Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Gideon la Nona by Tamsyn Muir

83 reviews

iane_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Hate crime, Miscarriage, Dementia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Pandemic/Epidemic, and War

celestriakle's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

Man, not gonna lie, I had a complicated experience with this book. It had been hyped to death for me: I went in expecting the highest quality writing, a deep and subtle complex plot, really fascinating complex characters and relationships, and I got... not that.

The whole book could have used another round of editing. Stylistically, it comes off as rough and amateur. There are moments where the motions are awkward and confusing, and I cannot tell you how many times I saw the word "smilingly". The dialogue is at times stilted and awkward, with inconsistent character voice for Gideon in particular.

A consistent issue is the way the narration and dialogue are in conflict with each other. I understand that Gideon's supposed to be a somewhat unreliable narrator, but that's not really the conflict I'm talking about. Particularly in the beginning of the book, Harrow and Gideon supposedly hate each other passionately, but I never believed that for a moment. They kept saying the words, but it never matched what was on the page, even when they were in direct conflict and supposedly feeling all this hate. It felt awkward and out of sync. There were also a lot of moments when characters or the narration would call Gideon incredibly stupid when she's constantly offering intelligent, insightful ideas or observations. It'd be one thing if someone acknowledged Gideon's intelligence, among this very large cast, but that never happens.

I also can't write this without mentioning the INCREDIBLE levels of fatphobia in this book. In this book of nearly 20 characters, there's only one minor character who's fat, and he's one of the worst, most offensive fat caricatures I've seen in a long time. If he played any larger of a role, I would have had to quit the book. Muir can't go two seconds without mentioning his "softness" or fatness and directly connecting it to his cowardice, laziness, and hatred of hard work. At one point, he's directly compared to a donut.

ALL THAT SAID.

I did enjoy the book overall. Taken as more of a YA style adventure narrative, it's a lot of fun! It's a murder mystery. The magic's neat; the characters aren't that deep but they are distinctive and memorable and fun; the mystery is fun and intriguing with multiple angles and questions to sink your teeth into. It's an easy read. Once I readjusted my expectations, it was a lot of fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Child abuse

Minor: Child death

atomicrobin's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Abandonment

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Cursing, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Medical content, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

trips's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

Wow, this book is fun!
As far as main characters go, Gideon is a breath of fresh air. I really enjoyed taking in these objectively dark world from the cavalier (heh) attitude Gideon generally has about everything. Joined by a cast of interesting characters, I would generally recommend this, but especially to people who like games like the Zero Escape or just JRPGs in general. There are disaster lesbians a plenty in this novel as well, so if you're into that, well, what are you waiting for?

Plot wise I found some aspects to be quite obvious how it would unfold, but there are certain reveals there was no way I could have figured out and I thought the execution was excellent. Also, the prose is super fun and very unique without being confusing. So yeah! It's a long book, but you'll probably have good time, so why not pick it up?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Child death, and Cancer

larbster90's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny sad 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

4.5

Took me a bit to get i to it because the world is so complicated, but once I started to understand I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Physical abuse, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Minor: Cursing

regalpotato's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

My favourite book. I've reread it (and listened to the audiobook) numerous times. The writing is easy to read but still fantastic prose. The characters are all deeply flawed but you can't help but adore them. There's a lot of queerness, and enemies to reluctant allies, to much deeper than lovers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: War and Suicide

adrienreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

I loved this book! Biggest pro: A butch lesbian protagonist like I've never really seen before. Gideon my beloved my sweet my darling -

Cons that made me read it slowly: 
- The pacing for the first half was really slow, with a lot of info. I had a hard time immersing myself in the world, and was often confused. This seems intentional to a degree, and when that set in, it was easier to stick along for the ride. 
- The climax of the book also had weird pacing.

The final battle felt soooo shounen battle that takes 20 episodes 😔 It was cool but at what cost

 

Pros:
- Very very interesting world - once I got a grip on it I needed to keep reading to learn more. 
- Engaging, unique characters. Often unlikable, but yet also so fun. 
- The writing of the gore/gothic elements is written with so much physicality & love, I'm fully compelled by the way the series handles death 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, and Suicide

Moderate: Child death and Toxic relationship

harrimyers's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

i Love this book. i love it. i love it so so so so so so so much. the ending has devastated me. i am broken. what the fuck what the fuck i anticipated not a single plot point. not one. what the fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Body horror, Colonisation, Child death, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Blood, Confinement, Violence, Terminal illness, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, and Death of parent

rbuhrke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

The book is about necromancy in a space empire center on LGBT+ characters but it’s focus is not on romance despite the advertising done by TikTok. However there are romantic elements within the story

one does not bind their soul to another without some kind of love for the other unless you are Ianthe

. It is an intellectual read that covers up the horror story unfolding underneath the language. It was easier to read via audiobook than by book alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Child death, Blood, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Slavery, Medical content, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Incest, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Infertility

If the ending of the book was spoiled for you don’t panic. The series is worth it to keep going.

Gideon does kill herself at end of the book for Harrow but that is not the end of Gideon Nav’s story. She will come back in the other books. Death isn’t simple when necromancy is involved.