A review by applesodaperson
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

3.0

I am still on the hunt for my perfect adult fantasy series (so far Mistborn has been the best). And I would consider Beyonders the best YA fantasy series. Gideon the Ninth felt like it was supposed to be a YA series, because that was what level the plot and characters were, but then she wanted to add tons of gore and swearing, so she made it adult fantasy. But this just made the lack of world building so blatant, because that was the biggest problem with this book. It was an interesting blend of sci-fi and fantasy. The necromancer magic was the fantasy. But then the setting was in space, and the ninth planet is very metal and grungy, and they travel in space ships. But this mix is exactly why it needed to be explained so much more. I had a hard time practicing the ninth planet. And the seaside tower they are in for most of the book was better, but I still couldn't tell how much was sci-fi and how much was fantasy. Also, most of the side characters were not physically described enough. 
Anyways, I did appreciate the LGBTQ+ representation, especially since Gideon is such a female himbo. But I do not think the enemies to lovers was done all that great. The enemies part was awesome, and I loved that it was specifically childhood rivals/mutual bullies. I liked their mean nicknames for each other. But after sincerely hating each other their entire lives, they switched to lovers way too fast. There should have been more time to develop it and change this, which was not done because they spent most of the time apart from each other during the competition to become lichter. 
I also HATED
the villain reveal. It was like a 2 part reveal, and the first villain was underwhelming, because I barely remembered who she was. And the second villain was done in such a confusing way and felt like it had no foreshadowing. It was just messy and confusing and not very satisfying.

Overall, I am not sure I will finish the series, especially since the second book is like a 20+ week wait on Libby.
Listened to on Libby.
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