Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Gideon la Nona by Tamsyn Muir

26 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

welcome gideon the ninth, you are now one of my elite employees (/ref).

i am broken. i am shattered. i am changed. 

i am but a simple lesbian.

i’ve been sitting here for an hour contemplating how to rate this. on one hand, the concepts were so frustrating to comprehend, and it was to the point where after every chapter i was consulting a guide because i wasn’t sure i was actually grasping what was going on, which made all 479 pages incredibly frustrating. on the other hand, this book is all i could think about. usually to fall asleep i employ a video essay of something that’s my special interest — recently only until dawn has been scratching that itch. but my body was craving a gideon the ninth video essay. all i could think about was this book.

needless to say, i can overlook how annoying this book was to read at times simply for the grip it had on me.

i love griddle. what an insane fuckjng nickname. i adore her, her inner monologue, her relationships, her reactions, her one liners, everything. 

i would die for the sixth, and harrowhark baby im coming for you in the next series hold on for me.

the plot was fucking insane. who decides “yeah the book i’m writing is about sapphics in space who are necromancers and also there’s a lowkey murder mystery plot with some romantic undertones and high fantasy oh and yeah did you forget we’re in space. and necromancers.” like ?????? i want what muir was having when conjuring up the idea of the locked tomb. absolutely batshit insane. and i wouldn’t have it any other way.

i don’t really know what i was expecting from the plot but im very pleasantly surprised by what it ended up being! even more surprised as i got a semi-big spoiler and yet it really didn’t spoil shit for me! like the spoiler did hold a lot of weight in the plot but because so much happens in this story it was so easy to focus on the other reveals happening simultaneously.

the fight scenes were a bit hard to follow especially when the necros are involved, and the trials were so fucking confusing to my mind. but honestly i was so invested in the characters, mainly the ninth & the sixth, that i can’t put this book any lower than 5-stars.

i’m gonna go stare at griddlehark fan art for the next 3 hours sobbing. also this book gave me such a big fucking headache oh my god reading my neuroscience textbooks is easier. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't know what happened to my original review but this time was a re-read and I still loved every moment of it.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lunarkris's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Classism

kelisabeth's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ceruleanshelves's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

“I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it.”
“Yes you can, it's just less great and less hot,” said Gideon.

omgggg where do i even start??? i first tried to read this about 3 years ago when i first got back into reading and i just wasn't prepared for this level of high SFF worldbuilding, so i put it down.

i'm glad i did that bc i think all my reading since is what really prepared me to start this series.

“If you do not find yourself a galaxy, it is not so bad to find yourself a star.”

the magic system is both mystical and meticulous; this is, to me, a true example of the blending of sci-fi and fantasy. macabre, eerie, calculated, mysterious. the well-placed elements of horror only add to the atmosphere and keep the stakes raised. as a reader you're constantly reassessing what you think you know of the canaan house alongside gideon.

“Why was I born so attractive?”
“Because everyone would have throttled you within the first five minutes otherwise.”

gideon is honestly a hoot that i was not expecting. NO ONE TOLD ME THIS WAS FUNNY. if you know me, you know there's nothing i appreciate more than a fantasy book that also makes you laugh. death, destruction, the world and universe at peril are all great dramatics... but if the author can give me a moment of respite from it all to laugh and momentarily forget my favorite characters are in dangerous, i will be beholden to them forever.

“Harrow,” said Gideon, “if my heart had a dick you would kick it.”

gideon's tumultuous and resentful (though i think that word might be a bit light for what it describes) relationship to harrowhark, the ninth house heir, is similar in vein to damen x laurent of captive prince (i'm biased being permanently in capri brainrot but i swear the dynamics are parallel). deeply reluctant allies who are quite ready to betray the other if they ever got the chance, the tension starts high as they head into the canaan house as necromancer and cavalier.

the mystery of canaan house itself and the then ensuing deaths of its attendents forces gideon and harrow to embark on the tightrope of a road to their friendship, to being a true cavalier and necromancer duo.

the ensemble of characters were intriguing and illustrious, and thank god for authors who write a dramatis personae at the start of their books esp w names like those bc i had to constantly refer back to it to keep track.

with its intriguing and driving plot, unique world, and admirable characters, gideon the ninth is a must-read for any seasoned SFF fan.

and with that ending, i'm definitely tuning into book 2.

one flesh, one end.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body horror and Gore

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

adbooks20's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Genocide, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

marysunburn's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

3.75

I HATED Harrowhark when I started, and I am so glad she managed to change my mind. 
The worldbuilding was heavy and at times confusing, but the dialogue was engaging and refined and the fight scenes were cinematic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sabrina_marvil's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Wrong.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Not in space

maybephasing's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Suicide, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and War

mirandalikesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.75

Already looking forward to reading the others

after i get over the devastation

. 

The world and magic system built here is really clever and extremely vivid. I'm not sure if I've ever read a book that described fighting and body horror in so much detail. It was a fun change of pace!

The "whodunit" portion of the plot kept me guessing too! I love a book that can do that. 

And who can't love Gideon as a character??? She was easy to root for. Her jokes, especially in comparison to the sometimes dense text, really moved the story in an enjoyable way. 

Misses four stars for me because I couldn't get hooked at first. I wasn't able to really sink my teeth in until around the 4th try picking it up. Once I was hooked though, it had me! (Also side picky note - the naming schema for the adepts mirroring their house number was a bit on the nose for me.)

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

I didn't think cannibalism was explicit enough in this to add that as a trigger warning. But if that is a big no for you, I maybe wouldn't go for this.