Reviews

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Only show reviews with written explanations

zanderthenerd's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

booking_along's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

i want to love this series, and i really enjoyed the first one and was so excited to get more murderbot which was the character i enjoyed the most.

but it just keeps going down hill for me and this series and this particular installment? too long and just felt not just reusing what was already done similarly previous lot only in the series but also in this book itself.

the novellas are okay even if sadly i didn’t love the last one of that either BUT they are short and get to the point and it’s done.

this just kept going and kept having the same stuff happen -action, murderbot getting hurt, some downtime, once again action, murderbot hurt again, some slower pages and it starts all over again.

and normally that’s okay i don’t mind predictable storytelling and i don’t even mind it particularly much in the novellas - but this was too long and too repetitive in what would happen.

there is different plot and different AI and bad guys and robots popping up but it just felt all „been there done that“ to me. sadly.

that all being said it wasn’t horrible or „the worst“. and i know this series has its big fans with is fantastic.

sadly i just seemed unable to become one as well no matter how much i wish i could.

hesperis's review

Go to review page

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? Yes

5.0

tallsnarkycanadian's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous

4.25

nonesensed's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Murderbot, to the public for now only known as SecUnit, is off on its first official security mission outside of its new "safe zone" (as safe as Murderbot ever lets itself believe a zone is, which, frankly, isn't much). With their closest human Dr Mensah a long wormhole ride away but said humans adolescent offspring being part of the humans Murderbot is currently guarding, that's a recipe for drama. It gets extra so when a familiar and unexpected ship shows up and attacks them.

Man, what a ride! I've eaten my way through the Murderbot Diaries this in less than two weeks (only one more to go ;_;) and it's hard for me to put into words why I love it so much - though that might be the 10-11 hours/day shifts I'm pulling right now due to a heavy patient load. Anyways, the most coherent things I can say about this book in particular is:
- I love how it got to really dive deep into a plot and mystery. The previous books have all been great, they were the exact lengths their stories needed to be, but I love that we get a longer stay in Murderbot world with plenty of intrigues and character interactions to support that length~
- All the human characters getting moments to shine and flesh out their personalities.
- The HelpMe files <3<3<3
- Three!!!!
- ART. Just. ART.

Basically, I want to keep reading this series for as long as there are new books to be had in it! So sad I'm getting to the last one, but also happy I've read them, and I can't wait for book 7-9 to get here :D

rainbowbookworm's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This book took me on an emotional roller coaster!

Spoiler

My heart broke alongside Murderbot when we learn that ART is no more and rejoiced when ART was brought back to life.

I also enjoyed that Murderbot wants other robots to experience the freedom he now has while understanding that it will be difficult for these robots to break away from their programming.