Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

55 reviews

possibilityleft's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gore, Child abuse, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Body horror, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Murder, Medical content, Genocide, Death, Cannibalism, Blood, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Child death, Abandonment, and Physical abuse

wickedgrumpy's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

At the end of this book I experienced emotional damage and I fully expect it to make me cry again on re-reading in the future.

I went into this book knowing almost nothing beyond the tag line of Lesbian Necromancers in Space and that it was genre-bending for sci-fi and fantasy.  That was enough to sell me on reading it, even though I heard mixed things.

Did it deliver on those premises?  Mostly.  There are characters that identified as women and showed attraction/flirted with others that also identified as women, some of those characters were also necromancers.  With regards to being in space, there is very limited space shuttle travel, so I don't know that I would really quantify it that way, though there is ample room for that to change for the future in the series.

This book was indeed a crossover between sci-fi and fantasy in that it involved a technologically advanced civilization (space travel, and such) but with the deep roots of necromancy that almost took it into dark academia territory.  The necromancers are all obsessed in learning new theorems/spells and figuring out things in their specializations, and there are also trials they have to pass and mysteries to solve before they can advance.

There's a lot of tension because it is a competition and you don't really begin to understand the stakes until Act II and then the full whammy hits you near the end.

Also, I feel like I have a conspiracy theory based on the epilogue/info peppered throughout the book so click for spoilers, I guess:

Okay, so Gideon did not die with all the other children even though she was close to the vents for 10 minutes and her parents were hella scared about that.  In the epilogue, the Emperor says they couldn't retrieve Camilla (who was last seen alive) or Gideon's bodies so what if Harrow has Gideon's soul, but like, the body/vessel is still alive?  And Camilla managed to be resourceful because she definitely is wicked smart and they escaped the First planet...?  Or hid until they left?  I dunno.  Maybe I just don't want Gideon to be dead because her gay panic was so relatable.  And everyone else.  I loved the Fourth teens with their perpetual embarrassment and the Fifth cav Magnus was so sweet...

 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Cursing, Suicide, Torture, Medical content, Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Cancer, Death, Slavery, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Terminal illness, Bullying, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Child death, Stalking, and War

thewickedbookworm's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

This is immediately my favorite book of January, and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes my top 10 of the year. I was not expecting the emotional toll and I need to read the sequels immediately. Tamsyn Muir is now an auto-buy author for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Murder, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Torture

Minor: Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Self harm, Cancer, and Medical content

Mass child murder/sacrifice is a major plot device. Two teenagers are murdered in violent ways. Suicide is a major plot device, including parental suicide.

This is a bloody book full of necromantic characters, supported by personal warriors, who have varyingly dubious morals frequently caused by childhood trauma. There is no sexual violence or animal harm, but most other triggers can be found in this story.

boglord's review

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Suicide, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: War, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Vomit

jonie_rich's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Vomit, War, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Cannibalism, Genocide, Gore, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Grief, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

goosegame's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Child death

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Mental illness

nevdite284's review

adventurous dark emotional funny 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: War, Chronic illness, Grief, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Violence, and Gore

ceryswilliams's review

adventurous dark mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I liked the premise of necromantic lesbians explore a haunted castle in space and it definitely delivers on all of those! A bit hard to follow because there is so much lore. Very captivating and fun. Not sure I'll be reading the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Body horror

Moderate: Confinement, Terminal illness, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Grief

achingallover's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Slavery, Blood, Death, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Murder, Suicide, Death of parent, Genocide, Chronic illness, Violence, and Terminal illness

ritte_e's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

3.75

Creative worldbuilding and solid plot once it gets rolling (which took a while, but it was worth hanging on!). The action scenes were exciting.  Gideon is likeable enough, but I really, really enjoyed the character that turned out to be the antagonist the most.

Critique:
Personally, I wasn't too fond of the narrator voice, too snarky for my taste and keeping track of all the characters and titles might have been easier if their given names were used more frequently to describe them.

As for the mystery, the stakes weren't too clear (how final is death in a necromancy setting? What was everyone's goals exactly?) so as a reader you were left guessing about a lot more than just the whodunit. I'm guessing navigating the pages will be easier in the sequel, now that the groundwork of the setting has been established.

I'm not sure yet what to make of the other main character, Harrow, but I'm sure I'll find out in the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Slavery