Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

21 reviews

belladonnashrike's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

2.75

the concept is so interesting but little is offered about the world they live in. I wish there was more info about the planetary system in this first book. I don’t mind the intentional mystery but I think the mystery should’ve been more about the plot rather than the setting. I also don’t mind not knowing the entire history of the universe and the politics within it (I tend to like books that just throw you into their world without much explanation) - I just would’ve liked a more descriptive setting. books like these *should* tell you what the world looks like and I’m very confused as to why this incredibly important set of details was left out. I couldn’t even picture their home planet that well.

there were a lot of characters but I didn’t find it difficult to keep up with them once I learned all the names. the way muir was able to have so many characters and not have it be confusing as hell is beyond me. loved harrow, gideon, camilla, magnus, palamedes, and

dulcinea before I knew she wasn’t dulcinea

. I know everyone is saying it’s confusing but I really don’t think it was? plus there was a list of characters at the beginning that’s easy to refer back to (which I liked).  I think what may be confusing is that they all have a very similar sense of humor..

however, the dialogue (and the humor) was just not great - everything minus the dialogue is good. I did get used to it as time went on but a lot of the lines (especially from gideon) were corny and were  mismatched to the narrative tone outside of the quotation marks. this was such an issue for me at the beginning that it took me awhile to really get into the book - once I did, I really liked the story but that didn’t come to be without express effort on my part. there’s a way to balance humor and good writing and the balance unfortunately was not present in this book. “that’s what she said” & “haha tiddies” type of jokes really were just in abundance for no reason…idk it’s just not my cup of tea. 

I do think that the story itself does make up for the poor dialogue (just barely) and I will be continuing on with this series. I just wish it was written differently. I think I wouldn’t have this critique if I read this at like, fourteen or fifteen though. I know it’s not YA… but the writing seems very young. 

I just really wish muir took the time to describe the world they’re in. leave the plot a mystery!! but not the setting. it’s just very disappointing because the concept is soooo cool. 

can’t decide on a rating. the dialogue + repetition of certain words (cough nonplussed cough) that should’ve been caught w drafts/editing … it really threw things off for me. I really like the story itself so i’m conflicted but i’ll come back to this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Cancer, Vomit, Death of parent, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content

brittni_in_ink's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Gideon the Ninth isn't for the faint of heart. It's a sci-fi/fantasy epic that is part mystery, part action thriller, and part ensemble drama. The story requires a little bit more from the reader in terms of piecing together how the world works and the politics of the character interactions - but that's my favourite kind of book! 

The writing style throughout reflects Gideon's snarky sense of humour - which is super hard to pull off effectively - and Muir balances the tone with the narrative flow in an expert and effortless way to make the Gideon-like phrases sing in the text. 

I loved all of the characters, although it was difficult at times to keep all of the names and House affiliations in mind. I realized afterward that I could have made better use of the dramatis personae at the beginning of the book, and that there was an appendix!

The settings and fighting sequences were exceptionally well-crafted, and the slow reveal of the mystery hidden in Canaan House was satisfying. Each line of dialogue felt natural and nuanced. I was invested in this book from cover to cover, and I can't wait to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Cancer, Death, Suicide, Death of parent, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

flyintothestorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Body horror

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

orlagal's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and War

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Ableism, Confinement, Death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Genocide, Gore, Cancer, Child abuse, Body horror, Death of parent, and Child death

Minor: Medical content, Excrement, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Murder, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Suicide

storykath's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Gotta say, I was very confused a lot of the time. I appreciated that there was no clunky exposition sections, but I did feel thrown into the deep end in terms of the universe and magic system and everything. As such, I didn't always fully understand why everything happened the way it happened (especially towards the end) but overall I could still appreciate what was going on.

Gideon was a fantastic narrator, funny and flawed and truly unique. She's chaotic and hilarious!

This book took me a while to get through, and I think that's partly due to my brain being picky about reading, but also partly because of how gory and tense things got in the story. I couldn't always stomach it for multiple chapters at a time. Between the injuries and the sometimes-dense plot, this was a book I had to tackle in smallish chunks. That being said, I'm starting the sequel right away so I don't forget any important plot points.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Genocide, Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

annapox's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Torture, Vomit, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Cursing

Moderate: Cannibalism, Blood, Grief, and Self harm

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, War, Child death, Death of parent, Suicide, and Slavery

lotten4's review

dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Giddeons sense of humor is very bad but it really grows on you. The first 200 pages are fine but the rest is what makes it good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Cannibalism, Mental illness, Cancer, and Chronic illness

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

saltylane's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved listening to the audiobook version of this book! The mysteries were dark and intense, and the action would keep you on the edge of your metaphorical seat. The writing style is very fitting to the characters and at times added a little laugh when it got really dire. The ending was amazing and emotional, and I’m already eager to read the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Death, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Cursing and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Vomit, Suicide, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mairallen1114's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

fucking superb. i read it twice back-to-back because of all the excellent foreshadowing. it's full of characters you will love and events you'll hate and when you finish you will be screaming to the sky because literally w h a t. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Terminal illness

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Eating disorder, and Fire/Fire injury

buckle the fuck up homies, theres a lot of content warnings. graphic warnings will not be elaborated on because they are just broad themes of the book (it's about necromancy, you kind of sign up for this). child abuse listed for

the abhorrent treatment of gideon and harrowhark

. death of parent for

harrows shitty parents committing suicide, brought up a few times

. self harm listed because necromancers will sometimes pull their own organic material (hair, teeth, nails) to use for necromantic acts, not used in terms of mental illness or self punishment. brief cancer mention when MAJOR SPOILER

palamedes gives a character "turbo cancer"

. child death listed for MAJOR SPOILER

we learn harrow was born from the deaths of 200 ninth house children between ages 1-18, also Jeannemary and Isaac die and are only teenagers

. eating disorder listed because harrow does not eat as well and as often as she should, causing her to pass out and such. fire/fire injury listed for

when they discover pro's remains as well as someone else's in the incinerator