Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

107 reviews

magstaff_j'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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Medical content

Moderate: Gore

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

mermaidmomma'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book took me a while to really get in to, but once I was in the universe I was sold. I love the magic system and how each house has their own methods. The mystery and twists to the plot were wonderful and that ending destroyed me!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Medical content and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

possibilityleft's review

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

madamenovelist's review

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

netflixismyroommate's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Murder, Grief, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Medical content, and Colonisation

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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

crashjaycintha's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny mysterious 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: Violence, Medical content, Deadnaming, Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Cancer, and Death of parent

brittni_in_ink'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

5.0

Gideon the Ninth isn't for the faint of heart. It's a sci-fi/fantasy epic that is part mystery, part action thriller, and part ensemble drama. The story requires a little bit more from the reader in terms of piecing together how the world works and the politics of the character interactions - but that's my favourite kind of book! 

The writing style throughout reflects Gideon's snarky sense of humour - which is super hard to pull off effectively - and Muir balances the tone with the narrative flow in an expert and effortless way to make the Gideon-like phrases sing in the text. 

I loved all of the characters, although it was difficult at times to keep all of the names and House affiliations in mind. I realized afterward that I could have made better use of the dramatis personae at the beginning of the book, and that there was an appendix!

The settings and fighting sequences were exceptionally well-crafted, and the slow reveal of the mystery hidden in Canaan House was satisfying. Each line of dialogue felt natural and nuanced. I was invested in this book from cover to cover, and I can't wait to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Cancer, Death, Suicide, Death of parent, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

thewickedbookworm's review against another edition

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.