Liberty Reads

I write laidback reviews and share my love of books. CR: Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune.

[libertyreads]

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[fantasiavii]

One thing I love about Murderbot that I don’t see talked about much is how it literally translates everything it hears. I think it’s easiest to notice with swears. This is most obvious in Fugitive Telemetry with the crew of the Lalow. They say things like “that picker” and “penis move” and “pussing corporates,” some of which confuse even the Preservation humans. But it does it all the time.

In System Collapse, Tarik says “motherless” (as opposed to something like motherfucking) and the BE corporates say things like “lame-skulled” and while you could think those are just futuristic insults as a result of linguistic drift (which they could also be), I think they’re just literal translations. It becomes more noticeable when you see how religious terms are rendered: “oh high one! Oh deity!” Which is like…sure. They could literally be saying that. But imo it makes more sense if MB is translating something they’re saying in another language.*

I think the most notable case of this is when Thiago calls Amena “my daughter.” On first read I literally thought it was just a Preservation thing but then I realized it made a lot more sense to me (a 21st century American) if he was saying something like mija but MB was just literally translating it into its archive bc that’s how it processes language.

This is also the reason for Amena’s use of Second Mom and Third Mom. It sounds kind of clunky in English but Chinese does a similar thing which sounds perfectly natural in that language (e.g. da-ge, er-ge, san-ge for first/oldest brother, second (oldest) brother, and third (oldest) brother).

Anyway! It’s a fun little detail I really enjoy about MB. There are definitely way more examples but I didn’t have time to track them all down.

*Don’t ask me which languages. Linguistic drift ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[prokopetz]

The one that most obviously struck me as signposting this convention is Murderbot's constant use of the set phrase "humans and augmented humans". That's clunky as hell at face value, but it makes a lot of sense if interpreted as a diegetic translation artifact, with "augmented humans" being a literal translation of some word in whatever language Murderbot is "really" speaking which has no snappy English equivalent.

[little-miss-rasputin-pageant]

in almost every other children's book where the main heroine is swept away to a land of whimsy she's shown having a lovely time; braving dangers occasionally, trying to find her way home, sure, but ultimately delighting in the magic around her. meanwhile alice spends her entire time in wonderland like

[roach-works]

look, here’s the thing: alice in wonderland’s enduring fucking charm is that it perfectly captures the vibe of being a very tired and annoyed child who is nonetheless required to play along with adult nonsense.

alice is dragged from place to place without warning, forced to play stupid games with no good prizes, grilled over her schooling and manners and recitation and dress, scolded, judged, insulted to her face, sent away, given gifts she didn’t ask for and doesn’t like, corrected incorrectly, been subject to shifting and arbitrary rules, and then when she gets snappish with all this bullshit everyone acts like a little girl’s temper is the end of the fucking world.

alice in wonderland isn’t a drug trip or a nightmare or a metaphor, that’s just what being ten years old is LIKE. that’s why kids love it so much. even if they can’t quite articulate how, they recognize themselves in it.

[trans-pickles]

I'm gonna go ahead and add - the reaction image is barely even a joke. This is the original illustration of her at the Mad Hatter's tea party.

look at how fucking angry she is

[sunflowers-and-scales]

“this character did not act in the most objectively logical way possible!” is not ! actually valid literary criticism

[sunflowers-and-scales]

i have trust that the media literacy enjoyers will find this one idk

[acceptableduraz]

[breelandwalker]

"Why aren't these characters acting like they have the same meta perspective of the plot as me, the reader?"

I dunno, maybe because they don't know they're in a story?

And also cause if they did, it would negate like 90% of the things that drive a plot forward to a satisfying conclusion?

And also because, regardless of the extent to which art imitates life and vice versa, IN ACTUAL REAL LIFE, PEOPLE DON'T ALWAYS ACT LOGICALLY ANYWAY!?

[bashcrandicoot]

Based on a true story

[questwithambition]

Been starting my mornings with coffee + a book in bed and on these cold winter mornings it’s been exactly what I needed ❄️

[inafieldofdaisies]

Frankenstein (2025) | Vintage Hardcovers

“I will make you bleed. I will make you humble. You may be my creator, but from this day forward, I will be your master.”

[therefugeofbooks]

coffee and a very long book

[crazysodomite]

It's always "how would this fat character be strong and athletic"

And not "how would this dehydrated skinny character even survive with the amount of physical exertion they go through"

[butch-tradwife]

For everyone who ‘used to love reading’ but now hasn’t finished a book in years, you CAN get it back. Genuinely start bringing a book (preferably short and either fiction or a non fiction topic you already really enjoy) everywhere you go and when you have 5-20 mins waiting for the bus or at the doctors office or mechanic or whatever, get out your book and read it! You don’t have to finish it quickly or even read it often but it is so good for your brain and fun to get into the habit of reading more (and replacing being on your phone for those moments). Source: I read 0 books in 2023 and I’ve read 12 in the first 4 months of 2026

[lascitasdelashoras]

[booksandrandomfandoms]

JOMP day 8

Wouldn’t want to fight against

Pretty much anyone in this series 😂

[leer-reading-lire]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || November || 11 || Judged By Its Cover

The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

[ebby226]

[scribeherself]

[libertyreads]

Book Review #69 of 2026--

Ungodly Rich by Katharine McGee. Rating: 3 stars.

Read from June 7th to 11th.

Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at Crown Publishing for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Ungodly Rich is a modern take on the Greek Gods where they've gotten with the times and this family of billionaires still wants to bend the world to their will. When Julia meets Harry, love hits her like a lightning bolt. Little does Julia know that her boyfriend has been keeping a secret: his name isn't Harry, it's Ares, as in the ancient god of war, his mother is Hera, his father is Zeus. Soon, Julia is caught up in a world of wealth and privilege and she becomes the target of the gods' latest schemes. Ungodly Rich comes out on July 7th and is available for preorder now.

I loved the premise of rich people problems but make it the Greek Gods. I also really like the idea of dropping a normal person into a rich family and seeing what unfolds. However, this fell flat for me. I think it could make a really great TV show or movie because it feels like those adaptations could really capture the scope of their wealth in a way that I don't think the book does. I agree with others who felt this was lacking in depth. It felt like such a stupid thing for a couple of goddesses to be fighting with a mortal. I know that this is the kind of drama that happened in a lot of the Ancient Greek Myths but it just doesn't land well here. I know we're supposed to root for Harry and Julia but I wish we had gotten more of their romance since most of the focus of the novel is the in fighting in the family. I wanted to feel like they had an unshakeable bond even through all the drama but it felt like they weren't as solid as they should have been. This book was an absolute set up for another one which is fine but I wish it hadn't been clear so early on in the book.

I also found a review that said the book was bogged down by constant reminders of who was who and what their domain and magic and backstory is. I think we could accomplish this better with something at the front of the novel listing out the gods/goddesses and giving the readers all the required details. I think that would help speed up the novel a bit and keep it from getting too clunky.

Overall, the premise is fun and the jet setting, billionaire family with intense power dynamics keeps the reader interested.