A review by mayannecosplay
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

Absolutely masterful storytelling by Tamsyn Muir. This book is unlike anything I've ever read. Her writing is so sharp, witty, absurdly gory and gritty and just makes you laugh out loud in sheer incredulity. The characters she creates are so flawed and real that you will unwittingly form strong connections to them when you least expect it. The plot unravels in such a way that makes you scream for joy and despair. And so many queer characters, the absence of homophobia in this world being so refreshing! Just a bunch of disaster lesbians and their gay panic.

This is my second read of Gideon The Ninth (my first time as an audiobook) and the narrator made this experience SO FUN! I loved Moira Quirk's voices and intonations for each character, especially Harrow's posh and haughty accent and Palamedes' rough northern UK accent. Discovering and noticing all the little details that I missed on my first read was such a joy and re-reading plot twists still feel like a punch to the gut. I am absolutely hooked on this series and will still be thinking about it weeks later. 1000/10 would recommend looking for fan art and memes made by the Locked Tomb fandom to recover from the loss of finishing this book and its sequel and while waiting for the third to come out in fall 2022.

For the love of God, the King Undying, please check trigger warnings before reading this book, it's a graphic horror story about necromancers in a haunted and murderous mansion.
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