A review by nesquik05
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The thing that really frustrated me about this book is that nothing is explained. The world of the nine houses has so much potential, the mechanics of necromancy had so much potential! There are so many moments where I could glimpse an absolutely fascinating sliver of context - for all of one sentence before Gideon tore it from my grasp. Nothing frustrated me more than when a character would begin explaining something, and Gideon, the 13-year-old boy that she was, would say "Boooring, shut up!" Harrow and Gideon's relationship was ridiculous, but also hilarious, I did very much enjoy that.
The book started extremely slowly, and didn't particularly pique my interest, but I'd heard really good things about it so I kept going, and after a while it certainly picked up and I got more invested, but then it just slowed down again and I got bored again... Then quite suddenly, it became incredibly fast-paced, and nothing ever really felt completed again! All in all, I was disappointed by the lack of worldbuilding - it really did feel like the author just couldn't be bothered to actually flesh it out, and so made Gideon the most uncurious person ever. Haven't decided whether I'll read any more of the series - on the one hand, I want to know more! On the other, I'm not sure I'm going to find anything more out...
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