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leannanecdote's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
grem_ler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Gun violence, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
beefthedwarf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Engagement: 4
Worldbuilding: 4
The worldbuilding was very easy to absorb. It didn’t feel a need to overexplain itself. It relies a bit on the reader being familiar with some corporate cyberfuture tropes, but I doubt ASR would be the average person’s first foray into the genre.
Some parts of the world also seem to be poly-normative and queer-normative. I’m glad to see this spring up in sci-fi after enjoying it so much in The Elemental Logic series.
There are a few pieces of world building that don’t entirely make sense, though. One, I find it hard to believe some humans didn’t get attached enough to a SecUnit to buy its contract before Murderbot. Humans pack bond easily, even to agents of corporatocracy (see: Amazon Alexa, Roombas, etc). Two, the book seemed to oscillate between “SecUnits are disposable bullet shields” and “SecUnits are too expensive to throw away”. This made it unclear exactly how high the stakes were for Murderbot.
Writing Style / Prose
Spelling / grammar / formatting: 5
Vocabulary and Sentence Structure: 5
Internal / External Dialogue: 4
Emotional Impact: 3
I liked the short, sweet, simple prose. It set the tone of the book very well and matched Murderbot’s “I’d rather be watching my shows” attitude to everything.
However, I struggled with some of the emotional impact of everything. I never really got to know the characters, and didn’t know who was who half the time. That’s partially my fault for putting the book down too often (I had a lot going on!). However, I feel like we could have learned more about the humans outside of Murderbot’s exposition.
Plot Flow
Pacing: 5
Scene Structure: 4
Plot vs. Character Impact: 4
Approach to Climax: 4
ASR is a short book, and it gets right to the point. Excitement springs up pretty much immediately, and the plot thickens from there. However, I found myself a bit lost about what exactly was happening toward the end. The part with the beacon confused me — was it an assassination attempt? An accident? It seemed to come out of nowhere.
The Ending
Satisfaction: 4
Resolution of loose ends: 5
The ending was very poignant and also left a lot of room for subsequent books. I liked the idea of “everything turned out great and Murderbot was invited to live in a paradise under the guardianship of humans” being turned on its head. It says a lot about its character that it didn’t want a peaceful happy ending if that meant losing its autonomy.
Characterization
Personality, Goals, and Motivations: 4
Interpersonal Relationships: 3
Murderbot cared deeply about its humans, but I didn’t really. Again, I put the book down a lot. It took me like 2 months to finish it, for no fault of its own. But the cast just felt like that, a cast, with only Gurathin and Mensah having any personality.
I wish there had been more interactions, or Murderbot’s recollections of interactions, to help us care more about the crew as people.
~Vibes~
Connection To Readers: 5
Originality: 4
The Itch™: 4
I connected to the book because Murderbot reminded me a lot of Gideon Nav, and that immediately gave me a lot of feels. I also like that Murderbot is never given a gender to signify its personhood. It doesn’t even really want personhood, either. This is very refreshing after a lifetime of sci fi media insisting that a robot needs to be a girlbot or a boybot to be “alive”.
Average Score: 4.18
Graphic: Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Gore and Gun violence
Minor: Colonisation and Classism
madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation
riledupryepie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence
Moderate: Confinement, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
parenthesis_enjoyer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
clynns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Minor: Death, Self harm, Violence, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
briophyta's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
brynalexa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
yedikedi2k03's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail