Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Nona the Ninth

Muir loves switching up her genres. While Gideon was moderately mystery-focused and Harrow was definitely a mystery novel, the mystery of Nona takes a back seat to how goddamn precious Nona is. Unfortunately, that fact makes an already sad series even sadder. It’s fortunate that Muir’s writing style is hilarious, because otherwise the entire plot of Nona the Ninth would’ve been pretty depressing.

Still, I would say it’s better than Gideon and a mark worse than Harrow - which is to say, it’s very good. I had a harder time following the plot than before, and while Muir makes great strides with diversity in this book, it sometimes comes off a tad awkward (like in the repeated misgendering of a character with they/them pronouns, just for them to correct themselves). But those are pretty small problems compared to the rest of this deeply dark and funny novel. If you liked Gideon and Harrow, I highly recommend it.

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itkit's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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fin_pilot's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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bluestjuice's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

Oh my goodness. Sometimes a book just crawls inside your consciousness in the best way, you know? This is like that - this isn't the book I was expecting, and I had no idea what was going on through the first third and even less idea through the second third - but godsdamn, I was unquestioningly committed and on board for the entire ride.

Nona is so, incredibly, real. This is one of Muir's great talents - despite writing a series that is utterly over-the-top space melodrama with gothic elements and skeletons and necromantic flourishes all over everything, they nevertheless create people that feel and act utterly peopley. Many authors can't convincingly write youthful characters even in ordinary circumstances; Muir portrays Nona's uncomprehending childishness in a way that is genuine and feels both true to the experience of the young without being the least bit saccharine. I loved Nona, entirely, and her protagonism resonated with me vigorously despite the twisty, adult, machination-y web of deceit and plotting that surrounded her nearly every step of the way.

This is the third book in the series, which I have waited for a long time, and which I should clearly have bothered to do a re-read of previous to this because the lore here is deep and the references are layered in as thickly as Griddle's skull makeup back in Gideon the Ninth. On the other hand, having now skidded out the other side (I'm not kidding: I read the last 100 pages in a rare frenzy of you don't understand I cannot put this down until I know what happens), I have a burning desire to go re-read everything through again, to line up pieces and notice all the many things I'm sure I missed or didn't realize the significance of at the moment they were deployed.

Anyway, I don't even feel qualified to review this really because my emotions are leaking out all over the place and I don't know what to say to explain how enjoyable I find this series and this installment. In all its infuriating circuitous mystery. I can't believe I have to keep waiting to find out what happens next.

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mikariah's review against another edition

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challenging funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

I feel bad giving this rating, but I can't give it any higher.

I enjoy complicated, mind-bending, incomprehensible mystery stories. Complexity and confusion have never been an issue for me, so long as I can trust the author to deliver a satisfying kick by the end and give us a protagonist we can follow for the ride. Gideon the Ninth mostly accomplished this. I felt that Harrow the Ninth absolutely accomplished this. It doesn't feel as if Nona the Ninth even tried.

Nona had a tough job for sure. There's an expectation by the third book that we finally get some answers, especially if it's the third book out of a planned four, where the fourth was this book plus some more. I didn't assume we'd get many here, but I did expect they'd be tied within a tightly woven narrative.

Unfortunately, Nona is bogged down by an utterly inactive protagonist and an opening 70% that not only refuses to meaningfully connect with the ending in a way that made me look at it any differently (unlike the previous two novels) but is taken up by slice-of-life filler that is just not personally up my alley. And my tolerance was dialled up pretty high for it because I enjoyed the character interactions between Nona and her foster family. I only wish that it felt like it mattered more for anything by the end, rather than feeling tacked on to pad the ending out into a full-length novel. I also wish it hadn't dragged out for hundreds of pages, but here we are.

As a side note:

I could not bring myself to care for any of the Blood of Eden members, even when the story desperately wanted me to. I can't even cheer them on. There's an evil part of me that just wants John to win, honestly. At least he's compelling to follow.

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