Reviews with content warning for Gore - Nona the Ninth

I need this series directly injected into my bloodstream.

Five stars are not enough, I need to rate this series a whole galaxy worth of constellations.

Content Warnings

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

After HtN, Nona's perspective was like eating cotton candy, especially at the start. Oh we're going to school! There's a dog! She wears shirts with silly designs! Then you get Nona's No Good Very Bad Day that starts with getting kidnapped and ends with someone missing and, just like GtN, the plot keeps getting faster as we go along. This one has the purest feelings of grief, for loss and change and now it's all just sitting in my ribs keeping me company. I'll admit I forgot who was who in Blood of Eden except Wake and Suffer, so trying to follow their convos I really felt like Nona, dazed and confused. I am thrilled for Alecto, her rage was so visceral and I need MORE.

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shottel's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted sad tense fast-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

4.5

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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spookynerd's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-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

4.0

I was trying to explain to a friend how when I picked up the first book of this series, I thought, "Necromancers in space? Neat!" And how these books very much ARE that, but how they also shattered every expectation and then constructed those shattered pieces into a whole new framework of storytelling that blows my mind the further I get.

The pacing got to me a little bit once again. It feels very much like you're slowly trodding through a day by day story, slooooowly unraveling little bits and hints until suddenly everything implodes. Explodes? Both?

By now I'm getting used to Muir's characters and way of weaving all these intricacies (and that's a happy, familiar "used to," not a bored one). You start the book with, "This is a weird little creature with weird relationship dynamics" and end with an ache in your chest and questions about souls and love.

And I'm so very intrigued and satisfied with the further depth of history we receive in this book.

I have a hard time describing it without spoilers and ruining the ride and/or feeling like I'm incoherently rambling, but this series really is something different. Can't wait for Alecto!

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beeeenerys's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny sad 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? Yes

5.0

I adore all the concepts of love in this book, all the varieties and how the characters show they love each other. Also love how natural the gender nonconforming language is in this book and the series' universe.

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