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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
maddiereadswords'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? Yes
5.0
Overall, an absolutely incredible book that I ended up genuinely loving so much more than I expected to, and on all levels except physical I will be screaming crying throwing up sliding down the wall etc. until the last book comes out (and probably for a long time after that too.)
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Blood, and Body horror
micheala's review against another edition
3.5
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.
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, and Xenophobia
tnm94's review
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gun violence, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Death, War, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Sexual content, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, and Fire/Fire injury
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
griffinthief'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
4.5
Graphic: Gore, War, Police brutality, Body horror, Cursing, Mental illness, Death, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Bullying
talasterism'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
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Moderate: Violence, Gore, Vomit, and War
Minor: Gun violence and Suicidal thoughts
erebus53'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? Yes
2.5
In an improvement(?) from the second book, this third installment does not have more medical terms than your average first year anatomy text book. It is still a little wordsy, but I didn't encounter the word nacreous even once! (despite it being applicable at one point). As per usual you are, metaphorically, chucked in the deep end and held there until you get used to it. Maybe this time around I was just too tired to take it all in, because I spent quite a bit of time just feeling lost and wondering what was happening.
Most of this book takes part in a semi-domestic dystopia. Surrounded by refugees, and with limited resources, some familiar characters look after Nona, while trying to find out how altered she has become by her own semi-Lyctoral transformation. Nona becomes a teacher aide working at a school for a ragtag gang of kids. There are factions vying for power, and people being executed, and militia on the street as enforcers.. but through the eyes of Nona we aren't privy to the machinations of the State.
I'm sticking with my original feel that this series is quite a bit like the Evangelion anime. Through a series of Nona's dreams (that really seem more real than what is going on for her in her life) we get some more back-story about John, the first necromancer and it all gets pretty trippy. The relationships developed between the characters all begin to feel irrelevant, like everything is falling into a huge pit of nihilism, as everything loses cohesion. There is a travel sequence for which Nona's part or skills seem to have had no lead-up or explanation, and as a result it did not hold tension or deliver a feeling of success at its climax. (yes that could be an analogy.. get out of the gutter :P )
Honestly I don't know if the story put me to sleep or if I am just finally having to succumb after an ongoing pattern of weather related insomnia. I have clearly not invested enough energy or legwork into understanding everything going on. I was excited about one revelation in this entire book, there was a whole lot more "huh?" and "uh, ok" than "oooh riiight!" in this leg of the trilogy, and its conclusion was seriously unsatisfying. Not quite a 3 star for me.
Graphic: War, Genocide, Murder, Blood, Death, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
kers_tin'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Confinement, Death, War, Eating disorder, Gore, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Addiction, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
Minor: Drug use