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A review by belladonnashrike
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
2.75
the concept is so interesting but little is offered about the world they live in. I wish there was more info about the planetary system in this first book. I don’t mind the intentional mystery but I think the mystery should’ve been more about the plot rather than the setting. I also don’t mind not knowing the entire history of the universe and the politics within it (I tend to like books that just throw you into their world without much explanation) - I just would’ve liked a more descriptive setting. books like these *should* tell you what the world looks like and I’m very confused as to why this incredibly important set of details was left out. I couldn’t even picture their home planet that well.
there were a lot of characters but I didn’t find it difficult to keep up with them once I learned all the names. I know everyone is saying it’s confusing but I really don’t think it was? plus there was a list of characters at the beginning that’s easy to refer back to (which I liked). I think what may be confusing is that they all have a very similar sense of humor..
however, the dialogue (and the humor) was just not great - everything minus the dialogue is good. I did get used to it as time went on but a lot of the lines (especially from gideon) were corny and were mismatched to the narrative tone outside of the quotation marks. this was such an issue for me at the beginning that it took me awhile to really get into the book - once I did, I really liked the story but that didn’t come to be without express effort on my part. there’s a way to balance humor and good writing and the balance unfortunately was not present in this book. “that’s what she said” & “haha tiddies” type of jokes really were just in abundance for no reason…idk it’s just not my cup of tea.
I do think that the story itself does make up for the poor dialogue (just barely) and I will be continuing on with this series. I just wish it was written differently and that muir took the time to describe the world they’re in. leave the plot a mystery!! but not the setting. it’s just very disappointing because the concept is soooo cool.
can’t decide on a rating. the dialogue + repetition of certain words (cough nonplussed cough) that should’ve been caught w drafts/editing … it really threw things off for me. I really like the story itself so i’m conflicted but i’ll come back to this.
there were a lot of characters but I didn’t find it difficult to keep up with them once I learned all the names. I know everyone is saying it’s confusing but I really don’t think it was? plus there was a list of characters at the beginning that’s easy to refer back to (which I liked). I think what may be confusing is that they all have a very similar sense of humor..
however, the dialogue (and the humor) was just not great - everything minus the dialogue is good. I did get used to it as time went on but a lot of the lines (especially from gideon) were corny and were mismatched to the narrative tone outside of the quotation marks. this was such an issue for me at the beginning that it took me awhile to really get into the book - once I did, I really liked the story but that didn’t come to be without express effort on my part. there’s a way to balance humor and good writing and the balance unfortunately was not present in this book. “that’s what she said” & “haha tiddies” type of jokes really were just in abundance for no reason…idk it’s just not my cup of tea.
I do think that the story itself does make up for the poor dialogue (just barely) and I will be continuing on with this series. I just wish it was written differently and that muir took the time to describe the world they’re in. leave the plot a mystery!! but not the setting. it’s just very disappointing because the concept is soooo cool.
can’t decide on a rating. the dialogue + repetition of certain words (cough nonplussed cough) that should’ve been caught w drafts/editing … it really threw things off for me. I really like the story itself so i’m conflicted but i’ll come back to this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Gore, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content