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bebidocrimes'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: Grief, Cursing, Colonisation, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Minor: Alcohol and Fire/Fire injury
shottel'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
4.5
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.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Addiction, Body horror, Mental illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Toxic friendship, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Body shaming, Medical content, and Transphobia
Minor: Drug use, Vomit, Trafficking, and Sexual violence
iane_reads'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
4.75
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
kierank'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
4.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Suicide, Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, and War
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
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
woweewhoa'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
4.5
As someone who read each book a year apart because I didn't want to rush through it(and also that's just the kind of reader I am), I felt this book stood very well on its own and brought in the elements of the other two books in such a way where they don't need to be 100% fresh on your mind but still is impactful.
I came to this book being Really 'eh' on Harrow the Ninth, especially since I was Extremely Into Gideon the Ninth, and decided to give this book a shot because I wasn't sure if it was because the book was just 'Okay' or if it was just my mindset when I read it, because I had some mutuals whose opinion's i respect who were really into the whole series, and I'm glad I did! This is my favorite of The Locked Tomb and I'm super excited now to read the last book when that comes out!
Also I do feel like Tamsyn Muir's writing has really improved in this book, which is just really cool as a reader to see! Like seeing a comic artist get better at drawing throughout the series.
Also, I really liked the setting of this book, because I think contextualizing the world more clearly in not just the view of the Houses, and more just the normal cities that exist in any empire, was a fantastic move. My favorite arcs of Gundam are the ones that zoom into the people Living On Earth who are generally not the people politically gaining From not separating the colonies, because those are the normal people. what if you aren't benefitting in any way any of the systems in play, but are forced to field all the consequences of the system whose land your own are causing?
Also
Sorry if this was a mess of a review to read, but I AM super high and my roommate's cat is continually yelling at me because it is less than an hour before dinner time and even though i have Never fed her early she is just like this. Very hard to write a review like this, but I hope you got what I was putting down!
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Body horror, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide, Eating disorder, War, and Murder
Regarding the Fire/Fire injury: There is a character described with burns early on in the book, and then most of the book they're not ever really talked about. Then toward the last quarter(third?) of the book, there is a very explicitly detailed scene of a character bursting into flames, which is much in line with the way this book normally describes body horror and gore.hanz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Suicide
Moderate: War, Eating disorder, and Gun violence
jjreads331'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
Proper review to come when I have more time to think about this beyond expressing my opinions in memes.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Animal death, Death, Grief, Blood, Child death, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: War, Abandonment, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship