bellebeaumont95's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Chronic illness, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Cannibalism, Confinement, Gore, Terminal illness, and Violence
ratatouilllie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
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
risaleel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Abandonment, Cursing, and War
tbd24's review
- 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
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cancer, Cursing, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Gore
Minor: War, Slavery, Confinement, Torture, and Religious bigotry
o_preston_o's review
- 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
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Infertility, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Blood, War, Torture, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Body horror, and Classism
fromthefoxhole's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I would move to say there is next to no romance here, only subtext and potential. I am awash with feelings, a great many of which amount only to "f***". That said, let me try.
Gideon the Ninth is DENSE. Less than 500 pages, and yet, at the beginning, I felt as though I were wading through a bog. You'll have millions of questions about the world, and receive precious few answers. I'm still not 100% sure if the houses are full on planets or space stations or some other secret third thing. I do not really understand what a Lyctor is, or why necromancing is even possible in this world. I understand even less what the hell happened in Canaan House.
Gideon is kind of the prime example for an adult who had a messed up childhood. She is brash, thoughtless, and runs on pure spite. Harrow, her childhood nemesis who also happens to be Very Important to the Ninth House, is cold, reserved, and thinks Gideon has a brain full of rocks. Their mettle and relationship are tested when Harrow half blackmails Gideon into acting as her cavalier (to the furthest I understand, a cavalier is akin to a personal bodyguard?) and accompanying her to Canaan House on the mysterious summons from the Necromancer Prime; the Resurrection; the God of the Nine Houses; the Emperor Undying (yes they're all the one person, and yes, there are actually more titles than the ones listed). Canaan House, as it turns out, is a house of horrors. Nothing is as it seems, no one can be trusted, and the truth is hidden behind doors that should probably have stayed shut. The plot actually picks up around 35% of the way through, and shifts from a slog through unfamiliar terms and jargon into a rather fascinating and terrifying scavenger hunt.
Listen, I liked this book, I think. I plan to read farther forward in the series to truly decide it, but for now it's at least passable. But god, am I mad at that ending, and am I mad at the empire. We do bones, b*tch.
Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Cannibalism, Vomit, Suicide, Violence, and Toxic friendship
harrimyers'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: 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
carrieclothwright's review
eta: just went through the list of content warnings and wow, for being less than 10% in that's... a lot. I think this book just might not be my style.
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Child death, Confinement, Murder, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence
crufts's review
- 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
Young Gideon was raised as an indentured servant of the Ninth House, a planet ruled by a despotic, necromantic regime under a distant Emperor. Although she constantly tries to escape, her attempts are foiled by her teachers and by the heir to the House, Harrow.
But everything changes when the Emperor summons representatives of each house to his own planet, demanding they undergo a trial to become "lyctors". Dragged along to the planet by Harrow, Gideon finds herself facing dangers she never imagined...
On the positive side, Gideon is very likeable and sassy as a protagonist. Regarding worldbuilding, it was intriguingly different to the average fantasy novel - it's a kind of scifi/fantasy mixture with the combination of necromancy and space tech. I also enjoyed the variety in the characters' physical appearances. The lesbian representation is a nice bonus, especially as it's the protagonist, although I would warn any hopefuls that
Spoiler
Gideon does not get into any romantic relationshipsHowever, the plot felt a little aimless because the protagonist's goals are not kept at the forefront. Gideon begins the book with a desire to escape and join the Imperial Army, but this is rapidly forgotten as she gets kicked around by fate for the first third of the book.
Also, I didn't find this goal terribly compelling in the first place. The entire Empire was depicted as rotten to the core with few redeeming features, so what good would it do to move around to some other place in it? It seemed like the only worthwhile goal Gideon could have would be to destroy the whole system, or else to leave it.
The pacing is also very slow; even by the 40% mark, the mysteries of the lyctor challenge are still largely untouched. I also found the large number of named characters difficult to absorb. Similarly, the necromantic magic system is complicated and largely left unexplained. This made it seem like any kind of magic could theoretically be performed, if it was convenient for the plot.
I also found it hard to reconcile the fact that early in the book,
Spoiler
Harrow acts in a truly unforgivable way towards Gideon, but Gideon later acts very loyally towards herI think I would have liked there to be more in the story's world that Gideon felt was worth fighting for - more people she wanted to be there to protect, or happy experiences she hoped to have, that kind of thing.
I'm unsure whether to recommend this book. I guess I'll say that if you think it's not for you, it's probably not.
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Confinement and Slavery
Body horror, violence, death: It is a book about necromancers, after all. An example of the "body horror" involved isSpoiler
a necromancer stabs her cheek with a fountain pen in order to use the blood as inkSuicide: The backstory of some minor characters.
Slavery, confinement: Gideon's "indentured servitude" is close to slavery. After a failed escape attempt, she is confined to a few rooms.
scarlettskyes's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Cancer, Grief, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Medical trauma, and Child death