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meg_thebrave's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
Wow. It was a slow read for me, as Muir built this world, but this is an incredible read and I’m so glad I stuck it out to the end. I just read a modern sci-fi masterpiece. And I’m excited to see what happens next. Huge fan of the incredible narrator, Moira Quirk, as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, and Murder
chrisb913's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
The book overall is incredibly solid. Tamsyn Muir crafts a truly dark, dense, and complex world. The plot starts out a bit murky, trying to piece together the world and the magic system. If you are someone like me who will end up re-reading passages over and over again until you understand what is happening, the initial few chapters can be incredibly frustrating, as Muir tends to show you the basics of the world building over the course of the story instead of telling you about it all upfront. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion, just that it can cause a bit of a slog at certain points in the story.
The main character, Gideon, and her necromancer, Harrow, were very well written. Gideon, a lovable snarky badass woman, always with a retort, paired so perfectly with Harrow, a strict, powerful no-nonsense woman who wants to prove she can do everything solo. The bonding these two share as the story progresses had me clamoring for more scenes with just these two.
While the plot was pretty straightforward, as stated earlier, the writing was anything but. The twists and turns in this sci-fi fantasy turned mystery thriller kept me on the edge of my seat, clamoring for more. Really and truly, the only hinderence I found was the pacing of the world/story building reveals. I found myself floundering at different points, trying to figure out what was going on, especially in the beginning. I would say this book is between a 4-4.5 star. I will definitely be continuing this series with the next book Harrow the Ninth to find out what happens next.
The main character, Gideon, and her necromancer, Harrow, were very well written. Gideon, a lovable snarky badass woman, always with a retort, paired so perfectly with Harrow, a strict, powerful no-nonsense woman who wants to prove she can do everything solo. The bonding these two share as the story progresses had me clamoring for more scenes with just these two.
While the plot was pretty straightforward, as stated earlier, the writing was anything but. The twists and turns in this sci-fi fantasy turned mystery thriller kept me on the edge of my seat, clamoring for more. Really and truly, the only hinderence I found was the pacing of the world/story building reveals. I found myself floundering at different points, trying to figure out what was going on, especially in the beginning. I would say this book is between a 4-4.5 star. I will definitely be continuing this series with the next book Harrow the Ninth to find out what happens next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, and Violence
ellenwm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
I was drawn in tight from the first chapter, which felt unique! The prose is fun. Gideon is just an awesome, magnetic character to get to know. The exposition feels natural and not too heavy handed. I enjoyed the mystery component and the characters immensely. This isn’t my typical genre, so grain of salt, but the world and concept felt totally fresh. I loved the audiobook narrator!!! Once you’re in the thick of it though it takes some doing to really keep the main 17 characters sorted in your mind, with who’s with what house and which partners and which skills and which titles. Might have been easier reading it written out, but keeping a character list nearby helped until I had it straight. There were a couple important emotional beats that faltered, unfortunately. Do be warned, there are some sections of body horror that aren’t enjoyable near meals or if you’re squeamish. Excited for the next in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Murder, Suicide, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
shottel's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
4.25
The quote by Charles Stross on the front of the book sums up the setting very well: "Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent nobles vie to serve the deathless Emperor! Skeletons!" Yet it misses the most notable feature of the book: The witty, gruesome writing. Much of the story is told as if the titular Gideon the Ninth is the narrator herself - sarcastic, crude, dark, judgmental, and witty. It frequently invokes death, decay, and viscera without ever being overbearingly grimdark.
"She was down there last night too and, if I'm correct, never surfaced. Her blood's on the floor down there." Because necromancers lived bad lives, he added: "To clarify. Her intravenous blood. Her intravenous blood."
The writing, plot, and world-building are brilliant. The only reason it is not a 5 star book is because I nearly put it away before I reached the half-way point. In the first half, it turned into a slog. Little happens with Gideon in terms of her advancing the plot, experiencing the plot advancing, or with her own development. To make matters worse, the tone of the book, which is otherwise brilliantly presented, stays completely uniform the entire way through. I had to sit through over a hundred pages of what felt like very little before experiencing an explosion of activity in the second half. This hundred pages of nothing did accentuate the drama of the second half, but that could have been done while allowing for tonal shifts or personal character development that would have made the first half more interesting to read.
Despite this, if you are like me, keep pushing through until about page 250 and the payoff will absolutely be worth it. I recommend this to anyone who would be interested in reading about lesbian space necromancy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Terminal illness, Suicide, Blood, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Body horror, Cancer, Violence, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Child death and Murder
chrispy_mac's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.0
A lot of books get popular because they're following some trend, and aren't actually good. Fortunately, Gideon the Ninth actually IS good. The only issue I had was the pacing, I really almost dnf'd this at about 45% of the way through. It really takes its time to set things up (maybe too much time). However, really great characters and an interesting world does make up for it in the end. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
kwthor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Murder, Gore, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
yepdatjj's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book left with a lot to unpack, a lot of questions and I didn't know where to start. And that's all in a good way. Tamsyn Muir has created this intricate and complex world and describes it so beautifully that you can see it clearly and understand what's going on. But then you realize, like the characters at times, you have no idea what's going on.
I'm a HUGE thriller fan and this one kept me guessing even through the epilogue. Highly recommend this if you love fantasy and a good thriller. Looking forward to continuing the story with book two.
And not as an afterthought, Moira Quirk brought the characters to life brilliantly.
I'm a HUGE thriller fan and this one kept me guessing even through the epilogue. Highly recommend this if you love fantasy and a good thriller. Looking forward to continuing the story with book two.
And not as an afterthought, Moira Quirk brought the characters to life brilliantly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Body horror, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, and War
beebidon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
I think about this series at least once a day. I put off reading it bc I fully believed my friends who warned me that it would be consume me. They were right and I regret nothing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Child death, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, and Violence
Minor: Religious bigotry, Vomit, Pregnancy, Cannibalism, Colonisation, War, and Confinement
emalderwood's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
This book was spectacular, a blast, and absolutely destroyed me at the end with a last jab of a plot twist I never saw coming. I wanted to throw the book SO BAD. But Muir knocked it out of the park in so many ways. Gideon is a unique and matchless main character full of spite and sarcasm and I adored getting to experience her as the main POV. The world was weird and grisly and confusing but in a delightful, creative and cool way and not in a thrown-together way. The plot twists were genius - you never knew what was going to happen next but once they did you could see the trail the author had made leading there. Thoroughly recommend this if you're okay with weird, not knowing exactly what's happening all the time, and lots of blood and bones and gore. And if you're emotionally ready for an ending that will make you mad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Murder, Terminal illness, Body horror, and Suicide
Minor: Medical content, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and War
soofsaphony's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
The only thing I can say is that this book reads like an anime
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, and Violence