Review: Not Your Villain

Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The follow-up to Not Your Sidekick, like its predecessor, takes a little time getting started, which is especially noticeable given its short length and that almost a good third of it is devoted to kick-starting the main plot. But again, when that plot kicks off and re-explores the first book's theme of the gray morality lines between heroes and villains - and the artificial in-universe manufacture thereof - that's where Not Your Villain really starts to shine.

That, plus the fact that we get even more LGBTQIAP+ rep to go around. No, seriously. Not only do we get a trans lead in Bells (with Lee making it a point of being sensitive around certain aspects of his character - for instance, she deliberately alludes to Bells not being his birth name, but never actually deadnames him), but we also meet a minor enby character, Cal, who introduces themself with their pronouns as well as their name and gets everyone else following suit. And Emma, in this book, questions her romantic orientation - and since she's set to be the lead character of the upcoming third and final novel, Not Your Backup, that'll effectively complete Lee's trend of having each book led by someone with a completely different combination of racial and queer identities.

All in all, another great story from C.B. Lee. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long for Book 3 - or for Seven Tears at High Tide, which I'm still trying to get my library to order.

View all my reviews