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chloe5454'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? Yes
Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Classism, Body horror, Child abuse, Blood, Cursing, Cancer, Confinement, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Cannibalism, Genocide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Infertility
maddierandolph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Cannibalism, Bullying, and Mental illness
ebp'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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Hate crime, Animal death, Body horror, Classism, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Suicide, Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Genocide
rachelfazio's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death and Genocide
Moderate: Cannibalism
sabrina_marvil's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Genocide, Gore, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Incest, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Cancer, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Colonisation, Self harm, Stalking, Trafficking, Torture, Medical content, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Body shaming, Vomit, War, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Mental illness
Not in spacekynaeus'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? Yes
5.0
If you read the audiobook (highly recommend), you may want to keep a copy of the dramatis personae nearby so you can keep visual track of all the characters as there are many to keep track of and they all have 5 names each. Fortunately for you, they're all awesome and there's a good variety cast of personalities w/ comedic relief to help break up the tension of imminent death around any corner.
Most people I see recommending this book pitch it as "lesbian necromancers in space" and while there is zero doubt in my mind about one character (thank you for your service Frontline Titties of the Fifth House), I definitely thought of Nona as more asexual because of her.... well, you'll find out when you read this masterpiece.
Finally, the pacing can be off-putting to many first timers.
You won't know exactly what's going on or what everyone's motivations are until you reach the end, and then everything will be turned on its head. But the best part of this series is how well-planned it feels the farther along you get so as soon as you finish reading Gideon you might find yourself starting right back at page 1 searching for clues. This series reads like a masterpiece and feels like it will be rightly regarded as a pinnacle example of sci-fantasy from this time period
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Genocide and Suicide
sigrids's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Also I love how useless the main character is in face of any women she sees. Very relatable.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery, Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Genocide, Infertility, and Emotional abuse
zophronia's review
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Child abuse, Self harm, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Cancer, Suicide, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Genocide
c_dmckinney's review against another edition
- 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
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
book_buddy_rob'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
4.75
The first 100 pages or so of this book was hard to push through and I was prepared to DNF, but once things started clicking and the underlying mystery in the plot began, is when I got hooked and needed to know what was going to happen.
The bond that develops between Gideon and Harrow is one of the best executions of an enemies to friends trope I have ever read. At the start, these two main characters hate each other but by the end, Muir did a really great job of developing that bond that by the end when they formed a real sisterhood with each other, it felt believable.
The real star of the book though was the unique magic system. All the magic centers around necromancy, or what I like to call dead people magic. But it’s not just poof, raise the dead. In order to access their magic the characters use different theorems and puzzles that require solving and I thought that made it super compelling.
I also thought the mystery woven into the story was well paced. People were dropping dead and Muir did a great job of keeping the reader invested and wanting to know what was causing all these deaths.
I do wish the world building had been stronger. You’re sort of dumped into this world with not a lot of info on the planets, and the characters, but by the end I appreciating figuring everything out on my own because once things clicked is when things really got going.
I do also with the queer themes were explored more within the story. Gideon is a lesbian, but outside of a few one liners from her, it’s not really talked about much within the story.
Overall this is a great start to what I believe will be a new all time favorite series and I can’t wait to dive into the next book!
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Genocide