Reviews with content warning for Death - Nona the Ninth

you guys... i seriously cannot believe how fucking good this series is. it's taken over my mind.

(spoilers for gideon the ninth and harrow the ninth for my review, just fyi)

picking up a few months after HtN, we follow nona, who is assumably in harrow's body... but who is she?

nona is a loveable, wonderful protagonist and for a good portion of the book it's a bit of a relief from the high tension of GtN and HtN, instead focusing on nona's day to day on a strange, pre- (or maybe mid?) apocalyptic refugee planet, which is experiencing political unrest and turmoil from both blood of eden and the emperor's reign.

Sounds like the start of a joke, right? Two scientists, an engineer, a detective, a lawyer, and an artist walk into a bar to help me become God.

interspersed between nona's day to day are scenes with john gaia as we slowly uncover the final days before the great resurrection 10,000 years prior which has lead to the current circumstances. john gaia is delightfully complicated as a villain, as is ianthe i found in this book. i wasn't expecting that from her from (what i at least thought was) fan worship, but maybe that's also the appeal. and of course, we still get to enjoy muir's excellent humor:

He sighed and said, “We had the internet. We decided to stream.” She said, “What is this internet?” And he said, “See, I did make a utopia.”

“What if I don’t like me?” she said. But Pyrrha didn’t seem to understand. “Well, you’ll probably start visiting clubs and trying to hit on the dancers, and going from relationship to relationship not really being able to commit.”

“What does it mean to love God?” “Decent dinner and a bottle of average rosé. Maybe a movie. I’m not picky,” he said.

as with HtN, the curtain is pulled back more and we're able to piece together more information about this complicated universe muir has written for us. there were some excellent twists, turns, and revelations, but muir would never leave us off without more questions and a cliffhanger ending.

We didn’t even do it right … we were children—playing with the reflections of stars in a pool of water … thinking it was space.”

at this point so far, this could end up possibly being my all-time favorite series depending on how the last book(s) go. here's to hoping alecto doesn't let us down!

Content Warnings

divine529's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is the third installment of The Locked Tomb series and you should definitely not start here if you're new to the series.
Since it's the third book, it's hard to talk about because anything I say would be wading into spoiler territory, but Nona is a new character we haven't met before and no one knows exactly who she is but it's highly likely she's one of, or a combination of, two people and a large part of the book surrounds events concerning Nona and who she is and how she can help various groups achieve what they want.
This book has a different feel from the others (frankly they all feel different from each other, it's very interesting) and it takes place on a new planet called New Rho and we're introduced to another level of things - there are 4 groups who are all involved (Blood of Eden, the Lyctors, House and then just civilians) and the dynamics were very interesting to read about.
I loved all the characters but particularly Pal and Cam (as always) and Pyrrha.
We also get to learn about John's backstory which definitely puts a lot of things into perspective.
And the ending was wild.
Definitely looking forward to the fourth installment when it comes out!

Content Warnings

snackattackisback69's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious sad 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

Content Warnings

alisonvh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

These books are so good, but also super complicated. There are so many characters, and they all keep dying and coming back to life and switching bodies. It’s all very confusing. I’m hoping that, by the time I get to the end of this series, I’ll have a better grasp of what the fuck is going on.

Content Warnings

pixelpigeon's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the other two Locked Tomb books, but it is definitely still worth reading. Things really start to pop off about halfway with the characteristic Locked Tomb twists that you will never see coming, and I tore through the rest of the book after that point in about a day or 2.

I was a bit uncomfortable that Nona was essentially like child in a 19 year old's body. Not a spoiler, since this is made apparent in the first chapter. Usually the trope of "beautiful, conveniently legally-aged but supremely innocent woman" is taken to problematic places. I wasn't actively worried that would be the case given Muir's handling of her characters throughout the other 2 books, but I couldn't get fully comfortable with the idea. I suppose it could be argued that this is evidence that you can have a character like that and not make it fucking weird.

Content Warnings

mimikrow's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I love found family
(will probably do a more indepth review later rarararara)

Content Warnings

valerian_honeybee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Content Warnings

fierygecko's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? No

4.75

The more I read these books the more I fall in love with the series. Muir has such a unique writing style that the chapter structure alone takes you on a story alongside the plot and characters. It once again feels like you are falling apart alongside the characters in the novel. I found Nona incredibly endearing and I really liked that although she was born “yesterday”, she wasn’t “born sexy yesterday”. I was both elated and heartbroken by the way returning characters showed up again. If you liked Gideon, and you liked Harrow, and you want just a few more convoluted and deeply thematic answers about the Nine Houses, I recommend this book whole heartedly. If you liked Gideon, and you liked Harrow, and you just want to witness more off-kilter humour from half-dead people I recommend this book to you whole heartedly also.

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