It's only 13 pages! How do I write a review without giving too much away? This is book #4.5 and picks up after "Exit Strategy" and it's the first time in the series that it's from another person's perspective other than Murderbot. It's Dr. Mensah's POV and her dealing with her PTSD after the events of the last book. I really loved reading about her vulnerability and her masking her fragility with bureaucratic steel, refusing therapy while leaning on Murderbot’s unobtrusive and sometimes standoffish support. There's a line in it that make me gush with kawaii but I won't ruin it for those who will read it. All I will say is that Wells, as always, does a brilliant job at making quiet moments resonate as deeply as her battle scenes.

I found this book at an op shop and the title stood out to me. It has a very interesting premise, a white man suddenly wakes up as a brown man and he doesn't tell anyone except his new lover. The story progresses where it happens to more people sparking societal chaos. It is a direct challenge to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory that we've all heard so much about in recent years for those of us who live in multicultural countries. (Too many immigrants...blah blah blah...) The concept warrants attention: What if whiteness vanished? What anxieties would unravel? There are a lot of harrowing and confronting reactions to the MC, Anders turning brown, the scenes shines a bright light on the suffocating weight of racial constructs and how it impacts POC. I think it does a really good job of showing White people what it feels like to be a minority just simply existing. ⚠️Mild Spoiler - My takeaway from this book ⚠️ That the loss of privilege isn’t an apocalypse, it’s actually liberation.

YES! ART is back! This book picks up right after Network Effect, Murderbot is forced to confront his PTSD from alien contamination while battling Barish-Estranza’s latest scheme. The corporate critique here is, as always, witty and sarcastic: imagine signing a contract that turns you into a “free workforce”, while Murderbot mutters, “If there’s an ethical corporation out there, I’ve yet to find it”. 😭(Same girl, same!) As a fan of Murderbot, you're going to love watching Murderbot weaponise its Sanctuary Moon obsession to craft counter-propaganda against corporate lies. As good of an adventure as any in the series. 🦾

There's something inexplicably compelling about the writing that keeps you turning pages even as you want to throw the book across the room. You’ll rage-highlight passages, text friends "WTF AM I READING?!", and question why you can’t put it down. You'll find yourself yelling at the MC's choices and possibly needing moral support from a fellow Pagebounder to get through it (shoutout to Caait for the emotional hand-holding!). What emerges from this rollercoaster is an appreciation for Miranda July's darkly humorous, razor-sharp prose that oscillates between poetic vulnerability and biting introspection. ⚠️Mild Spoilers Below⚠️ The book boldly challenges taboos around female sensuality and desire, particularly for women in their 40s. Some scenes are so startlingly raw and honest they'll make even open-minded readers blush (ok, me). Through the MC's journey, we're forced to reimagine societal expectations about middle-aged womanhood. The character only gets 0.5 star from me because of her weaponisation of hormonal changes to excuse genuinely toxic behavior, all for the sake of "self-discovery." The narrative essentially flips the script on the tired male midlife crisis trope without adequately addressing the collateral damage left in the wake. Several compelling events in her backstory that could have added depth but were left underexplored. While the writing itself is equal parts witty and profound, the character's unchecked narcissism ultimately leaves a sour aftertaste. This is the rare book that's both brilliant and deeply problematic, worthy of discussion if not wholehearted endorsement. 3.5 stars for making me feel and think intensely, even when I wanted to disown the main character.