Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Ich bin Gideon by Tamsyn Muir

32 reviews

tobibi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This really reinvigorated my reading mood. It took a bit to build up, but the world building is presented very well (little to no infodumps) and the characters are introduced slowly, so you get a general feel for them throughout the book. The horror elements are good, though a bit less striking than I thought they would be, but that's likely due to our POV (Gideon). I enjoyed seeing the back and forth in Griddlehawk's relationship progression, and the ending was heartbreakingly good. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

favorite lines

 

"... Where I'm going, I promise to piss fidelity all the livelong day. I have lots of fealty in me. I fealt the Emperor with every bone in my body. I fealt *hard*." (p. 43)

 

 

"With the proper motivation, Griddle could wield two swords in each hand and one in her mouth. While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade." (p. 53)

 

 

"Harrow said, "No."
"I want to go," said Gideon.
"This sounds impossibly vapid."
"I want to eat a dessert."" (p. 167)

 

 

Harrow's voice, almost a whisper: "A light, Nav."
"What?"
"You *did* bring a torch."
"This is a service I was unaware I was meant to provide," said Gideon. (p. 204)

 

 

... "Thoughts?"
Gideon said, "Did you know that if you put the first three letters of your last name with the first three letters of your first name, you get 'Sex Pal'?" (p. 274)

 

 

"Ask me how I am and I'll scream," she said.
"How are you," said Camilla, who was a pill.
"I see you calling my bluff and I resent it," said Gideon... (p. 305)

 

 

Once Gideon would have loved to hear Corona talk to her with that low, breathy intensity, maybe saying "Your biceps... they're eleven out of ten," but right now she did not want anyone to talk to her at all. (p. 327)

 

 

"... Look, Nav. You ratted out your childhood nemesis to get her in trouble. You didn't kill her parents, and she shouldn't hate you like you did, and *you* shouldn't hate you like you did."
He was peering at her through his spectacles. "Hey," she objected lamely, "I never said I hated myself."
"Evidence," he said, "outweighs testimony." (p. 336)

 

 

... "I'm an abomination. The whole universe ought to scream whenever my feet touch the ground. My parents committed a necromantic sin that we ought to have been torpedoed into hte centre of Dominicus for. If any of the other Houses knew of what we'd done they would destroy us from orbit without a second's thought. i am a *war crime*." (p. 353)

 

 

"... I made myself watch, when my parents -- I could not do the slightest thing my House expected of me. Not even then. You're not the only one who couldn't die." (p. 355)

 

 

... "You apologize to me now? You say that you're sorry when I have spent my life destroying you? You are my whipping girl! I hurt you because it was a relief! I exist because my parents killed everyone and relegated you to a life of abject misery, and they would have killed you too and not given a second's goddamned thought! I have spent your life trying to make you regret that you weren't dead, all because -- I regretted I wasn't! I ate you alive, and you have the temerity to tell me that *you're sorry*?" (p. 356)

 

 

"Hm," said Camilla neutrally, and Gideon knew immediately that she organized Palamedes's and her socks by color and genre. (p. 365)

 

 

... She didn't need a very long look to tell that Dyas was dead. For one thing, her skeleton and her body had apparently tried to divorce. (p. 372)

 

 

"She took Babs," she said, which seemed fair enough.
But then Corona started crying again, big tears leaking out of her eyes, her voice thick with misery and self-pity. "And who even cares about Babs? Babs! She could have taken *me*." (p. 394)

 

 

Harrow said, with some difficulty. "I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it."
"Yes, you can, it's just less great and less hot," said Gideon." (p. 437)

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Murder, Classism, Death, Torture, Cursing, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Slavery, and Abandonment

iane_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Hate crime, Miscarriage, Dementia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Pandemic/Epidemic, and War

rwsmith's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this book lived up to all the hype. going in, i knew it was an enemies to lovers lesbian necromancy situation, and it is that. in my opinion the relationship between the main character and her "enemy" moves fast towards the end, and is not explicitly romantic, so im not sure if it would technically fit the enemies to lovers trope. but honestly it was a bit of a relief and it was refreshing  to have such a close relationship be legitimately ambiguous in its intentions. 
it is almost a murder mystery, kind of hunder games adjacent, in that theres a competition that a bunch of teenagers are participating in in a secluded location. 
the worldbuilding is awesome, once i finished the book i ended up reading The Locked Tomb wiki for three hours because i wanted to know more. i could have read the rest of the series but i got into a rabbit hole . . .
the writing is well done, the cast of characters are kind of "tropes" on the surface but they all have deeper more complex meanings and experiences beneath the surface that surprised me at every turn. so, somewhat predictable or familiar while still being interesting!
i listened to the audiobook and the narrator was amazing, i could easily tell the characters apart and each inflection the different characters had gave them all so much life and fit them each so well. 
overall i highly highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a touch of sci-fi in their fantasy magic systems, anyone who's looking for a story with lgbtq+ characters who aren't defined by their sexuality or who's queerness isnt the center the whole story and isn't brushed aside either. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Cancer, Child death, and Gaslighting

bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, and War

risaleel'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abandonment, Cursing, and War

rbuhrke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

The book is about necromancy in a space empire center on LGBT+ characters but it’s focus is not on romance despite the advertising done by TikTok. However there are romantic elements within the story

one does not bind their soul to another without some kind of love for the other unless you are Ianthe

. It is an intellectual read that covers up the horror story unfolding underneath the language. It was easier to read via audiobook than by book alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Child death, Blood, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Slavery, Medical content, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Incest, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Infertility

If the ending of the book was spoiled for you don’t panic. The series is worth it to keep going.

Gideon does kill herself at end of the book for Harrow but that is not the end of Gideon Nav’s story. She will come back in the other books. Death isn’t simple when necromancy is involved.

kalmia31's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical trauma, Vomit, and Body horror

Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Child death, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cannibalism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Self harm, Cancer, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

scarlettskyes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Cancer, Grief, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Medical trauma, and Child death

magnus_w_d_locke's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

If you told me at the beginning of this book that I'd be silently weeping in a B&N cafe at the end, I would have told you "what do you mean? This is just a funny funky lesbian mystery set in space!" 

I'm pretty sure at least 5 people saw me desperately wiping tears in the corner of this cafe. I can't wait till my book van is lifted so I can get the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Cannibalism and Suicide

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cursing, Body horror, Violence, Torture, Medical trauma, Medical content, Blood, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, Death, and Classism