Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Nona the Ninth

Once again Tamsyn Muir managed to write a character I found to be one of the most charming in all of fiction. I didn't think Gideon (the book or the character) could be outdone but here we are. I love Nona so much. Bless this book.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

NONA THE NINTH deals with a necromantic version of plurality in a way whose groundwork was laid in GIDEON THE NINTH and HARROW THE NINTH. Much as "one flesh, one end" is undeniably queer, Camila and Palamedes display a version of plurality, which is necromantic in its origins, but familiar to me in its general shape. I’m a singlet, not a plural system, but several important people in my life are plural, and so much of how Nona interacts with Camilla and Palamedes echoes my interactions with those people in my own life. There’s a line in the second half of the book that makes it clear that at least some of the characters know about plurality, even if what’s happening with them is a specific magical version which canonically involves souls. In some ways plurality is more canonical to the text than any particular style of queerness (except perhaps for sapphic attraction), though this book (and the whole series) is undeniably and wonderfully queer.

The worldbuilding gets more of a chance to breathe this time around. GIDEON THE NINTH was a murder mystery until other things started being much more important. HARROW THE NINTH is a fever dream of confusion which suddenly snaps into coherence at the 90% mark. NONA THE NINTH is a breath, pausing for a story which has a clear framework, a lovable protagonist, and a sense of rhythm and pattern to her days. This calm amidst the storm is ripped open by a descent into war and the deterioration of her body as the day approaches when the Locked Tomb will open. I like the interludes as John tells the story of how this started. These sections helped with pacing and framing, as well as bringing the extremely welcome event of someone actually explaining what the fuck is going on for once.

As the third book in the series, NONA THE NINTH continues Several things begun in earlier books, specifically, but not only, the fates of a great many characters such as Camila and Palamedes. There's so much in each book that it's very difficult to know which details will be picked up later and which ones have been completely handled in their first treatment, but this does eventually give some answers about things first raised in earlier books. There’s an entirely new storyline related to Nona, her relative newness, and everyone she cares about at home and the school. She’s just so happy in a way that incorporates strangeness and allows for a joking grotesquerie, effortlessly finding beauty in weirdness. It also leaves a huge thing for later, promising that the Locked Tomb will be opened, even counting down to that promised day before leaving the aftermath of its opening to be handled in the next book, ALECTO THE NINTH.

There are many fewer memes than the previous books, but the few that are in there are expertly chosen to devastating effect. There's one near the very end that I refuse to spoil which threads the needs between fantastically illustrating the meaning of the surrounding text and needing to be imperceptible to anyone not already in the know. I applaud the execution of it, even if by its nature it's frustrating that this is what the author decided to include. Masterfully done, I tip my cap.

As was the case for HARROW THE NINTH, if someone tried to read this as their introduction to the series, it would likely make sense almost all the way through... and then the ending would be strange and sideways because it relies on several things established in previous books as well as bringing many returning characters who have been more thoroughly introduced elsewhere. Also, the way that the John interludes are explaining how things came to be like this would be a bit strange without the grounding provided in GTN and HTN.

I think this is my favorite book in the whole series, and I'm looking forward to what ALECTO THE NINTH brings.

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angietheace's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

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traa's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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micheala's review

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dark

3.5

This is the second time I've attempted to read this. I read Gideon and Harrow back in February 2022 and thought I remembered most of what happened, however I was so lost picking up Nona in September 2022. Because this one the world is very different from what we've seen so far, I don't think it matters that I don't really remember most of Harrow.

Like, we now have cars thrown in like a totally normal thing that we should have assumed were always there. The first two books are very fantasy with spaceships being the only type of vehicles. Now Nona is making it feel like we are on a post-apocalyptic Earth. To be honest, the first 90% of this book felt totally disconnected from the prior two books.

Even though I haven't loved the reading experience of any of the books yet, I still just have the gut feeling that once the series is complete, each book will be way more enjoyable (aka I'll be able to follow what's happening) with the context of the ending. To be fair, if that is not the case, and even on reread knowing where it's all going/coming from I still find myself confused, I'll be dropping my ratings of each book accordingly.

I will say I liked this one the most so far (my ranking is currently Nona, Gideon, Harrow) Partly because I found the characters more likeable, and partly because while I still can't really follow what's happening, Nona as a main character also doesn't understand what's going on - so it felt less like the characters are keeping secrets from the reader and more like we are finding things out alongside the character.

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ichewonpushpins's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I mean how do you even rate this book

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griffinthief's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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talasterism's review against another edition

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challenging funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

SUCH a hard and confusing book to understand but fuck i love campal and the gender and the ocean scene!!!!!!! mostly the part where

gideon is there i fucking loved gideon so much even tho shes probably half possesed or remade wrong cause SH E WAS BESTIES W IANTHE??

fuck u jod. there were definitely some frustrating chapters to read and the pacing of action was on and off for me but thr middle/middle end was by far the best for me!!

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