3.5 stars. Enjoyed this! Loved that it's Own Voices about a First Nations Community in Canada. Might pick up more from serious though I really wish th3.5 stars. Enjoyed this! Loved that it's Own Voices about a First Nations Community in Canada. Might pick up more from serious though I really wish they were all available on audiobook from my library....more
This book was exactly what I needed at that moment in my life. Another reviewer said "if you want a book that makes sense, look elsewhere. If you wantThis book was exactly what I needed at that moment in my life. Another reviewer said "if you want a book that makes sense, look elsewhere. If you want to have fun, read this". God, I had so much fucking fun. This is bizarre and absurd and creative to the extreme and absolutely hilarious. You just sit back and enjoy the trip.
I'm looking for more by this author and I will absolutely re-read this when I want to just turn my brain off and go on a surreal adventure with great characters and a world falling apart but really, it's okay - just roll with it....more
3.5 stars rounded up because this really is kinda entertaining, mindless fun.
Sooo, is there not a 3rd Volume yet? I'm really just left with this, huh3.5 stars rounded up because this really is kinda entertaining, mindless fun.
Sooo, is there not a 3rd Volume yet? I'm really just left with this, huh? That's annoying. The 1st Volume was definitely better but I still liked this one. The ending has me with that feeling of wanting more from any of the three main pots were were following. The art's not my favourite thing in the world, but it's still good. There are some good, solid moments in here, some genuinely funny (this run has revived my adoration for Oliver Queen, holy shit) and whenever I put it down I looked forward to picking it back up again. I Overall, it's just such a bleak, enormous concept removed from pretty much any other storyline in the DC Verse, so it's a great 'why the hell not' kinda read to pick up, even if fangs aren't really your thing....more
Absolutely love hearing this guy's adventures. Makes me go out and find trails I haven't found before and see the ones I've taken before differently. Absolutely love hearing this guy's adventures. Makes me go out and find trails I haven't found before and see the ones I've taken before differently. He's entirely nuts and it's fantastic. If you love nature - and especially if you're Canadian - I definitely recommend. He reads his own audiobooks too!...more
Man, I've really gotta be more specific when I say I want a mindless mystery book. This was not only mindless, but brainless as a bonus.
I love when aMan, I've really gotta be more specific when I say I want a mindless mystery book. This was not only mindless, but brainless as a bonus.
I love when an author introduces a character at the beginning of the book and then slowly, over the course of the book, starts entirely contradicting everything we've been told about said character. Hey, at least this way we get to see what the author intended and what might've been. Frankly, I much prefer the version of Miss Everly we DIDN'T get to know. The first couple of chapters I was very happy to get to know the strong, intelligent, logical scholar who hated gossip and would never insult herself by flirting or using her gender to gain ground. She wanted to be with her plants and contribute to science and prove herself while wryly commenting on others around her and bantering with Alexander. And then as things progressed I just grew to hate her. She's dimwitted, impulsive, illogical, rude, and not even in a quirky funny way. It's just irritating. Then she starts making enormous illogical decisions and gossiping and flirting with men to get information - which isn't a general deal breaker by any means, I'm not clutching any fucking pearls - but it goes against who she was introduced as. Honestly, being in her brain is annoying because she has such rash, stupid thoughts, ugh. She makes so many assumptions, like what the Inspector's thinking and doing, or possible social connections. She becomes increasingly full of herself and obnoxious. She asks inappropriately personal questions of Alexander. She thinks lipstick and a different hairstyle is an actual disguise from people who fucking interviewed her face to face a day prior (and it WORKS). She doesn't act at all intelligently, and it's simply not fun watching her screw up or get things right. I just wanted her to do something that made sense. Ultimately I decided to focus on the mystery instead of her in an effort to get through the book.
The mystery, sadly, isn't written particularly well either. Things don't make sense (and I don't just mean her theories). You know it's not good when you start siding and sympathizing with the cops that are supposed to be incompetent or evil or the enemy or whatever. Seriously, I'd be supremely pissed off if I was the Inspector dealing with Saffron or Elizabeth and frankly his patience is impressive. Saffron ended up looking like the crazy one here, and at one point I wondered if that was the intent but I don't think so. I think she was supposed to be an intelligent heroine - which, maybe she is sometimes, but it was not shown here. Seriously, what idiot thinks she can poison herself, make her own notes while no independent third party is observing, and then present it to the police as damning irrefutable evidence? She could've just written that up whenever she felt like like it and, I dunno, LIED?! It made no sense and pissed me off when she kept patting herself on the back for doing on and surely being the reason Maxwell was released from jail.
The romance was never gonna work because I can't vote for any relationship to work if she's one half of it, and frankly I like Alexander too much to encourage him to be with her. I was relieved there wasn't any 'I love yous', which I fully expected, though trying to kiss in hospital after both of them puked up their guts repeatedly wasn't exactly romantic. Either of them brush their teeth in that time? Sorry, I know, buzzkill. The garden scene was a much better venue if nothing else.
Whatever with this one. Was so glad to see the end of it and hopefully better things (and more intelligent and likeable characters) are on the way....more
I love how these are written. Things always go wrong, there's a great mix of action and character development, and watching Murderbot grow and transfoI love how these are written. Things always go wrong, there's a great mix of action and character development, and watching Murderbot grow and transform is really heart wrenching. I love how it's mind kept going back to Mensa even though it ran from it's clients in the first place. Those humans really do mean a lot to it, but I respect the need to go out of its own and live without commands for awhile, even though I'm desperate for reunion. Also, the addition of ART was wonderful and I was so sad to say goodbye to it. It was instrumental not only in the mission and Murderbot's survival, but its development. The callback to the mine disaster made sense as well and I thought it was handled well, the resolution not feeling like it fixed everything.
A quick spoiler here, but that last liberation of the sex bot and then letting it go out on its own felt borderline cruel. That poor bot doesn't have the security instincts a Sec Unit has and it's gonna be utterly lost and confused untethered without an ally. I don't believe it was at all out of character for Murderbot to do and I'm glad it was free, but damn.
More than anything else though, the humour is just perfection. It's dry, sarcastic, and keeps the whole tone of the book uniquely dramatic and tense while simultaneously giving the vibe of Murderbot being utterly bored and exasperated with the stupidity of the human race. It's fucking awesome.
I read this on audiobook as well and I highly recommend it. That said, I recommend this whole series. They're short and fantastic and I'll definitely be continuing on....more
It's just exceptional to me how much is neatly and creatively packed into such a small wallop of a book. That ending is just.... Gah. So many warring It's just exceptional to me how much is neatly and creatively packed into such a small wallop of a book. That ending is just.... Gah. So many warring emotions. I adore all the characters and their dynamics, especially our Sec Unit.
I also listened to this on audiobook and the narrator perfectly treads the line between a monotone mechanical being and the expression necessary to illustrate Sec Bot's other individual mannerisms coming to life and developing.
Such a unique, interesting, heartfelt story with a good chunk of interesting science/AI tech without being complicated or exclusionary and wonderful dark humour that saves the heavy subject matter from getting too, well, heavy. Highly recommended....more
Loading...
