“'The arms kind of looked like swords. I want to fight it.”“You want to fight it.”“Yep.”“Because it looked … a little like swords.”“Yop.'”

Gideon the Ninth is planning to escape her life, she doesn’t want to serve the Ninth House any longer. But then the emperor summons the heirs of the Houses for a deadly trial. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and an excellent bone witch, has also received the summons. But a necromancer without a cavalier can’t ascend. Harrow will fail this quest without the sword of Gideon and the Ninth House will perish.

I heard so many great things it sounded almost to good to be true. But it really surprised me. First off, the humor in this book is so dry I laughed my pants off! I blame Gideon for that. She is in one word amazing. A sarcastic, snarky and big brute of an ego with some amazing sword skills and a heart of gold. Gideon swept me off my feet. The story itself was all hands on deck. It was a complicated worldbuilding and needed attention otherwise I didn’t make anything of it. But once the world sank in, it felt really tangible. Some bits were left out, like a backstory of the Ninth House itself, but it didn’t feel like you needed it to get lost in the story. Which further long the story developed in a eerie murder mystery with necromancers. This book has been marketed sapphic, and although there is some nice chemistry between characters, I found that one less prominent as expected. But despite that I loved everything about it and I wasn’t ready for it. I still aren’t.