Reviews

Gideon la Nona by Tamsyn Muir

sendlasagna's review against another edition

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Ooooh the absolute hecking subtle shift from “Harrowhark Nonagesimus” ” to
“My necromancer”
w/o compromising any of the plot. I stayed up till 6am each day for this. 

bummerdays's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.5

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that so expertly crafts modern language with magic systems and Catholicism. Every moment my eyes were on these pages I felt delighted, even through grief and gore. My poor phone got so tired of me saying “hey Siri what does ___ mean?” But I’ve walked away with my vocabulary extended massively. And not once did my lack of knowledge actually get in the way of the story because let’s face it.. Gideon is an idiot so she needed the explanation too 😂

rebeccajanereads's review against another edition

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

4.0

kirby_01's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

liv_graceish's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

drawde's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

marysunburn's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I HATED Harrowhark when I started, and I am so glad she managed to change my mind. 
The worldbuilding was heavy and at times confusing, but the dialogue was engaging and refined and the fight scenes were cinematic. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

itst's review against another edition

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4.0

I hope for more opportunities to explore Muir’s curious world, full of quirky characters, old stories, and dirty secrets.

inkyun's review against another edition

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3.0

It's not a bad book.
It's just not for me.

I didn't hate it, but it did take some effort to not drop it. The descriptions of things were a bit all over the place for me, and I could barely follow along. Granted, that may be my lack of vocabulary. But still, I was pretty much just hoping the story itself would save the writing itself, and it almost did. I was just never invested in any of the characters, and I almost was.

This whole experience was like trying to inhale deeply, and every pull of air left me unsatisfied and with an ache in my lungs. (Asthmatics can relate.) Truly wish I could say more, but that's all there was: empty air.

jamo_etc's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The most interesting parts of this story aren't given much focus and instead the focus is an uninteresting magic competition.

Entirely too many characters. I forgot who most characters were shortly after they left the scene. The mystery was lacking as a result.
I genuinely forgot the princess was a character when she showed up at the end. Also didn't care for the narrator's voice for her. The reveal of Dulcinea was decent.


The emotional moments are not earned  either. 
I'm not opposed to Gideon+Harrow but the way the book executes it pretty poor and feels forced rather than anything natural.


 Gideon as a protagonist varied from childish and annoying to entertaining and witty, so that's a mixed bag.

Overall this seems mostly like wasted potential. I was really on board for the first 20%.