Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

333 reviews

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

As well-written and funny as I found this book, I also can’t deny that it disappointed me.

I personally found the writing style very unique and enjoyed it a lot. I thought the narration was funny and it really suited the main character’s personality. It felt modern, but not in a way that was poorly executed. I’ve read books set in the modern day that didn’t even come close to using modern slang/terms as well as this did. The use of language was also expertly used to convey descriptions of spaces and people.

I also really liked all the characters, they all felt very distinct from each other and well rounded. When allowed to be in smaller groups with Gideon it was so clear who was who and why they might act the way they do. However when in groups it felt more like they blended together and I quickly lost track of who was who. The narrator did help some with this, but I did still occasionally still mix them up. With the  distinctness of the characters it also lends well to interesting and complex group dynamics and conflicts.

I also really enjoyed early in the book when Gideon wasn’t speaking. It’s not a slight against the character, I just found the way she navigated interacting with others (and how they interacted with her in return) extremely interesting.

The narrator was also excellent. I felt like she really captured the main character and her voice acting ability really shone through with the large cast of characters.

However despite all I liked about the book it had its pitfalls.

I personally found what world building we got was really interesting, but it was giving so sparingly and in such little doses I found myself confused and lost on the regular. Some bits of information were mentioned like they were common knowledge and I had a hard time keeping track of if and when the information had been mentioned.

The confusion continued into plot beats and elements. Especially near the end of the book. Information was presented and treated as if it had been hinted at the entire book when it felt very sudden and out of nowhere.

My final issue was Gideon and Harrow’s relationship. They grew closer over the book, but considering where their relationship started (and that Harrow OWNED Gideon) it didn’t feel warned or well developed. Especially as it seemed to be building towards romance. It felt so gross considering Harrow’s ownership of Gideon and the awful terms they started the book on. Overall it was the most disappointing part of the book to me.

In the end I think the book had a lot of positive qualities and the author is clearly skilled, but in the end just fell short and was lacking in plot and relationship development.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Self harm, Slavery, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Cancer, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child death, Child abuse, and Death of parent

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Genocide, Slavery, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

anjasshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Violence, Blood, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Self harm, and Death

alainral's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Gore, Terminal illness, and Slavery

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Cannibalism, Cursing, Medical trauma, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer

kodi_rae's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I’ve often heard this book summed up as “lesbian space necromancers” and I love how it gets to the point but leaves so much to the imagination. This was a really fun and unique read. The world building is deep and the reader gets dropped right into the action, leaving a lot to be leaned and figured out as you go. Because of that, it took me a bit of time to feel like I really understood what was going on. I read a physical copy of the book which had a list of the houses and all the cast of characters that I referenced constantly and was very helpful. The back had a glossary and also descriptions for how to pronounce some of the names. I *almost* wish I had read it first but I might have still felt a little lost so maybe it wouldn’t have helped much anyway.

I think my one critique is that it moved so fast that the way the relationship between the two main characters fluctuates over time did not feel totally believable to me. But I will still read the other books in the series because it was so interesting and fun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Gore, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Cursing

bohboh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Gore, Grief, Child death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, and Vomit

Minor: War

beefthedwarf's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

Edit: after a few years, I've bumped this up to 5 stars. I'm obsessed with the series and the gripes I had were resolved after re-reading (high re-read value!) and understanding the characters better.

The writing was incredible and unique, and I found myself loving Gideon more than I ever thought I could love a main character. Due to the later plot twists and complex story, it also has a very satisfying re-read value. 

My biggest gripe is that Harrowhark did very little to redeem herself, and it was consistently difficult and heartbreaking to see Gideon be treated like absolute garbage, yet still cow to Harrow in a heartbeat. In my honest opinion, it takes more than a tearful apology and a confession of suicidal guilt to make up for the years of slavery, beatings, and abuse Harrow and her family put Gideon -- and all their slaves -- through. 

I think the book also suffers a bit from being the prequel/world building intro to the rest of the series. 

Regardless, the book left me enamored and intrigued enough to add Harrow the Ninth to my reading list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Incest, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Cannibalism, Body horror, Colonisation, Child death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Death

The author depicts characters of color, particularly men of color, in a poor light. There is rampant colorism. An indigenous man is a perpetrator if colonial violence.

marleysrambles's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

yogomagpie's review

adventurous dark tense fast-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

I described this as a series of “that escalated quickly,” nonstop until the end. It’s a total blood bath. I have a lot of questions and I wish I could look up each character online. But I can’t, because I fear I might stumble upon a spoiler from the next books in the series. So the only thing to do is barrel ahead with Harrow the Ninth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Body horror, Gore, Child death, and Blood

nefariousbee's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

read it for the third time, it just doesn't get old. each time I find something new, something I missed, something I can appreciate more with knowing more from other books or fan theories. it's hard to get into it once you do... I haven't read a more impactful book series. there is just so much depth to everything. we could study this thing for entire semesters and never run out of stuff to talk about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Vomit, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Cancer, Cursing, Murder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Infertility, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Emotional abuse