librarymouse's reviews
400 reviews

Bad Dreams in the Night by Adam Ellis

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dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I enjoy Adam Ellis's web comics, and it was great to see the ending of some of the ones teased on his social media. Some of the stories were interesting. Others were anticlimactic, but I enjoyed getting to read more about the inspiration behind the comics.
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Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I really enjoyed this one, but hopping back in time, before the events of the series' previous novel made it feel like I was reading them out of order. Great twist ending, and the plot provides a really interesting backdrop for learning more about Preservation's history!
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Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells

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emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I liked having Mensah's perspective on the issue of GrayCris, and to see her enjoyment of Murderbot's sense of humor.
Network Effect by Martha Wells

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is more sweary-y than its shorter counterparts. It's nice to see Murderbot's personality grow as it shifts into a less-sec-unit-exclusive way of living. It was also great to get ART back and learn more about its crew. I should be transparent that I read the first 5 books in the series in a week and I'm batch reviewing them. Some of the contents blends together. It's really interesting to see Amena and Murderbot's relationship develop, and to see how it's come to love and be love as it's able.
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Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

An engaging addition to the series! I should be transparent that I read the first 5 books in the series in a week and they all kind of blur together, but I did enjoy this one, especially with Murderbot reconnecting with the crew that freed it from The Company.
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Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

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adventurous dark emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Murderbot interacting with different types of bots, constructs, and programs is really cool to read about. The idea of Murderbot being a voice in Mickey's head under the name Consultant Ren and navigating/learning through Mickey's eyes was unique and well executed, especially with the added twist of Mickey privately messaging Abene to hold up their lie when Murderbot has to reveal itself to save them. Mickey is such a sweet, trusting, and overall lovely creature and it's relationship with Abene prompting Murderbot to have some feelings/introspection about why it's having those feelings is a really cool (and dare I say human) touch, especially for a narrator who is pointedly and adamantly not a person.
I really enjoy that these are monster-of-the-week style books while still having an overarching plot.
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Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

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adventurous funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Murderbot is picking up strays and making friends (and killing people, but they're bad so it's okay)! Fun, fast, well-written read.
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All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This novel is a great introduction to Murderbot! It is a very enjoyable narrator! It's motivations lean towards protection despite having a hacked Guardian drive that doesn't allow them to be compelled to do so, and it comes to care for the crew it's been assigned to. This series reminds me of Becky Chambers, though I believe Murderbot Diaries was published before the Wayfarers series. Queerness in outerspace with a nonhuman narrator, of whom humanity isn't expected is the way to my heart. I especially love the aro-ace coding of the narrator. I know robots as allegories for a-spec people is a tired stereotype, but I enjoyed reading it, nonetheless, having Murderbot's lack of external sexual organs line up with his interior experience of attraction was neat!
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Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction by Gabrielle Moss

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informative medium-paced

3.5

This book was funny and informative as Gabrielle Moss explored the history of 80's and 90's teen fiction. It was enjoyable, but I sometimes felt myself drifting while I was reading as the dates, characters, and titles blended together. There are a lot of dark themes in mass market teen fiction.
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Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I read Hope Was Here for the first time in 5th grade. I got in so much trouble for writing my name on the wall because the school was a place I didn't want to forget and that I didn't want to forget me, the same way Hope does in the book. She was smarter about it than I was.
As someone who doesn't generally enjoy Christian fiction, Hope Was Here is one of the few books I read as a child, with strong Christian messaging, that has held up to be enjoyable to my adult self. This novel has great messaging encouraging individuals to take a part in their systems of government in order to make the change they want to see in the world. Addie is so deeply funny and relatable to me, especially her reaction to having gone on a date with GT. I love a book where an odd woman gets to be loved as she is. I cried at Hope getting a dad, and I cried even harder when GT died, leaving her having had a dad for far less time than she deserved. This book is a great work of realistic fiction.
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