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A review by rlgreen91
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
adventurous
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? No
5.0
What a ride. What a ride. I kept seeing so much hype for this book and yeah, it's pretty well-deserved. It's certainly been a while since I've gotten hooked on a mystery like this.
Gideon is a great character - I really enjoyed how the author managed to hit a personality sweet spot of self-confidence, compassion, and self-deprecation. I enjoyed a lot of the characterization honestly. I also liked that a good chunk of the dialogue made me laugh - the style of humor reminds me a bit of A Confederacy of Dunces. It can be easy to run into fantasy stories that take themselves a little too seriously, so it was really refreshing to chuckle at some of the interactions.
I also really enjoyed the fight scenes. I can't say I read a lot of stuff with fight scenes, but that's always struck me as something that's particularly difficult to convey as an author. But the fight scenes were so excellent because they were so engaging - you would start one and get caught up in the scene at hand. There was no way you could stop reading mid-scene. That was a very big highlight of the book, so if fight scenes are something you're looking for or picky about, I highly recommend you pick this up.
Like I said above, it's been a bit since I've been this hooked by a mystery. There were definitely moments throughout that made me suspicious about what would ultimately happen, and how that would be a twist on the plot points we were seeing happen. I know that if I were to re-read this, I would find even more breadcrumbs. However, that won't be happening any time soon - I've already ordered the next book, Harrow the Ninth, which I'm hoping contains a lighthearted origin story of the nickname "Griddle". 5 stars.
Gideon is a great character - I really enjoyed how the author managed to hit a personality sweet spot of self-confidence, compassion, and self-deprecation. I enjoyed a lot of the characterization honestly. I also liked that a good chunk of the dialogue made me laugh - the style of humor reminds me a bit of A Confederacy of Dunces. It can be easy to run into fantasy stories that take themselves a little too seriously, so it was really refreshing to chuckle at some of the interactions.
I also really enjoyed the fight scenes. I can't say I read a lot of stuff with fight scenes, but that's always struck me as something that's particularly difficult to convey as an author. But the fight scenes were so excellent because they were so engaging - you would start one and get caught up in the scene at hand. There was no way you could stop reading mid-scene. That was a very big highlight of the book, so if fight scenes are something you're looking for or picky about, I highly recommend you pick this up.
Like I said above, it's been a bit since I've been this hooked by a mystery. There were definitely moments throughout that made me suspicious about what would ultimately happen, and how that would be a twist on the plot points we were seeing happen. I know that if I were to re-read this, I would find even more breadcrumbs. However, that won't be happening any time soon - I've already ordered the next book, Harrow the Ninth, which I'm hoping contains a lighthearted origin story of the nickname "Griddle". 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Child death, and Grief
Minor: War and Infertility