Blake

Fantastic read! Growing up in SC, this book was like reading about my own childhood at times, sharing much of the same flora and fauna as well as the same Southern ways. I highly recommend giving this a read if you grew up in the Southeastern US, particularly around ‘50-‘80, or are eager to read a passionate recollection of growing up in that period.

Living here all my life, I can truly feel the love Ray has for this land and just how well she has learned it over the years. So many observations she made hit home and I couldn't agree more with her views on this flat, predictable, vulnerable landscape. I share many of her loves and worries, and truly hope that we can find a way to preserve our unique ecosystems for future generations.

Pages ‘n Pines Grading Scale:

5 - Amazing
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Okay
1 - Didn't like

What a warm read! The perfect book for my first read of autumn. A blend of loveable characters, low stakes, slice of life moments, and a dash of LGBTQIA+ romance, this story was as sweet as a cinnamon roll and as warm as a fresh latte.

This one was nice and slow, taking time to get to know the habits of a character before introducing another. Every character seemed to fall into place, which ironically, is kinda what the story was going for. By the end of the book, I found each character likeable and many felt like old familiar faces I'd known for some time.

I appreciate that the romance was a very slow burn and not made the focus of the latter half of the novel. If anything, the actual “romance” is really only hinted at, eluded to.

For such a slow, low stakes story, I was very surprised by the climax! It was shockingly far paced and oddly tense/gut wrenching, no doubt thanks to the bonds you develop with all the characters throughout.

Overall, a very nice and cozy read, perfect for fall as I said in the beginning. If you like slice of life books/anime, DnD, or even just stories with happy endings, do yourself a favor and give this one a read.

Pages ‘n Pines Grading Scale:

5 - Amazing
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Okay
1 - Didn't like

Why waste your time reading reviews? Everybody loves this series. What's your excuse? “I don't wanna waste my time in case I don't like it.” I hear you whining. Well my friend I have news for you, this is a novella! The whole book is like 140 pages, you can read it in one sitting if you wanted, grow up.

Jokes aside, this is my new favorite series easily. It's set me on a weird robot/sci-fi binge now and I can't get enough, I love Murderbot! (The series, I'd never refer to SecUnit with it's personal name unless given permission.)

In this story, as you probably already know, we follow a SecUnit that refers to itself as Murderbot. Murderbot is a bot/human construct (think our definition of a cyborg except they were created kinda like clones in Star Wars. Got it? Good!) that is half human, half robot, all sass, introvert, and melodrama.

SecUnit (as I'll refer to it from now on) has recently freed itself from the control of it's governor module and thus, the Company. Since then it has 1) chosen not to go on a murderous rampage and kill stupid smelly humans, 2) downloaded tons of media and consumed roughly 35,000 hours of it, and 3) has continued to do its job despite having free will now.

During this job we (and SecUnit) meet up with Dr. Mensah, Ratthi, Arada, Overse, Pin-Lee, and Gurathin, it's clients and eventual friends. Some things go down that I won't spoil for you here but things get a lot more exciting for our bored SecUnit very quickly and come to a (in my opinion) very satisfying conclusion but also cliffhanger?

Do yourself a favor and read this ASAP. I want it at the top of your TBR immediately! You'll totally get the hype once you've finished your read and then you can join me in agonizing waiting Hell while I wait out the 7th book.

Pages ‘n Pines Grading Scale:

5 - Amazing
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Okay
1 - Didn't like

During my reading, I thought the pacing had a few lulls in it but looking back, I'm glad there were calmer moments here and there. As the first (and so far only) full length novel in the Murderbot Diaries, I loved Network Effect and I think it (or maybe Exit Strategy) is my favorite in the series so far.

Oh also, ART IS BACK BABYYYYY!!!

The shift from the super fast pacing of the novellas to the medium pace of the novel took a second to get used to but it was all very enjoyable even during that adjusting period. The length of the novel allowed for more emotional interactions than usual, longer action scenes, and more attention to the atmosphere buildup.

One of my favorite parts was the bits and pieces of HelpMe.file interspersed throughout the story and having to piece it together and wonder why the heck it's being shown to me. I also really adored the multiple POVs towards the end I thought they were used really well, particularly the contrast between SecUnit and SecUnit 3! Oh yeah did I forget to mention? THERE'S A NEW SECUNIT!!

A great addition to the story and fantastic first novel length book. Looking forward to seeing where SecUnit goes in this sort of “second season” it feels like Wells is setting up.

Pages ‘n Pines Grading Scale:

5 - Amazing
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Okay
1 - Didn't like

Unfortunately, this one was a DNF for me. I wanted to like this book, really I did! It has everything I like in it: loveable animal companion, snarky/wisecracking MC, folklore inspired horror, and a setting I'm intimately familiar with irl. For whatever, despite all these things coming together, I just couldn't click with the book. 

I don't blame the writing or the plot, I think Kingfisher did a fine job with her writing, I just think the pace was the main problem for me. I noticed other people mention in their reviews that not enough was happening for over half the book and I find myself agreeing with them.

I got roughly 200 pages in (give or take) and by that point only one particularly creepy thing had happened. I don't feel the book, at least up to this point, had enough suspense in the atmosphere to keep me turning pages and there certainly weren't any sort of jumpscare or gross outs in my opinion. 

Other issues I had with the book include Mouse being, perhaps, a bit too snarky? She suffers the same problem movie characters often do, Marvel movies for example. Many people feel that Marvel movies use jokes far too often, particularly immediately after an important moment. For most people, I think, this lessens the impact of said moment and I feel that's what happens here. What was charming and genuinely funny at first quickly became unrealistic and a touch annoying while also ruining any suspense or sense of danger there might have been. 

A few other nitpicks I had were things like Mouse constantly talking about Bongo and his DNA ingrained hound behaviors. It's cute to mention how hounds go blank when they catch a smell or how dopey your dog is but after a while it gets pretty repetitive. Another would be the supporting characters. Now I'll admit I only read about half the book and I understand this story is first and foremost about Mouse (and to a lesser extent Bongo) but I just didn't feel very attached to the supporting cast and they didn't seem fleshed out much beyond the stereotypes they were based on. One last thing, and this one may just be me and I acknowledge that, I didn't really care for the part where Mouse considers asking Officer Bob about her neighbors and the reason she doesn't ask about Tomas specifically is because since he's Hispanic she just assumes he doesn't get along well with the law? Idk maybe it was just me and I'm making something out of nothing.

Anyways, that about wraps it up. I absolutely see how folks could enjoy this read and for those that do, I'm so happy you could get a scare in! Unfortunately for me, it wasn't a good fit but that's alright, I've got more books on my TBR than I know what to do with anyway!

Pages ‘n Pines Grading Scale:

5 - Amazing
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Okay
1 - Didn't like

My words fail me when I try to describe this book, but I'll try my best in spite of it. I have never in my life read a book in one sitting. Never. It was unheard of. Between how busy I am, my ADHD riddled attention span, and so many other factors of life, I was sure I'd never be one of those people who devour stories in one meal, like so many here and on booktube.

Well I was wrong. It's funny, really. I nearly put this one down, intimidated by the flowery prose and my own doubts. “I can't read this! This is basically poetry, I won't have a clue what's going on for the whole novel! Nobody understands poetry!” I told myself. I had heard too many good things about this story to give up only a few pages in and so I forced myself to push through, just read the first chapter.

I made it through the first chapter alright, then the next, and the next, and the next. I kept reading “one more chapter” chasing my next through the pages until I found several hours had passed.

This is truly one of- no is, my favorite book of all time to date. As you'll see through many reviews for this one, it's incredibly difficult to describe and appreciate parts of the story without giving crucial bits of it away. You really do have to just read it for yourself. I know that's not particularly helpful but if I don't say that the alternative is a wildly inaccurate TLDR like: lesbian spy vs spy with time hopping and victorian love letters? Doesn't quite do it justice, as you'll see if you read it too.

TLDR of this whole thing: read this book, of for nothing else, for its beautiful beautiful prose. I've never been a fan of flowery writing if for no other reason than doubting my own ability to understand it but this changed my mind. I loved every second of this read. To play off of the often repeated hunger themes in the book, I craved this story. I wanted more, wanted to be greedy. I couldn't stop myself once I started gourging on the delicious writing between the book covers. Read this if you want your heart to ache for the two main characters and their longing for one another while they cat and mouse through every page.

I have so much more to say about this but don't know how to put it into words. Unfortunately I'm not nearly as skilled with language as the authors so I think I'll call it here and hope, perhaps, that I've helped you decide to give this book a shot even if only a little bit.

This is how we win.

I wasn't so sure about this one until I got about halfway through it. I was having difficulty seeing past the characters ages and felt like maybe Ender in particular was just a little too conveniently genius y'know? “Oh of course he understands this while nobody else does, he's the main character after all and only gets bullied for being so smart and perfect.”

Once I hit 50% though, something clicked and I could kind of resonate with the kid. Sure he didn't struggle in class but he struggled in practically every other factor imaginable. Constantly pushed, stressed, moved around and away from any friends he finally managed to make and into the arms of some new bully. Suffering from isolation, from nightmares and dark thoughts of becoming just like his brother, always being younger and weaker than everyone else and looked down on, he actually went through a lot more than I initially gave him credit for.

The last quarter of this book wouldn't let me put it down and I was thrilled with how everything turned out. Incredibly satisfying ending in my mind and will really sit with me even after I read several other stories. Originally I thought of putting this one down or finishing it just to give it over star but I'm so so glad I sat it out, this is probably one of my favorite reads now!

Pages ‘n Pines Grading Scale:

5 - Amazing
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Okay
1 - Didn't like

Honestly? Better than the first one! SecUnit is back baby! This time it's joined by ART (maybe even more loveable than SecUnit?) and eventually meets up with a new set of clients. The highlight of this novella is the relationship (don't call it that) ART and SecUnit develop, quickly Cementing ART as a fan favorite character.

Another equally important part of this story is the tender, protective moments SecUnit shares with his clients. It basically becomes they're “mom” for a while, helping them out on their mission while taking care of it's own business in the downtime.

Another really short and enjoyable read, I won't spoil anything for you so that you can experience what I'm talking about for myself. Just know that if you liked the first book, you'll like this one even more!

Pages ‘n Pines Grading Scale:

5 - Amazing
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Okay
1 - Didn't like

Okay so I basically didn't breathe through this whole thing. I loved every second of it and it was equal parts touching and tense. The ending was phenomenal and has the series ended there, I would've died happy. (luckily it didn't but still) So so happy to see the old gang together again and get more SecUnit and Mensah bonding time.