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A review by daydreamermoonwalker
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
5.0
OG rating (9/13/21): 4.5 stars
What I liked: The murder mystery plotline, the relationship between the main characters (holy shit I loved their dynamic and development), the humor (seriously "we do bones, motherfucker!" is an actual line from the book I love it)
What I didn't like: It took a while to get into (about 100 pages), the abundance of fight scenes (only a negative cuz I personally don't enjoy fight scenes that much no, but they were well written)
Overall it started slow but the rest of it was so fantastic that I don't care and I can't wait to read the sequel!! (Trust me you're gonna wanna have the sequel on standby)
Updated rating(10/10/21): 5 stars
Everything I said in the original review still stands, it was just a lot less confusing, and therefore a lot more enjoyable the second time round. It's definitely the type of book that you can reread over and over because you find new things every time.
Reread 01/29/22: This is my third read and it still *really* holds up! It honestly gets better each time. I absolutely love being able to theorize about what will happen in future books, and the foreshadowing and attention to detail is *incredible*. I'm not kidding when I say this and the sequel are the best books I've ever read and I can't wait for the third book!!
Here are a few more likes/dislikes
Dislikes:
Lack of body diversity: Most of the characters are thin, and the only fat character is viewed as lazy and cowardly.
Lack of description of skin tone and ethnicity: The main characters are supposed to be mixed Maori (said by the author in a tumblr post) but it's pretty much impossible to get this from the text alone. This leads to a lot of whitewashing in fan art. I think diversity in fiction is very important, so I wish the author had been more explicit in her representation.
These things didn't ruin the story for me, but I like to be able to see the flaws in the things I enjoy!
Likes:
The emphasis on non-romantic relationships: The non-romantic/platonic relationships are given just as much depth and importance as the romantic ones. They're allowed to be complicated and messy, they're allowed to be intense and all encompassing, they're allowed to be each other's favorite person! It was a breath a fresh air for me, as I think a lot of fiction puts most of the focus on romantic relationships.
What I liked: The murder mystery plotline, the relationship between the main characters (holy shit I loved their dynamic and development), the humor (seriously "we do bones, motherfucker!" is an actual line from the book I love it)
What I didn't like: It took a while to get into (about 100 pages), the abundance of fight scenes (only a negative cuz I personally don't enjoy fight scenes that much no, but they were well written)
Overall it started slow but the rest of it was so fantastic that I don't care and I can't wait to read the sequel!! (Trust me you're gonna wanna have the sequel on standby)
Updated rating(10/10/21): 5 stars
Everything I said in the original review still stands, it was just a lot less confusing, and therefore a lot more enjoyable the second time round. It's definitely the type of book that you can reread over and over because you find new things every time.
Reread 01/29/22: This is my third read and it still *really* holds up! It honestly gets better each time. I absolutely love being able to theorize about what will happen in future books, and the foreshadowing and attention to detail is *incredible*. I'm not kidding when I say this and the sequel are the best books I've ever read and I can't wait for the third book!!
Here are a few more likes/dislikes
Dislikes:
Lack of body diversity: Most of the characters are thin, and the only fat character is viewed as lazy and cowardly.
Lack of description of skin tone and ethnicity: The main characters are supposed to be mixed Maori (said by the author in a tumblr post) but it's pretty much impossible to get this from the text alone. This leads to a lot of whitewashing in fan art. I think diversity in fiction is very important, so I wish the author had been more explicit in her representation.
These things didn't ruin the story for me, but I like to be able to see the flaws in the things I enjoy!
Likes:
The emphasis on non-romantic relationships: The non-romantic/platonic relationships are given just as much depth and importance as the romantic ones. They're allowed to be complicated and messy, they're allowed to be intense and all encompassing, they're allowed to be each other's favorite person! It was a breath a fresh air for me, as I think a lot of fiction puts most of the focus on romantic relationships.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia and Suicidal thoughts