4 ⭐ CW: violence, murder 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells is book one in the Murderbot Diaries. This was a quick scifi novella that I have heard a lot about and been meaning to read, and I'm glad I finally did! I've been reading more novellas lately, and they are great for end of the month goals. 

We follow a SecUnit that calls itself Murderbot. Murderbot has hacked its governor module that gives it orders and punishments, so it's basically a free agent, but still works on contracts. Murderbot is on contract with a group of humans who it actually likes, and works hard to keep them alive when another company tries to murder them. 

Murderbot loves watching serials and other media, doesn't like making eye contact or talking much to humans. It just wants freedom. You can't help but love it and how awkward it feels most of the time (relatable). I like how the author casually sprinkled in polyamory and other relationships for the human characters, but the story was mainly from Murderbot's pov. 

I'm interested to see where Murderbot goes moving forward in the other novellas.