nittiotvaan's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Death, Medical content, and War
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The worldbuilding gets more of a chance to breathe this time around. GIDEON THE NINTH was a murder mystery until other things started being much more important. HARROW THE NINTH is a fever dream of confusion which suddenly snaps into coherence at the 90% mark. NONA THE NINTH is a breath, pausing for a story which has a clear framework, a lovable protagonist, and a sense of rhythm and pattern to her days. This calm amidst the storm is ripped open by a descent into war and the deterioration of her body as the day approaches when the Locked Tomb will open. I like the interludes as John tells the story of how this started. These sections helped with pacing and framing, as well as bringing the extremely welcome event of someone actually explaining what the fuck is going on for once.
As the third book in the series, NONA THE NINTH continues Several things begun in earlier books, specifically, but not only, the fates of a great many characters such as Camila and Palamedes. There's so much in each book that it's very difficult to know which details will be picked up later and which ones have been completely handled in their first treatment, but this does eventually give some answers about things first raised in earlier books. There’s an entirely new storyline related to Nona, her relative newness, and everyone she cares about at home and the school. She’s just so happy in a way that incorporates strangeness and allows for a joking grotesquerie, effortlessly finding beauty in weirdness. It also leaves a huge thing for later, promising that the Locked Tomb will be opened, even counting down to that promised day before leaving the aftermath of its opening to be handled in the next book, ALECTO THE NINTH.
There are many fewer memes than the previous books, but the few that are in there are expertly chosen to devastating effect. There's one near the very end that I refuse to spoil which threads the needs between fantastically illustrating the meaning of the surrounding text and needing to be imperceptible to anyone not already in the know. I applaud the execution of it, even if by its nature it's frustrating that this is what the author decided to include. Masterfully done, I tip my cap.
As was the case for HARROW THE NINTH, if someone tried to read this as their introduction to the series, it would likely make sense almost all the way through... and then the ending would be strange and sideways because it relies on several things established in previous books as well as bringing many returning characters who have been more thoroughly introduced elsewhere. Also, the way that the John interludes are explaining how things came to be like this would be a bit strange without the grounding provided in GTN and HTN.
I think this is my favorite book in the whole series, and I'm looking forward to what ALECTO THE NINTH brings.
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Death, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gun violence, Police brutality, Confinement, Medical content, Chronic illness, Cursing, Kidnapping, Vomit, Genocide, Terminal illness, Animal death, War, Death of parent, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Excrement, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
rmperezpadilla's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, War, and Murder
Moderate: Self harm, Ableism, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Eating disorder
solarel's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Alcohol, Body horror, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Eating disorder, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Gore
vogelobre's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
Moderate: War, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Gore, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Cursing, and Bullying
theirgracegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Spoiler
the three parents are necromancers from the Nine Houses and that Nona herself is piloting the body of someone named Harrowhark Nonagesimus, and the Nine Houses want them backGraphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Abandonment, Child abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Excrement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Sexual content, Drug use, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Misogyny, and Terminal illness
The Blood of Eden's attack on necromancers comes with a lot of slur-like terms and bigotry that is reminiscent of (but not a direct copy of) religious bigotry in real life.jurizprudence's review against another edition
- 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
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
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, War, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Xenophobia
jjjreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Self harm, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Deadnaming, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia
relin's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Cursing, Violence, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Alcohol, Genocide, War, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Self harm, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Cannibalism
eleanora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Confinement, and Cursing