Scan barcode
jodean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Body horror, Blood, and Grief
freya's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Death and Cursing
littki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Gore
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, Gore, Cursing, Gun violence, and War
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
rlgreen91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
As usual, reading Nona the Ninth has answered some questions I had earlier in the series and left me with like twice as many new questions. At this point, I think I might need to try to cobble together my best guess at a timeline for events to keep things generally straight. Actually, that would be really useful because there are so many pop culture, literary, and Biblical references throughout the series that it can be hard to tell which ones refer to actual plot points we need to be aware of vs clever references to different jokes.
One last thing: I loved the depiction of Nona, Hot Sauce, and the gang just being kids. Maybe it's because I read this over the summer, which to kid me always felt like a magical time where anything could happen. I just think Muir does a fantastic job of capturing that sensation here, of just a set of friends hanging out and getting up to anything, everything, and nothing.
Looking forward to Alecto the Ninth and maybe another short story in the meantime? I can dream right? 4 stars.
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Body horror, Cursing, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Death, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gun violence, Police brutality, Confinement, Medical content, Chronic illness, Cursing, Kidnapping, Vomit, Genocide, Terminal illness, Animal death, War, Death of parent, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Excrement, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
traa's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Body horror, Gun violence, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Murder, Self harm, War, and Medical content
Moderate: Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, and Vomit
Minor: Cannibalism
sealbrecht's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Cursing, Gun violence, Genocide, and Murder
devirtualized's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Eating disorder
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
elizmoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
tamsyn muir, waht is WRONG WITH you. what is. what is WRONG. IS wrong??? with you??????????
in typical muir fashion, she transitions seamlessly to a new POV character, leaves the reader mostly in the dark, and continually throws crazy world-building stuff that you didn't even know you wanted to know. but you did. <i> really </i> want to know.
essentially, this book answered many of the questions raised by Harrow the Ninth, but somehow ends up raising about a million more.
was harrow's soul in alecto's body or did it get transferred to the river, and is it now on earth having a chat with john, or john's abandoned once-human soul?? what's gonna happen to harrow's body? was nona the personification of the earth's spirit or was she alecto or was she alecto AND alecto is the personification of the earth? also, why is kiriona!gideon such a dick, and why is she friends with ianthe, sorta? who has her two-hander sword?? will tamsyn ever give us a griddlehark reunion that makes a lick of sense? will the next book have even more body/soul/etc swapping, and how is that even possible given the amount of bodily musical chairs was happening in this book? also, pAUL???????????????????????????
all i know for sure is that i am pre-ordering alecto right now and blocking off my calendar for the entire week of the release date.
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Body horror, Cursing, Eating disorder, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Alcohol, Colonisation, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Child death