I’m going to start this off by saying that I’ve never read any of the Squirrel Girl comics. I wouldn’t even know she existed if it weren’t for people’s reviews on Booklikes. I bought this because the excerpt I listened to sounded good and because I vaguely remembered Squirrel Girl seeming like a fun character when I read those comics reviews.

I should also mention that I took a lengthy break in the middle of listening to this audiobook - not because it was bad, but because I got into one of my “I don’t want to listen to audiobooks” moods. I think I slid back into it and remembered things pretty well, but if I get some details wrong that's probably why.

In this book, Doreen Green is 14 years old and has just moved from California to New Jersey. Going to a new school and making new friends isn’t easy, but Doreen happens to have the most powerful positive attitude on the planet. And also the powers of a squirrel, complete with the tail and teeth. All her life, Doreen’s parents have told her that she has to hide her tail and abilities - after all, they’re so awesome that everyone around her would instantly be jealous and sad that they weren’t like her. But Doreen can’t help herself and accidentally reveals what she can do while dealing with a local group of troublemakers.

Thankfully Doreen’s identity is safe. It seems that her tail has magical attention-diverting powers. While it’s out, she goes by the name she has always secretly called herself: Squirrel Girl. Unfortunately, even though Squirrel Girl isn’t technically a superhero (you can’t just call yourself a superhero, right?), it isn’t long before she finds herself dealing with what appears to be an actual supervillain.

This had two narrators: Abigail Revasch for the bits from Doreen’s POV and Tara Sands for the bits from Tippy Toe the squirrel’s POV. They were both good, but Abigail Revasch was the one who absolutely made this book shine for me. She somehow managed to be a perfect fit for both relentlessly positive Doreen and Doreen’s much more cynical friend Ana Sofia. She also did an amazing job on the squirrel talk.

For the most part, this was the literary equivalent of cotton candy: light, fluffy, and sweet. Doreen put a huge smile on my face, and I loved it anytime things went well for her. It was hard to imagine anything truly bad happening in a world where she existed, and the supervillain who had chosen her to be his archnemesis seemed particularly ridiculous, with his forced evil laughter and zucchini-based decoy. There were lots of funny lines and scenes. Probably my favorites were Doreen’s efforts at texting superheroes for help. She accidentally insulted Tony Stark multiple times (his ego could totally survive it, so I didn’t feel bad for laughing), and Winter Soldier was hilariously intense (I’m not familiar with him, although I’ve at least heard a little about the movie). The revelations about Rocket’s massive pranks were also good, and the bit with Thor was incredibly cute and sweet, even if I had a little trouble believing it.

Surprisingly, this book had some serious moments later on. The supervillain left me feeling conflicted. On the one hand, his history was pretty sad, but on the other hand he almost managed to kill a lot of squirrels and people (including a baby). Probably the most painful part of the book, though, was when

Squirrel Girl was publicly ridiculed. Even Doreen’s positive attitude couldn’t withstand that.

(spoiler show)

All in all, this was a really enjoyable audiobook. There were times when I could definitely tell that I wasn’t the target audience (too old - I’m pretty sure this was aimed at Middle Grade readers), and the baby love got to be a bit much occasionally (Doreen and her squirrel friends adored babies), but I had a lot of fun anyway.

 

Rating Note:

 

I debated giving this 4 stars but decided that my love of Doreen and Abigail Revasch's narration pushed this up to 4.5 stars. I could definitely imagine relistening to this if I needed a pick-me-up.

 

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

How the Supervillain Stole Christmas - C... Book – How the Supervillain Stole Christmas
Author – Charles Payseur
Star rating - ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
No. of Pages – 30
Cover – Nice
POV – 3rd person, 1 character POV
Would I read it again – Yes.
Genre – Christmas, Holiday, Superhero/Supervillain, Science Fiction, Romance


** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine



WARNING: There may be SPOILERS ahead!


This was a cute little Christmas short, but I felt like something were missing, that meant I couldn't give it a higher rating. Rex was an intriguing supervillain and I liked that we got to see him acting out some supervillain tricks, while also talking about previous victories and failures. Even though there were a few glimpses of Superheros, they didn't have a disproportionate amount of time given to them which was refreshing.

I did feel that the title was a little misleading, since *SPOILER* Rex never manages to actually steal Christmas. In fact, by the end of the story he's done a Grinch-esque 180º twist from hating Christmas to celebrating it with those he loves.

The romance between Sanjay was cute, but tame. I didn't see much chemistry, outside of a few stolen kisses and the final sex scene. Which, in a similar was, didn't quite fit with the story. I found that the romance was given less attention than it could have had, since the whole story was about Rex and Sanjay's relationship; some memories or a few more meetings would have been nice, just to equal out the emphasis on the budding relationship. The sex, however, felt a little too clinical and well set up. I think the story didn't really need it in detail; just the suggestion of them going into the bedroom would have been enough, since there was nothing else that could have been interpreted as 18+ in the rest of the story.

~

The story was cute, Christmassy and sweet. I just felt that a few things were missing.

~

Favourite Quote

“It felt odd to say it aloud, like it was some plea to the universe to just...let this one work. Yes, occasionally he tried to blackmail world governments or blot out the sun itself, but didn't he deserve love too? Didn't he deserve to actually have a relationships last to the New Year?”

This is a sexy supervillain story set in the fictional metropolis of Imperial City. Caprice (Capricious Whim) is very good at what she does but even she can be bested sometimes. In this tale, she will choose to trade certain favors for info and more. Will her evil plots be thwarted, or merely delayed as she dallies over an evening of pleasure?

This is one of the funnest sexy eroticas I have listened to in some time. I love the supervillain theme with all the costumes, super powers, and characters with loose morals. Caprice herself has the dual powers of telekinesis and telepathy, though each has it’s limits. Couple those powers with her swordsmanship, and you have a formidable foe. She’s not above a little murder and mayhem if it suits her needs or if someone tries to double cross her. I love her practical take on wearing Kevlar when needed and always going armed.

The main plot is pretty straight forward. She meets her ‘work’ associate Michael at a night club and they go meet Harry Sidowski together for this possible job. Michael is a unique villain in that his body has two souls – Michael’s and a vampire’s. After talking with Harry, they team up to take on the job, which they do but Caprice loses her sword and is injured. Later on, she will go on the hunt for her sword and more.

While the plot does move along pretty darn quickly, the author does let us linger over the sex scenes. Most of the scenes are energetic but pretty straight forward – one female, one male, various positions. Yet even though they are basic, they are written very well. In fact, I was surprised steam wasn’t coming off my audio player! There is one domination scene (with Caprice doing the dominating) that was OK for me. Caprice’s character wasn’t as excited about it as the other participant, so there wasn’t as much passion as with the other scenes. I really liked that the men in the story varied in height, weight, physical fitness, etc. Over all, it is a sexy, fun story that involves costumes, sexytimes, and a touch of violence.

I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost from the author (viaAudiobook Boom) in exchange for an honest review.

The Narration: Rebecca Wolfe had the perfect voice for Caprice – certain, determined, sexy. She did a good job with the various male voices as well, keeping them distinct. She never faltered during the sexytimes scenes, sounding enthusiastic and natural. 

Set in the imaginary Falconcrest City, superheroes, monsters, and supervillains clash and clatter together. Gary Karkofsky has delusions of grandeur, specifically of becoming the lead supervillain for the city. He was given a magical cloak that gives him formidable powers. With this new wardrobe and a small group of henchpeople, Gary has big plans for the city.

First and foremost, there is humor everywhere in this book. I love that much of the humor is told in a straight manner, the characters taking the plot seriously even as they come up with corny supervillain or superhero names. For instance, Gary’s alias is Merciless: the Supervillain without Mercy. Now wouldn’t that make you quiver in your boots?<img class="emoji" draggable="false" src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/emoji/twemoji/svg/1f609.svg" alt="

It's been a real struggle to read this book. In every short story collection there is going to be one or two duds, but I've finished three and skimmed another one and I haven't enjoyed any of them. Part of the problem I think, is that the first story wasn't a strong opener and it kind of affected my enjoyment of the following stories. I need a palate cleanser, so I'm going to read something else before trying to jump back into this.