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inkandplasma
Goodreads deleted my review when I reread this. Review copied in below as of 18/12/2019 but tbh I might write a new review for it now I've read it three times.
Full review available here: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2019/12/18/breakin-bones-and-breakin-hearts-with-gideon-the-ninth/
With Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir has genuinely ruined my life. I picked it up because people kept screaming about ‘lesbian necromancers in space’ and that sounds like exactly my kind of read (and also kind of like a ‘70s B movie that I want to watch), but nobody warned me that it would surgically remove my feelings. As of writing this review it’s been over two months since I read it, and I’ve been thinking about practically every day since. Rereading the quotes I noted down to write this review, I got weepy again and had to lie down like a Victorian damsel while I thought about reading it again.
What did I love? What didn’t I love would be more informative, and the answer is NOTHING.
The relationship between Gideon and Harrow: Godddd. The achingly slow transition from ‘I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire’ to “I can’t imagine a universe without you in it” sparks so. much. joy. For a book that is steeped in absolute nonsense, the relationship between them feels absolutely real. At home, they hate each other, but once they’re forced into close contact and they have nobody to trust but themselves, they have to learn to work together if they want to survive the terrifying death trials. They’re beautiful, and I love them.
The premise: This book is a wild ride. It’s weird and insane and altogether it’s the kind of experience that stays with you. Writing this review has me eager to re-read the whole thing again, because the ‘scenes I want to read again’ list is basically as long as the book itself. The setting is pretty unique, and I’ve always said that necromancy is my favourite branch of magic (skeletons are my aesthetic, okay) so I was drawn into the ancient and creepy Ninth House so fast. It was sometimes a little tricky to keep the characters straight because they all have names, nicknames and titles and the book flies past at a gallop, but the list in the front of the book helps a lot for reference. But the fast pace definitely tied into the tension for me. A large aspect of the plot is this ‘race’ to finish the trials first, so a fast pace to the novel made the time constraint feel real.
The ending: No spoilers, obviously, but wow. The end of this book packs a punch. I started to put the pieces together just before the end, and the tension and anticipation building up to the finale is unreal. From the second I finished the last page, I’ve been downright feral waiting for the next book.
Full review available here: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2019/12/18/breakin-bones-and-breakin-hearts-with-gideon-the-ninth/
With Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir has genuinely ruined my life. I picked it up because people kept screaming about ‘lesbian necromancers in space’ and that sounds like exactly my kind of read (and also kind of like a ‘70s B movie that I want to watch), but nobody warned me that it would surgically remove my feelings. As of writing this review it’s been over two months since I read it, and I’ve been thinking about practically every day since. Rereading the quotes I noted down to write this review, I got weepy again and had to lie down like a Victorian damsel while I thought about reading it again.
What did I love? What didn’t I love would be more informative, and the answer is NOTHING.
The relationship between Gideon and Harrow: Godddd. The achingly slow transition from ‘I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire’ to “I can’t imagine a universe without you in it” sparks so. much. joy. For a book that is steeped in absolute nonsense, the relationship between them feels absolutely real. At home, they hate each other, but once they’re forced into close contact and they have nobody to trust but themselves, they have to learn to work together if they want to survive the terrifying death trials. They’re beautiful, and I love them.
The premise: This book is a wild ride. It’s weird and insane and altogether it’s the kind of experience that stays with you. Writing this review has me eager to re-read the whole thing again, because the ‘scenes I want to read again’ list is basically as long as the book itself. The setting is pretty unique, and I’ve always said that necromancy is my favourite branch of magic (skeletons are my aesthetic, okay) so I was drawn into the ancient and creepy Ninth House so fast. It was sometimes a little tricky to keep the characters straight because they all have names, nicknames and titles and the book flies past at a gallop, but the list in the front of the book helps a lot for reference. But the fast pace definitely tied into the tension for me. A large aspect of the plot is this ‘race’ to finish the trials first, so a fast pace to the novel made the time constraint feel real.
The ending: No spoilers, obviously, but wow. The end of this book packs a punch. I started to put the pieces together just before the end, and the tension and anticipation building up to the finale is unreal. From the second I finished the last page, I’ve been downright feral waiting for the next book.
Character - 4
Atmosphere - 5
Writing - 3
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 6
Logic - 5
Enjoyment - 4
Rating: 4.71 / 3 stars
Atmosphere - 5
Writing - 3
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 6
Logic - 5
Enjoyment - 4
Rating: 4.71 / 3 stars
Full review on my blog 9th December 2021: https://inkandplasma.com/2021/12/09/all-of-us-villains/
Thanks to Orion Publishing Book for the eARC of this book. It has not affected my honest review.
Content Warnings: murder, death, grief, violence, gore, blood, parental abuse (emotional and physical), vomiting.
Aesthetically, ALL OF US VILLAINS is my perfect book. The vibes of this book are just absolutely impeccable. By the halfway point I went out and bought a physical copy of this so I could read it physically because I wanted to read it *even faster.* I've always been an absolute sucker for murderous and villainous characters, and to see a magical battle royale between characters who have trained all their lives to kill each other in this conflict was just everything I've wanted and didn't know I was missing. I really loved the narrative voices in this book. Each of the POV characters was very distinct and individual. The reason for it became much clearer by the end of the book, but initially it was a little confusing that we had these really clear seven main characters but we only had four POVs. I didn't mind so much because seven POVs could be a lot, but I did find that I didn't even know all seven names for a fair while.
The four POV characters are very balanced, we get to see each of them in-depth and get to know each of their motivations and their reasons for becoming champion. Alistair was my favourite by a country mile, but they were all super engaging and he was definitely my favourite because I am obsessed with characters who call themselves monsters and then hold up to that reputation. All four of them are so easy to love. Terrible, terrible people, but *so* easy to love. Their relationships were all so complicated, tentative loyalties being tested by betrayal and treachery from all quarters. I honestly could have read a thousand pages of these characters interacting, the ways they handled messy attractions made messier by actual murder.
I found the world building initially confusing. It took me a little while and a little bit of flipping back to the early chapters to get my head around it, but once I did I really liked it. It's creative, and different from what I'm used to with fantasy novels. I liked the system that had been created where curses and spells are bound to spell rings, powered by raw magick. I found it an interesting way to incorporate magic into the battle royale environment, where the champions had to prepare themselves before the Blood Moon with all the spells they wanted. The visuals of spell-crafting were super cool too, and really leaned into the incredibly sexy aesthetic of blood magic and murder that the whole book had going on. The image of one of the characters kissing a spellboard covered in blood to seal a curse is absolutely impeccable.
I do wish that this book had a more satisfying ending. It very much ends on a cliffhanger ready for book 2, and I do think that it built up the suspense really well. Still, I was pretty devastated when I turned the page and hit the acknowledgements because it felt like the end of the book came out of absolutely nowhere. There was a lot going on in this book and by the end of the novel there was so much happening that it does feel like there's a huge amount left unresolved for the next book. I do think that the authors have balanced all the different plotlines really well, but it does feel like this book is designed to head straight into the next one without hesitation.
Thanks to Orion Publishing Book for the eARC of this book. It has not affected my honest review.
Content Warnings: murder, death, grief, violence, gore, blood, parental abuse (emotional and physical), vomiting.
Aesthetically, ALL OF US VILLAINS is my perfect book. The vibes of this book are just absolutely impeccable. By the halfway point I went out and bought a physical copy of this so I could read it physically because I wanted to read it *even faster.* I've always been an absolute sucker for murderous and villainous characters, and to see a magical battle royale between characters who have trained all their lives to kill each other in this conflict was just everything I've wanted and didn't know I was missing. I really loved the narrative voices in this book. Each of the POV characters was very distinct and individual. The reason for it became much clearer by the end of the book, but initially it was a little confusing that we had these really clear seven main characters but we only had four POVs. I didn't mind so much because seven POVs could be a lot, but I did find that I didn't even know all seven names for a fair while.
The four POV characters are very balanced, we get to see each of them in-depth and get to know each of their motivations and their reasons for becoming champion. Alistair was my favourite by a country mile, but they were all super engaging and he was definitely my favourite because I am obsessed with characters who call themselves monsters and then hold up to that reputation. All four of them are so easy to love. Terrible, terrible people, but *so* easy to love. Their relationships were all so complicated, tentative loyalties being tested by betrayal and treachery from all quarters. I honestly could have read a thousand pages of these characters interacting, the ways they handled messy attractions made messier by actual murder.
I found the world building initially confusing. It took me a little while and a little bit of flipping back to the early chapters to get my head around it, but once I did I really liked it. It's creative, and different from what I'm used to with fantasy novels. I liked the system that had been created where curses and spells are bound to spell rings, powered by raw magick. I found it an interesting way to incorporate magic into the battle royale environment, where the champions had to prepare themselves before the Blood Moon with all the spells they wanted. The visuals of spell-crafting were super cool too, and really leaned into the incredibly sexy aesthetic of blood magic and murder that the whole book had going on. The image of one of the characters kissing a spellboard covered in blood to seal a curse is absolutely impeccable.
I do wish that this book had a more satisfying ending. It very much ends on a cliffhanger ready for book 2, and I do think that it built up the suspense really well. Still, I was pretty devastated when I turned the page and hit the acknowledgements because it felt like the end of the book came out of absolutely nowhere. There was a lot going on in this book and by the end of the novel there was so much happening that it does feel like there's a huge amount left unresolved for the next book. I do think that the authors have balanced all the different plotlines really well, but it does feel like this book is designed to head straight into the next one without hesitation.
Character - 10
Atmosphere - 10
Writing - 9
Plot - 10
Intrigue - 10
Logic - 9
Enjoyment - 10
Rating: 9.71 / 5 stars
Atmosphere - 10
Writing - 9
Plot - 10
Intrigue - 10
Logic - 9
Enjoyment - 10
Rating: 9.71 / 5 stars
Character - 7
Atmosphere - 6
Writing - 8
Plot - 7
Intrigue - 8
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 8
Rating: 7.29 / 4 stars
Atmosphere - 6
Writing - 8
Plot - 7
Intrigue - 8
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 8
Rating: 7.29 / 4 stars
Character - 5
Atmosphere - 4
Writing - 8
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 6
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 6
Rating: 6.00 / 3 stars
Atmosphere - 4
Writing - 8
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 6
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 6
Rating: 6.00 / 3 stars
C- 7
A - 7
W - 8
P - 7
I - 7
L - 5
E - 6
Rating: 6.71 / 3 stars
A - 7
W - 8
P - 7
I - 7
L - 5
E - 6
Rating: 6.71 / 3 stars