A review by mac_ashton
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

dark lighthearted medium-paced

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

1.0

 It's rare that I DNF a book, but unfortunately Gideon is joining the club. This book has enough positive reviews that I'm sure it's for someone, just not for me. For context, I stopped about 30% in, and one of the final straws was: "Her blood shone redly". I can put up with a lot of bad adverbs, but this book is bursting at the seams. Top it off with a plot that didn't really grab me and a confusing world that never really clicked for me, and it turning the pages just got too hard.

I like to try and find positives even when I don't like something, so I will say the characters, while one dimensional, were occasionally humorous. The ideas present to create the world are also ambitious, I just don't feel like they were fully realized.