A review by madzie
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.75

 Epic. Muir flawlessly weaves intertwines genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror to create something truly unique. She hits every genre on the head. The plot is well-structured and offers some unique twists and turns. The mystery that runs throughout the book becomes enthralling and pulls you in for every minute. In the end, everything perfectly fits to create a truly epic story perfect for any fantasy lover (or emo). Overall, the worldbuilding is interesting and inventive. Some questions were left unanswered, but they did not distract from the overall enjoyment of the world. 

The characters are fun and quirky, allowing them to jump off the page. All the main characters feel like real people and operate around each other with interesting dynamics that permit the exploration of themes. Particularly, Harrow and Gideon feel like old friends to the reader, and watching them interact is pure gold. I feel like I could follow them anywhere. However, side characters often get lost in the shuffle, even becoming confusingly mixed up due to a lack of development and leading me to care little for their ultimate endings.

However, Muir’s tale is mostly weighed down by some writing choices. Her style is very dense, and while this works alright throughout most of the novel when it comes to action scenes, it is a haul to get through as the sentence structure makes everything else drag behind. 

Muir’s true talent shines through with her use of themes, which are expertly explored. Interestingly, Muir uses queer themes without making queerphobia a part of her novel, offering a perspective I have never seen before but certainly enjoy. Muir allows her characters to be unapologetically (and more importantly without explanation) queer yet flawlessly incorporates themes of queerness throughout the novel, allowing us to use fantasy for its true purpose to explore our world in a removed setting. Further, Muir asks us to question human drive and how our actions result from it. Through Muir’s light-handed writing, readers ponder our interactions with others, religion, control, and emotions, working together to demonstrate how horrifyingly we can treat each other when our insecurities are left unchecked.

In the end, the popularity of this novel is highly understandable. The characters, plot, and themes work together wonderfully with only a few setbacks leaving it shy of five stars.
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