Tales of Supervillainy: Cindy's Seven

The Supervillainy Saga, Book 8

By: C. T. Phipps

Narrated by: Heather Costa, Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Cindy Wakowski a.k.a. Red Riding Hood is the second-most feared villain in Falconcrest City. Unfortunately, she soon discovers that is only because she's considered Merciless: The Supervillainy without Mercy™'s favorite henchwoman. Determined to prove herself every bit her boyfriend's equal, if not superior, Cindy assembles a team of other villains to go after the largest treasure trove in the world: the hoard of the Dragon King.

Unfortunately, things start going sideways from the start. An ex-boyfriend of hers turned eldritch horror wants revenge, other villains don't want anything to do with her plan, and the Foundation for World Harmony has put out a death warrant on her head. Merciless has also decided to engage in a little friendly competition that Cindy wants nothing to do with. Can she steal slay the dragon and claim its treasure? Will she let her ego and impatience get in the way? Also, who is Red Sindi and what relationship does she have with our antiheroine?

Tales of Supervillainy: Cindy's Seven is the eighth novel of the best-selling Supervillainy Saga series and the first from the perspective of its most popular supporting character!

©2022 Charles Phipps (P)2023 David N. Wilson

Fun Time

Even tho it's kinda a spin off, this book and the series are great. You'll love the story and the characters, or at least have fun listening!

Ehhhhh... definitely mediocre for this series.

First I'd like to start out by saying that I am a CT Phipps fan and the supervillainy series is one of my favorites. However, for whatever reason this book was mediocre. I'm not going to say that it was bad because it wasn't bad. BUT, it definitely wasn't up to the level of the other books in the series. The narration was good but Cindy's voice was more annoying than anything. I know actors/narrators have a vast array of voices that they use and not all of them are as appealing as others. I just don't think that the choice for Cindy's voice was up to par with her personality. A lot of the story seemed forced and the normal banter and pop culture references just didn't measure up with the other books. This might be a good reason to show why supporting cast should stay supporting. Cindy is a great character overall but she's definitely a supporting character and not a good one for a main focus. If you're a fan of the series it might be worth giving it a listen but I would have to say it's definitely the bottom of the list out of all the supervillainy books in the series.

just cant get enough of C T Phipps humore

have loved everything about this series, it doesn't take its self too serious and always makes me smile when listening to it. hope this series never ends! And ps. the author is a great guy that interacts with his fans online A LOT!!

love it

love this book. can't wait for the next one to come out. Cindy does not disappoint.

Cindy wants and deserves to be seen as more.

I listened to the audio book, and Heather voicing Cindy, I thought her accent was natural for her. But, I needed to adjust to her pace. I even slowed the audio at times because I couldn't keep up with her quick speak. I know Cindy has many great references but the words all ran together and I struggled to catch all the quick remarks. These books are always known for the fun fantasy, science fiction, and 80's references.

All are close. Like one big family. They love each other and know there are flaws in each, but they work together to cover for where one is less. Like Cindy knows she's not a good mom, so there's Mandy and Amanda and Gary's sister and such a close network here that help raise the girls and help each other. I love the comfort here.

Cindy is tired of being Gary's hench woman and wants to be seen as more. So she comes up with her own plan...steal the dragon's treasure. However, this mission becomes way more than such a simple task. There's more going on with the dragon! And with a few of the family members. They all face something personal as the story goes.

Mandy comments that Cindy is mentally 14. lol! I have to agree with this! She's a chatter box and half of what's said doesn't make sense in logic. lol.

These are fun adventures with Cindy at the lead with her friends and family. Always fun in this world.

a change of pace

it's was interesting hearing the story from Cindy's point of view. wasn't the best book in the series but solid for sure.

Very Funny Quipping Super Heroes

A super funny critique of current culture in the guise of super heroes quipping about life and their quest to defend others in a sinful city.

Endnote: If you are an audiobook addict, be sure to stay in listen mode for the dual narrator blooper bits at the end. Jackie Chan would be proud.

Move over, Gary: this time, it's all about Cindy

Cindy’s Seven is labeled as the 8th book in C.T. Phipps's Supervillainy Saga, following The Horror of Supervillainy. Though it takes place after the previous book's events, Cindy’s Seven is a departure from the previous Supervillainy Saga books. It’s enough to be a spin-off series on its own, and rather than focusing on Gary as in the previous seven books, the narrative is recounted from Cindy’s point of view. I’ve loved the previous books, but this change up makes sense, as the plot is driven by her desire to move out from Gary’s shadow and to be seen as a true supervillain on her own (rather than just Merciless: The Supervillainy without Mercy™'s sidekick). However, the best part of the POV change is the dual narration of the audiobook by Heather Costa and Jeffrey Kafer. If you only have read the book, you’ve seriously missed out on a golden performance.

If you are reading the review for the 8th book in a series, I’m going to assume that you’ve already had the pleasure of experiencing the previous seven books and have enjoyed the unique and comical tone of the series. Therefore, this review will focus on what’s different in Cindy’s Seven – mainly because this book is obviously all about Cindy.

Though the POV character changed, Cindy’s Seven still has the zany antics and wild plot twists I’ve loved throughout the series. It does, however, have a slightly different feel, as I think it's more story-focused and less parody/satire than previous books. The POV character change-up makes it distinct, as Cindy’s storytelling is distinguishable from Gary’s snarky, wild, and often indecipherable narration. Cindy seems somehow to be a more logical (at least in that her crazy is more internally consistent) and goal-driven character. Most of her references are to the fantasy and sci-fi genres of books, games, and movies rather than Gary’s dialog of anything-goes, neverending, and sometimes random pop culture. It’s weird to realize that Cindy may actually be the more stable of the two.

In summary, Cindy’s Seven is an excellent book on its own, and though it's different from the Supervillainy Saga's other books, it's a good different. I’m torn between wanting a true Cindy POV sequel to Cindy’s Seven and a more Gary-focused, “classic” Supervillainy Saga book. Maybe it's time for a multiple-POV book for the 9th installment! And to reiterate my earlier mention regarding the audiobook narration, both Costa and Kafer are already outstanding solo narrators, but together, they are amazing. Unlike other dually narrated books, they don’t just alternate reading chapters but instead perform parts for the male and female dialog; their combined talent results in Cindy’s Seven having flawless narration.

Special thanks to C.T. Phipps, who provided me with this book at my request.

very much like someone describing their d&d game

I love this series; seeing the world through Cindy's eyes is incredible. I'm always brought back to a line in the early books that "Cindy is a broken woman" and hearing her try to navigate that with her feelings while at the same time dragging as many people into her poorly thought-out plan is hilarious. See above about a d&d game. And my players certainly do hit as many puns and movie/book references as they can. So I've wanted to drop a dragon on them more than once.

And speaking of references. Honestly, I can't think of a single reference that was missed. I don't even want to call them out here because it's more fun to see the characters call them out.

Great entry in the series

There's a running bit about not Ultra Goddess that really tickled me. Had me laughing everytime it came up!