Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

82 reviews

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

The author failed to capture my attention when she didn’t introduce the main problem until 30% or a bit over 5 hours into this book. Until then, Gideon is just messing around trying not to put herself as a phony while her necromancer is off doing secret stuff. I listened with mild disinterest for a while, but more and more that has shifted into active dislike so it’s time to throw in the towel. I feel like the world building has been weak, and what’s up with Gideon being an indentured servant of some sort who is treated like a slave, has never seen a salad in her life, regularly loses her possessions to the girl/teen/woman who enslaved her, but reads comics often enough to compare real life situations to comic scenes?? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Blood, Gore, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Cursing, and Confinement

anntharai's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

At first I thought this was going to be another victim of its own popularity as it took me a while to come around, but without the epic expectations set by other readers I would have loved it from the start I think. 

It’s funny, dark, and genuinely entertaining. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death of parent, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Blood, War, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Child death, Violence, Slavery, Murder, Death, Classism, Child abuse, and Cancer

annapox's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Torture, Vomit, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Cursing

Moderate: Cannibalism, Blood, Grief, and Self harm

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, War, Child death, Death of parent, Suicide, and Slavery

vhispas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

Let me preface this by saying I want to throw up (in the best way). 

At the start I was really drawn in by the style, the wittiness and I was laughing. And then as the story progresses and the tone changes and suddenly I had my heart in throat and I wanted to throw up. 

There were many things I loved in this book but I think its best attribute is the world and ambience it creates through character and scenery. I loved how the relationships were developed and how the story unravels towards the end of the book. I will say that with so many characters and elements it sometimes gets confusing. 

The necromancy system, of which we get enough to be curious about but not overwhelmed, was amazing! It has been a while since I enjoyed a magic system this much. The book is fairly gory and there are plentiful descriptions of a lot of bone and viscera. It also handles very heavy topics surrounding death that may not be for everyone. 

I do really like this book, even if I’m currently at the edge of sobbing with a knot on my stomach. I also learned a lot of vocabulary! So that’s nice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Cancer, and Body horror

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: War

prettyfunctional's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Child death, Slavery, Body horror, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Murder, Cancer, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Vomit

_anzo_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Slavery, Murder, Gore, Child death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Cursing

mo345's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Vomit, War, Violence, and Genocide

Moderate: Cancer, Bullying, Classism, and Colonisation

spacebornfew's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

3.5

This was a fun read but I think it was overhyped for me which maybe left me expecting a bit much. 

"Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space" is essentially what you get. That gothic palace holds a lot of the story together by creating a thoroughly immersive setting. After a slow first third, things do definitely get moving quickly (sometimes too quickly). Throughout I felt like we were teased by some great world building and I'm hoping we learn more about that in the second novel. I will say, the central relationship didn't really do it for me, I wasn't entirely convinced by the way it developed. In part I think because we don't get a lot of the backstory until very far into the book. 

Overall though, I did enjoy it! It devoloped into much more of a mystery than I was expecting and who doesn't want more women with swords?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicide and Vomit

Minor: Slavery and War

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

woweewhoa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Slavery