Reviews

An Unnatural Life by Erin K. Wagner

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tacanderson's review

4.0

Really enjoyable book. Nice pacing and story telling. The ending felt a little rushed, but that's often the case with novellas.

Read for Popsugar 2020 prompts Book Published in 2020 and Book Published in the Month You Were Born.

Really more of a 3.5 but I couldn't round it up to 4. Dang...I wanted to be obsessed with this so much. As a huge Murderbot fan I'm definitely interested in books that deal with the power dynamic between AI and humans. This really had potential to be great (and started that way) and I could even see it running as a series. I wanted a bit more of the law stuff, as it's really interesting, and the ending felt rushed

Spoiler

and totally broke my heart - WHYYYY

. I want to know more about how the Europa colony works, and I want to hear about more of Aiya's adventures in AI law. If Wagner writes another in this same vein, I'd definitely check it out.

merlucito's review

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inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

alphabetseeds's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

this was an interesting novella that asked questions about personhood, the justice system, and consequences of pursuing justice in the face of a broken, unjust society. Aiya's reluctance is an important factor, as she's constantly at odds with the straight-up prejudice presented by other characters in the story.

caramia's review

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4.0

Great science fiction novel that doesn’t really revolve around sci-fi. More a story of humanity and how corrupt we can be. That no matter what, injustices will happen. People in positions of power when left to their own devices will abuse it to hurt those other than them, ones they find not like them. It calls into question what it means to be a person and whose will you follow. I enjoyed it even as I hated the ending.