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lolajh'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
This book was very different to the others in so many ways—not a bad thing—in regards to the
The astonishing way in which this is written allows you to find out about things at just the right time, to have questions answered after impatient weeks of reading, and to finally have some somewhat satisfaction
I am SO excited for Alecto, for whenever the cover and synopsis are revealed and then the book itself AHHH. I’m so excited for her to become a main character
Also, after reading this and Harrow again, I feel much more connected to The Body as a character in the previous book.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder
atomicrobin'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
4.5
Graphic: War, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Body horror, Blood, and Gun violence
Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcohol
hayleyvem'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
4.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Drug use and Bullying
sophiesmallhands'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: Blood, Violence, Death, Gore, Cursing, Gun violence, and War
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
hedsek'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? No
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Eating disorder, and Violence
Minor: Murder, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Drug use
bruisedtigers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
The real draw for this series is the characters, which are all very real and lovable in their own ways. However, the plotting for this one, while less dense than Harrow the Ninth, was frustrating in different ways. There seems to be a delight in obscurity for obscurity's sake, despite it adding nothing to the experience of the reader or the course of the plot. Not to say reader's need everything laid out, and some things can be inferred, but after three books of a protagonist in various states of 'not fully aware of what's going on,' I can't help but feel like Muir wants to be purposefully dodgy just for the sake of it. Sometimes it seems like an excuse to vaguely infer at a bigger plot rather than clearly hash out all the complicated details. Gideon knew nothing of necromancy, so a lot of the lyctor trials were beyond her. Harrow had her brain in pieces, so her perspective couldn't be trusted. Nona is blissfully naive, so we skim over a lot of what happens around her. Sure, the reader can figure it out, but does that add to the experience or is it just annoying?
Then it ends with a sudden brevity that was absent for the rest of the leisurely developed book. We spend so long marinating in Nona, only for the climax to happen with barely twenty pages to spare. I know there's one more piece left, but it still feels strange.
I do care for the characters, so I wish we focused on them properly, rather than vaguely imply around them. There's so many exciting ideas here hovering around, but they're not focused on.
Also, far too many memes. None of them hit for me this time, even a little bit.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, War, Violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Blood, Gun violence, Body horror, and Murder
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
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
sealbrecht'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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Cursing, Gun violence, Genocide, and Murder