Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Really enjoyed this story - the beginning was a little slow and the only reason I didn’t give it 4 stars
I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of Isaac Asimov’s Robot books, which I love! Easy and enjoyable read.
This tale is a combination of Romeo and Juliet meets Asimov’s I, Robot. All of the characters have surprising depth, managing to be gloriously inspiring and touchingly flawed at the same time. I will definitely be getting the second book in the series.
I really enjoyed this one and would have absolutely given 5 stars if not for the LARGE amount of sappiness that was shoved into the last 100 pages.
Bucky Barnes/Winter Solider had always been one of my favorite characters, and the Murderbot Diaries is absolutely my favorite book series. This book takes two of my favorite things and puts them together into a new type of robot-android awesome. Definitely hit all the buttons I was hoping it would (minus the mush. Seriously, I get that it was a huge character development but it definitely distracted from the Space Adventures awesomeness a bit) and i look forward to reading the rest!
Bucky Barnes/Winter Solider had always been one of my favorite characters, and the Murderbot Diaries is absolutely my favorite book series. This book takes two of my favorite things and puts them together into a new type of robot-android awesome. Definitely hit all the buttons I was hoping it would (minus the mush. Seriously, I get that it was a huge character development but it definitely distracted from the Space Adventures awesomeness a bit) and i look forward to reading the rest!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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:
Yes
My Rating: 3 stars
This book is a fast-paced sci-fi story following a soldier-girl and an intelligent robot. While it had a premise I was not super keen on to start, this book provided an intense plot, interesting characters and an amusing story, even if that wasn't the intention.
*I received this free proof copy from a giveaway from Allen & Unwin. I prefer this cover to the original one!*
My Thoughts:
This book follows the characters of Noemi and Abel, a soldier and a mech - a specially enhanced robot who has been abandoned for 30 years. As the plot suggests Noemi and Abel cross paths in the battle between Earth and Genesis, and as they begin to discover things about their world and the truth of where they have both come from, they draw closer amongst the craziness.
While I have really enjoyed other pieces of Claudia Gray's writing, I was very skeptical going in to this book. A robot and a girl. Stuck together. What do we think was going to happen? Oh of course. They are going to get romantically involved. I wasn't surprised when this happened but I was pleased with the fact it didn't play a huge role.
I really enjoyed reading from both perspectives as it gave good insight into both Abel and Noemi. Noemi has had a tough life and after losing her best friend, she gets stuck with Abel. Abel on the other hand, has 30 years of catching up to do and dealing with abandonment issues from his creator who he calls "Father". Seeing both of them on page was really good together but there were some points that were a bit vulgar and unnecessary. I understand that Abel was a robot and wouldn't have an issue with sex and the idea of prostitution, but was it entirely necessary to have conservations with Noemi about it? It made me feel very uncomfortable and didn't fit with the feel of the book.
The writing of this book felt very middle grade to me unfortunately, which didn't fit with some of the conversations that were happening in the book which were young adult. If this book is meant to be middle grade, the conversations above would definitely not be appropriate. It took over 100 pages to feel like I was in the swing of the book, which isn't ideal as I very much could have put it down at any point and not returned to it. I also felt as though at the beginning there was a lot of explaining about how the world worked and I didn't understand. Perhaps, if it was a bit less forced and more natural it would have made more sense? It felt quite untidy to me.
I did love the rebellion that was happening and would have loved to learn a bit more about that. With environmental issues being a big concern for the future, I loved seeing how this was imagined in this book and the war that would result from this. I'm still a little confused about how the war was truly manifesting itself and wish this could have gone into more detail but I hope in future books this will be explained.
Another thing I also really loved was learning more about Abel. Despite feeling skeptical that he was a robot, seeing the character progression in him and learning what truly happened to him was really great and I thought it was a great plot twist (no spoilers!)
The book ended well and unexpectedly and definitely leaves you wondering what will happen in the next book.
I am a huge fan of Claudia Gray's other series The Firebird and will definitely continue to follow the books that she writes, even though I was slightly disappointed with this one. I definitely encourage you to check out her other books!
Recommended for: If you enjoy sci-fi books with some interesting concepts, then I would recommend this book for you.
Quotes (Spoiler Free):
“I thought you were opposed to engaging in prostitution to fund our travels.”
“That’s not what I—is prostitution your answer for everything?”
“Please stop sniffing the robot boy, Noemi tells herself, jerking out of the trance.”
“Where there’s no free will, there’s no sin.”
“Esther would tell her to dance faster, leap higher, to laugh out loud with all the breath in lungs. That’s what the dead would tell the living, if they could—to grab hold of joy whenever it comes.”
If you have read this book let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your thoughts.
This book is a fast-paced sci-fi story following a soldier-girl and an intelligent robot. While it had a premise I was not super keen on to start, this book provided an intense plot, interesting characters and an amusing story, even if that wasn't the intention.
*I received this free proof copy from a giveaway from Allen & Unwin. I prefer this cover to the original one!*
My Thoughts:
This book follows the characters of Noemi and Abel, a soldier and a mech - a specially enhanced robot who has been abandoned for 30 years. As the plot suggests Noemi and Abel cross paths in the battle between Earth and Genesis, and as they begin to discover things about their world and the truth of where they have both come from, they draw closer amongst the craziness.
While I have really enjoyed other pieces of Claudia Gray's writing, I was very skeptical going in to this book. A robot and a girl. Stuck together. What do we think was going to happen? Oh of course. They are going to get romantically involved. I wasn't surprised when this happened but I was pleased with the fact it didn't play a huge role.
I really enjoyed reading from both perspectives as it gave good insight into both Abel and Noemi. Noemi has had a tough life and after losing her best friend, she gets stuck with Abel. Abel on the other hand, has 30 years of catching up to do and dealing with abandonment issues from his creator who he calls "Father". Seeing both of them on page was really good together but there were some points that were a bit vulgar and unnecessary. I understand that Abel was a robot and wouldn't have an issue with sex and the idea of prostitution, but was it entirely necessary to have conservations with Noemi about it? It made me feel very uncomfortable and didn't fit with the feel of the book.
The writing of this book felt very middle grade to me unfortunately, which didn't fit with some of the conversations that were happening in the book which were young adult. If this book is meant to be middle grade, the conversations above would definitely not be appropriate. It took over 100 pages to feel like I was in the swing of the book, which isn't ideal as I very much could have put it down at any point and not returned to it. I also felt as though at the beginning there was a lot of explaining about how the world worked and I didn't understand. Perhaps, if it was a bit less forced and more natural it would have made more sense? It felt quite untidy to me.
I did love the rebellion that was happening and would have loved to learn a bit more about that. With environmental issues being a big concern for the future, I loved seeing how this was imagined in this book and the war that would result from this. I'm still a little confused about how the war was truly manifesting itself and wish this could have gone into more detail but I hope in future books this will be explained.
Another thing I also really loved was learning more about Abel. Despite feeling skeptical that he was a robot, seeing the character progression in him and learning what truly happened to him was really great and I thought it was a great plot twist (no spoilers!)
The book ended well and unexpectedly and definitely leaves you wondering what will happen in the next book.
I am a huge fan of Claudia Gray's other series The Firebird and will definitely continue to follow the books that she writes, even though I was slightly disappointed with this one. I definitely encourage you to check out her other books!
Recommended for: If you enjoy sci-fi books with some interesting concepts, then I would recommend this book for you.
Quotes (Spoiler Free):
“I thought you were opposed to engaging in prostitution to fund our travels.”
“That’s not what I—is prostitution your answer for everything?”
“Please stop sniffing the robot boy, Noemi tells herself, jerking out of the trance.”
“Where there’s no free will, there’s no sin.”
“Esther would tell her to dance faster, leap higher, to laugh out loud with all the breath in lungs. That’s what the dead would tell the living, if they could—to grab hold of joy whenever it comes.”
If you have read this book let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your thoughts.
A great book. This author had consistently blown me away with every book of hers I read. This felt a bit like Lost Stars, the Star Wars ya novel by the same author.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
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:
Yes
I first read this book a long time ago, I was probably in secondary school and now I am 3 years into a job after attending 4 years of university!
I enjoyed it just as much as I did when I first read it - I loved reading the story once again and it was interesting to see how much I remembered as I read it!
I talk about character development a lot when I review books, but I honestly love the character development of Noemi and Abel - especially Abel!
I don’t think I’ll ever know why I never continued reading the series, despite picking up the next books soon after finishing this one (or maybe they weren’t published yet?), but I’m going to finish reading the series this time!
I enjoyed it just as much as I did when I first read it - I loved reading the story once again and it was interesting to see how much I remembered as I read it!
I talk about character development a lot when I review books, but I honestly love the character development of Noemi and Abel - especially Abel!
I don’t think I’ll ever know why I never continued reading the series, despite picking up the next books soon after finishing this one (or maybe they weren’t published yet?), but I’m going to finish reading the series this time!