Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

115 reviews

bluestjuice's review against another edition

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 <i>Gideon the Ninth</i>. 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 <i><b>you don't understand I cannot put this down until I know what happens</b></i>), 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Body horror, Gun violence, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Mental illness, Dysphoria, War, Panic attacks/disorders, and Colonisation

Minor: Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, and Child death

smileypers0n's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Chronic illness

black_rainbow's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Grief, Genocide, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, War, Eating disorder, and Dysphoria

iane_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Terminal illness, Suicide, Confinement, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cursing, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Genocide, Vomit, Trafficking, and Addiction

Minor: Cannibalism, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, and War

drsinoire's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, and Blood

alanfollowsagraph's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, Gore, Gun violence, and War

Minor: Cursing

kierank's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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

I sobbed like a baby

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Suicide, Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, and War

cataquack's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

Oh my god she's done it again. Come for the delightful discordant slice-of-life YA adventure set against a brutal apocalyptic sci-fi dystopia backdrop, stay for a well-plotted mystery whose late-game reveals hit like a ton of bricks and also somehow make perfect sense, like you knew it the whole time. Made me laugh, made me cry, made me mad that the final book isn't published yet. This series is something special.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness, Body horror, Eating disorder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gun violence, and War

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

There’s a LOT of genderfuckery going on here, and for that, I will always love this series. Other than the fact that this book differed from the first two, I feel like there’s not much I can say without delving into spoilers, so without further adieu—

y’all this rating might change after I read the last book, but my initial reading experience was sullied by the experience of being completely confused through 100% of the book. I spent so much time trying to figure out WHO Nona was and when we finally find out, then there’s other stuff going on that’s still confusing. And as lovely as Nona is, I missed the gideoness of the first two books. And I missed harrow’s tiny bomb of aggression. I missed bones and ninth’s badass goth aesthetic

One mostly spoiler free thing I loved about this book was getting a closer look at Camilla and Palamedes. It was interesting to learn their personalities and see the relationship between them. It was heartwarming really, with a healthy dose of angst, which is how I like all relationships. And speaking of, one thing about tamsyn muir is that she likes her relationships MESSY. And once again, I love that.

idk if this counts as a spoiler but i am, unfortunately, as it’s probably not canon, a camilla/coronabeth shipper

Honestly I’ve never been so excited to get into the fanfic as i was upon finishing this book. So overall, great book, liable to a higher rating on a reread when I’m less confused and more familiar with the characters. Catch me on ao3 next 🫡

2nd reread: oh my god I feel so stupid for not getting it the first time around. The relationship/character dynamics run DEEP in this book and I will be thinking about it for the rest of my life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, War, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Kidnapping