supervillains, villains who have a long-standing grudge against his uncle. On top of it all, his cat's been sentient the whole time.
This was a fun book and not much else. What a concept! I expected more comic book-esque villainry, but this is more a take on the Bond strain, which is directly referenced a few times. Starter Villain shines in its absurdity and Scalzi's clear passion for the idea behind the story. By far my favorite parts were the early bits when Charlie is first adjusting to the truth behind his uncle's business and the explanations about how a supervillain would function in modern times. Of course the villains sell useless subcriptions to governments and are largely made up of finance bros. That is exactly what a villain would be in the 2020s. Unfortunately, beyond the basic premise, it all falls apart.
Probably the biggest issue is Charlie himself. He's not a particularly complex character, and I'd argue that he sees absolutely no growth throughout the novel. He's exactly the same at the end as he was at the beginning, if arguably richer. There's very little about him that makes the story work. Rather than pulling on his journalist or teacher background, he tends to succeed because he's the protagonist, and rather than having his time as a villain aid his other ventures, he succeeds because the story needs a conclusion. How...boring. He also lacks agency; all his "decisions" are typically forced by other people or brought about by necessity—he's never the one driving the plot forward. The final reveal was incredibly unsatisfying as it not only makes the whole story a bit of a moot point but deprives Charlie of any agency he was desperately clawing back from a very straightforward, plot-driven book.
Charlie's problems as a character are emphasized by the pacing of the book. The vast majority of page space is taken up by long-winded, if humorous, explanations of Charlie's uncle's business and villain society. Once the conflict actually starts—over halfway in—there's very little space left, which results in a rushed, unsatisfying ending. There could have been less exposition, but honestly I would've preferred a longer book. There's a lot established in these 250 pages, and a longer, more thoughtful story could have been a joy to read. It's a fun, substanceless satire, but the premise carries a lacking plot and cast. Bonus points for the sentient cats.
The duality of man
Achillean Books for Pride 2026
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez - adult high fantasy, ★★★★★ (BIPOC)
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater - ya contemporary fantasy, ★★★★★
Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide - ya thriller, ★★★★★ (BIPOC)
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu - adult portal fantasy, ★★★★★ (BIPOC)
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou - adult high fantasy, ★★★★★ (BIPOC)
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White - adult horror, ★★★★★ (disability)
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - ya high fantasy, ★★★★★ (disability)
PREPARE TO BE ABSOLUTELY FUCKING SICK OF ME
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Lovely to see we have spaces where you can gain access to so much literature!
Don't sleep on @queerliblib the Queer Liberation Library for all your queer Libby needs!
And if you want some extra cards to add to Libby from some of the largest library systems in the US, check out Books Unbanned! It’s primarily meant for younger people (13-26) to help counteract book bans
I think perhaps the only way in which queer people have achieved true parity with straight people is that queer romantasy is just as bad.
How can you say no to that face OvO
(Snippet from the opening of Alanna: The First Adventure)
@scorpling: *galaxy brains* someone should draw the TLT necromancers as their corresponding Sailor Guardians
Me: Oh that sounds like a great idea. Too bad I've actually never watched Sailor Moon tho
Me:
Me: Palamedes in a miniskirt tho.
Okay no I need to talk about the book version of Howl's Moving Castle. I love the movie but the book has such a different vibe and you, yes you, should read it.
Movie Howl is a soulful and quiet. Book Howl is a drama queen and Causing Problems and has a long string of jilted exes and couldn't shut up if you paid him.
Sophie and Howl drive each other up the wall at the beginning and it's really funny. Sophie and Howl are (despite themselves) very much in love by the end and they still drive each other up the wall and it's even funnier.
In the movie, Howl has been ordered by the king to participate in The War, and Howl is avoiding it because he is a brave conscientious objector. In the book, Howl has been ordered by the king to rescue his lost brother from the Witch of the Wastes, and Howl is avoiding it by any means necessary because he is a cowardly weasel who wants to stay as far from the Witch as possible.
In the movie, the Witch cursed Sophie because she was jealous about Howl speaking to Sophie for five minutes. In the book, the Witch cursed Sophie because Sophie had been doing surprisingly powerful magic for years without knowing it and it was actually starting to cut into the Witch's plans. (Sophie does not discover any of this until nearly the end of the book, but the reader can start to pick it up much earlier and the way Sophie's magic works is pretty darn cool.)
In the movie, there's a rumor that Howl eats the hearts of maidens, but this is implied to be nothing but nasty fearmongering. In the book, there's a rumor that Howl eats the hearts of maidens because Howl started the rumor so people would stop asking him to do wizard junk all the time.
The book lightly parodies a couple of tropes from Western fairy tales. In particular Sophie has internalized that, as the eldest of three sisters, her "destiny" is to fail so that her younger sisters will look cooler when they succeed, which is why she's so resigned to the hat shop at the beginning. (Sidebar: Sophie's sisters come up much more in the book and they're great.) There's also a really funny bit where Sophie attempts to operate a pair of seven-league boots.
In the movie, the fourth and final location that the magic door connects to is some sort of black void / mindscape / time portal dealy. In the book the fourth location is Wales, in the UK, on Earth, so that Howl can visit his family, because from Howl's perspective this is an isekai story.
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Quick what are you doing RIGHT now (besides scrolling Tumblr)
jun & keema from the novel The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
so wildly obnoxious when you agree with the starting point of someone's stance only for them to hard turn into things you DON'T agree with and now you have to defend the thing that was originally annoying you
"too many authors in the current market are focusing on selling 'spice' instead of telling interesting stories"
"oh yeah, i agree. i started reading one that i heard a lot about and it just wasn't-"
"and it's all of these women reading their fucking mommy porn out in public like FREAKS"
*through gritted teeth* "people should be allowed to read whatever they want, and actually these books should be left alone and you should shut up about it"
I get why he chose her. I just wish she had chosen me.
can they stop being iconic for like one second
Queer Book Character Tournament Round Four
Ronan Lynch- The Raven Cycle
Pyrrha Dve- The Locked Tomb
Character, book, and author names under the cut
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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There was recently a copyright infringement case in YA and I need everyone to know that the following sentence was in the legal decision:
“Hot, sexy, dangerous boys, central to virtually all young adult romance novels, cannot be copyrighted.”
“Regarding setting, the court held that both works taking place in Alaska high schools was not protectable because Alaska is a public place and setting a teen novel in a high school is a common genre convention.”
Freeman v. Deebs-Elkenaney | Loeb & Loeb LLP
I've read the entire decision (skimming over the purely legal precedent/definitions bit) and here are some of my favorite bits:
apologies in advance for the US-centric poll options...
Where do you buy the majority of your books?
Amazon (including Audible)
A physical chain retailer's website (such as Barnes and Noble or Waterstones)
Kobo
Bookshop.org (or your country's equivalent, if they have one)
Apple Books
Indie bookstore's webpage
Direct from the publisher (online or in person)
Brick-and-mortar chain bookstore
Indie bookstore or local/small-scale bookstore chain
Used bookstore or thrift store that has books
Somewhere else
I don't buy books
A little scared I'm gonna launch this and then 80 people are gonna be like "you missed the most obvious one, it's..." but that's everything I can think of rn so oh well. I wanted to include Libro.fm for audiobooks but I ran out of room, sigh.
For the purpose of this post, consider things like Kindle Unlimited as "buying the book from Amazon"
