A review by spacebornfew
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a fun read but I think it was overhyped for me which maybe left me expecting a bit much. 

"Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space" is essentially what you get. That gothic palace holds a lot of the story together by creating a thoroughly immersive setting. After a slow first third, things do definitely get moving quickly (sometimes too quickly). Throughout I felt like we were teased by some great world building and I'm hoping we learn more about that in the second novel. I will say, the central relationship didn't really do it for me, I wasn't entirely convinced by the way it developed. In part I think because we don't get a lot of the backstory until very far into the book. 

Overall though, I did enjoy it! It devoloped into much more of a mystery than I was expecting and who doesn't want more women with swords?
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