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A review by jurizprudence
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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? No
5.0
congratulations to nona the ninth for being the only fictional book that made me pull up a bible while reading it
tor and netgalley rejected my arc request because they knew i won't be able to shut my little mouth if i read this book earlier. and what a tragically beautiful book about apocalypse, rebirth and resurrection, found families, and love in its purest, most innocent, and childlike form nona the ninth is! the way it broke my heart into pieces and put them back together in a span of almost 500 pages just like the previous books did was criminal—towards the end i was so fragile that even thinking about camilla's little smiles would require me a five-minute breakdown and a lie-down on the floor of my room. nona's eagerness to give love and her desire to be loved back brought me to tears the most when i finished. she's just so sweet and endearing and too pure for this world that i can't wrap my head around how can anyone not like—even love her.
i'm not a very articulate person, and i mean it when i say i can't describe how much i adore pyrrha and camilla and palamedes, and how much i miss gideon and harrowhark in this book. a certain prince—the saddest girl in the whole entire world!! i want to sob—got me acting unwise, and i will defend her to anyone who says something bad or mean about her i swear to god. i still admire ianthe's gall and i'm rooting for corona and judith. anyways i hate john with a burning passion and i think he is very pathetic and i want to study him under a microscope. this goes to show that muir is great in writing multifaceted characters—even awful, evil, and minor ones—that you can't help but feel attached to them. i saw readers saying that they didn't care much for nona's friends but i did!! god, i did cry and laugh for hot sauce and born in the morning and even that lying honesty—and it's all thanks to nona and her perspective.
notice how all i've talk about are the characters? yeah. yeah because the character dynamics are the highlight of this book for me. as for the plot, ntn was obviously easier to follow than htn, and thank goodness for that because i wasn't able to fully reread the previous books. i still got lost several times, but i think i did pretty well, having guessed one (lol) important plot point. still in awe that muir refuses to explain in detail everything that's happening by writing the most unreliable narrators in this universe—and that i actually love it. this series made me realize that i do like being confused. if gideon the ninth is a locked room mystery designed like a puzzle and harrow the ninth is a psychedelic dream meant to gaslight you, nona the ninth is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi fully built on love—love for oneself, friends, family, beliefs, and love for the planet that was your home. i didn't know that it would be as heartbreaking as htn was, but it is—even more so, i think. and for that tamsyn owes me therapy and a promise that griddlehark is endgame in alecto the ninth, thanks very much.
also tamsyn muir can you please stop introducing foul-mouthed and bright-haired women characters because i literally fall in love every time, yes this about pash, dearest our lady of the passion whom nona and i have a crush on, thank you
tor and netgalley rejected my arc request because they knew i won't be able to shut my little mouth if i read this book earlier. and what a tragically beautiful book about apocalypse, rebirth and resurrection, found families, and love in its purest, most innocent, and childlike form nona the ninth is! the way it broke my heart into pieces and put them back together in a span of almost 500 pages just like the previous books did was criminal—towards the end i was so fragile that even thinking about camilla's little smiles would require me a five-minute breakdown and a lie-down on the floor of my room. nona's eagerness to give love and her desire to be loved back brought me to tears the most when i finished. she's just so sweet and endearing and too pure for this world that i can't wrap my head around how can anyone not like—even love her.
i'm not a very articulate person, and i mean it when i say i can't describe how much i adore pyrrha and camilla and palamedes, and how much i miss gideon and harrowhark in this book. a certain prince—the saddest girl in the whole entire world!! i want to sob—got me acting unwise, and i will defend her to anyone who says something bad or mean about her i swear to god. i still admire ianthe's gall and i'm rooting for corona and judith. anyways i hate john with a burning passion and i think he is very pathetic and i want to study him under a microscope. this goes to show that muir is great in writing multifaceted characters—even awful, evil, and minor ones—that you can't help but feel attached to them. i saw readers saying that they didn't care much for nona's friends but i did!! god, i did cry and laugh for hot sauce and born in the morning and even that lying honesty—and it's all thanks to nona and her perspective.
notice how all i've talk about are the characters? yeah. yeah because the character dynamics are the highlight of this book for me. as for the plot, ntn was obviously easier to follow than htn, and thank goodness for that because i wasn't able to fully reread the previous books. i still got lost several times, but i think i did pretty well, having guessed one (lol) important plot point. still in awe that muir refuses to explain in detail everything that's happening by writing the most unreliable narrators in this universe—and that i actually love it. this series made me realize that i do like being confused. if gideon the ninth is a locked room mystery designed like a puzzle and harrow the ninth is a psychedelic dream meant to gaslight you, nona the ninth is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi fully built on love—love for oneself, friends, family, beliefs, and love for the planet that was your home. i didn't know that it would be as heartbreaking as htn was, but it is—even more so, i think. and for that tamsyn owes me therapy and a promise that griddlehark is endgame in alecto the ninth, thanks very much.
also tamsyn muir can you please stop introducing foul-mouthed and bright-haired women characters because i literally fall in love every time, yes this about pash, dearest our lady of the passion whom nona and i have a crush on, thank you
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Xenophobia