Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

58 reviews

annapox's review

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

---

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

spilledink's review

adventurous 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! I finished it in two days, and it was very effective in creating emotional responses and attachment to its characters.

Gideon is definitely the best part of this book for me. She is definitely one of my favourite protagonists in any book, and I love her as a character. She is never frustrating in a way that makes her unlikeable, and her humour is a very welcome respite from many of the heavier, darker aspects of this book.

One thing I struggled with in this book was the sheer number of characters. There are nine houses, each with at least two prominent characters. That is already 18 at least moderately important characters to keep track of, never mind all the other characters that aren't directly related to the plot. The guide at the beginning was definitely useful, but I still found it a little difficult to keep track sometimes, especially in the scenes that were heavy on inter-house politics and that sort of thing.

The mystery element of this book is masterfully executed. It raises many questions, but utilises pace well in order to provide answers in a satisfying and intriguing way, without revealing the full picture at any point. I am a little iffy on some of the plot twists, but I will probably be rereading this book to see if the foreshadowing is just subtle and I wasn't good at picking up on it, or if they did indeed come a little out of nowhere.

I will admit that the relationship between the two main characters did not compel me at all.

Considering all the torture and abuse Gideon suffers and has been suffering since birth at the hands of Harrow herself as well as under her orders and instruction, I couldn't really buy into them getting closer. It is ambiguous as to whether it's romantic or just really closely platonic, but either way I could not get on board with it at all. I am talking some really awful stuff that Gideon suffers, here. As well as how completely cruel Harrow is to her at the beginning of the book. Maybe I'm just soft or biased or something. But seriously. Harrow does not deserve Gideon, I dislike her character, and I don't appreciate the execution of Gideon forgiving her for all of that torture, emotional and physical, just because Harrow is kind of sort of growing as a person. TL;DR: I didn't like the pool scene, and I articulated this badly.

Each character in this book, despite how many there are, is distinct. This is an impressive feat. I could say something about every character in this book, and there's like 25. Seriously good writing.

I've been having a bad reading streak with books recently, but this one was like a breath of fresh air.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Child death, Body horror, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

ireadinbed's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

You ever take a long time to read a book because you just feel like it can't live up to the hype? I did that with this book. 

And it was such a mistake. Hype fully lives up to. So Irreverent and gross and very epic feeling. 

Loved the characters. Enjoyed the texture a lot. The world building is very interesting and layered. 

It did suffer a bit from that big fantasy book too much infor at once in the first bits, but it evened out quickly and the rest read spectacularly fast. 

I would have given this 5 stars if there had been a bit better foreshadowing on a few things. I think. 

The only thing is 

there is a bit at the end that just felt 'bury your gays' esque. I'm not sure it qualifies, but I was real not happy about it. But there was some mystery it may be resolved later.

It might be a 5star reread and I can totally see myself rereading it. I'm pretty sure this will be a buy for me and I only buy a few books a year so that's saying something! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Murder, Self harm, Death of parent, Death, Toxic friendship, and Infertility

carys_ene's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

panthalassa's review

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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and War

cryptidkay's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? No

4.0

Having started the physical copy and moved to an audiobook edition, I can safely say this book was meant to be an audiobook. 

This is intensely character driven and I couldn't help but fall in love with Gideon, attitude and all. That being said, devoting an entire book to a character, getting the reader attached to them, fall in love with them and their quirks and then remove them from the equation for the rest of the series is RUDE AF!

I'm not sad, so much as annoyed that I can't follow her story any more. My days for adult books are numbered and Harrow the Ninth isn't getting on my list for a while. 

It was a brilliant read though! The world building! Necromancers! GAYS IN SPACE! It's what every elder emo kid wants. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Terminal illness, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Religious bigotry, and Torture

cattails's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Infertility, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

emilyplun'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A murder mystery with necromancers and swords, and the main character is hilarious. Extremely good

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Abandonment, Child death, and Religious bigotry

fraxisle's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Cannibalism

Minor: Religious bigotry, War, and Cancer

msradiosilence's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Bullying, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, and War