Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Network Effect by Martha Wells

11 reviews

astrangewind's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious sad 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

4.75

It feels downright indulgent to read a 350-page Murderbot book.

There was a lot about this book I liked. Because it was longer, we get to see more of Murderbot's interactions with various humans and bots / constructs as well as its overall character development. I liked the creepy atmosphere toward the end, and seeing Murderbot get upset thinking
ART was dead
. I liked the serious tone; the book really reframes a lot of the previous material.
For example, that Murderbot's relationship with the company, which it often jokes about, is based deeply in trauma. And when Murderbot sees another SecUnit that was ordered to stand down and then killed by its governor module. It's like a joke or an annoyance at first, and this book really shows the reader that this isn't to be taken lightly.
 

That said, the plot felt like it moved really, really slowly, and then went way too quickly at the climax. In the other Murderbot books, because they're novellas, that doesn't seem so weird, as the overall effect is that the entire plot moves quickly. But it doesn't work in the full-length novel. Additionally, it seemed like Wells wanted to expand on a bunch of themes - the self-awareness of other SecUnits, Murderbot's ability to have meaningful relationships, corporate greed - but wasn't able to fully explore all of them. There were so many different pieces, many of which worked well together, but some of which didn't.

Also, and this is a problem with all the Murderbot books, there are just so many damn characters.

I did really love this book, though. As a novella with much the same content, I probably would have given it 5 stars.
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doahdancer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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spookily's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

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amschelly153's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.5

I have deeply enjoyed the series. It’s really dry sometimes, but the character development is absolutely incredible. I laughed and almost cried, and then laughed some more. 
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michaelcattigan's review against another edition

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

4.25

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bluestockingbookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
  • 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

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lorienkittybooks's review against another edition

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

5.0

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

5.0

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dolores_madil's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I absolutely love this. My biggest criticism has been that I wanted more content from the novellas. This gave me that the emotions, the character development, the exploring of relationships yes is all I have to say. I am fully and unconditionally in love with Murderbot and will gladly be its life partner. Everyone who said it was too long and could have been cut down was wrong because then we would have lost all the character development and rareness that was in this book. So the novellas up to now have been about moving the plot forward and learning about Murderbot along the way but at the same time, the short word count has also let Murderbot be like I don’t want to deal with emotions. In this novel, they were forced in many different ways to confront their emotions and to a certain extent deal with them or at least not ignore them. Murderbot is an android and in this world AI’s of all kinds can become sentient and this is a new concept not just for the many different types of AI but also for humans. For the first time, we really get to fully see and experience it not just acknowledge it and then push it off because we have to give the plot more page time. So far one of best books I have ready this year. 
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anntharai's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

When I say I can’t get enough Murderbot I really really mean it. 

Incredible story wonderfully written and phenomenal characters. 
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