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Reviews: Gideon the Ninth and Mélusine
Aug. 1st, 2021 06:02 pmGideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir.
Overall, I liked Gideon the Ninth? I think??? I certainly came away with very...mixed feelings about it. I spent most of the book preemptively mad at it for what I thought would be the reveal that Magnus and Abigail were the villains all along - I thought I'd been spoiled for that at some point in the past, but I guess not. I didn't much like Gideon as a protagonist, although I did like her as a narrator. (More on this later.) I thought that both she and Harrow were interesting characters, and I liked some of their couple-y moments, but ultimately they fell flat as a couple for me. I liked a lot of the other Houses a LOT, and I wish we'd gotten to see way, way more of them, particularly the Fourth and Fifth.
You see what I mean about mixed feelings. XD
( Spoilers herein... )
Overall I think I enjoyed Gideon the Ninth, even though I did find it frustrating a lot of the time. From what everybody has said, both aspects are amplified in Harrow the Ninth, so while I probably will read it eventually, I think I'll have to let the frustration/annoyance fade a bit before I do.
Mélusine, by Sarah Monette.
( I hope you like your swashbuckling and political intrigue with a side of Oh No That's Actually Horrifying... )
TL;DR: All of the trigger warnings for sexual assault and very child-unfriendly violence. That said, though, this was a great mix of deadly decadent court politics, good old-fashioned skulduggery, and intense magical WTF-ery. Actually, "intense" is a good word for Mélusine in general - it sucked me in early on, and I was *gone* until almost the very end. And yes, I do have the second volume on order from the library. :D
Overall, I liked Gideon the Ninth? I think??? I certainly came away with very...mixed feelings about it. I spent most of the book preemptively mad at it for what I thought would be the reveal that Magnus and Abigail were the villains all along - I thought I'd been spoiled for that at some point in the past, but I guess not. I didn't much like Gideon as a protagonist, although I did like her as a narrator. (More on this later.) I thought that both she and Harrow were interesting characters, and I liked some of their couple-y moments, but ultimately they fell flat as a couple for me. I liked a lot of the other Houses a LOT, and I wish we'd gotten to see way, way more of them, particularly the Fourth and Fifth.
You see what I mean about mixed feelings. XD
( Spoilers herein... )
Overall I think I enjoyed Gideon the Ninth, even though I did find it frustrating a lot of the time. From what everybody has said, both aspects are amplified in Harrow the Ninth, so while I probably will read it eventually, I think I'll have to let the frustration/annoyance fade a bit before I do.
Mélusine, by Sarah Monette.
( I hope you like your swashbuckling and political intrigue with a side of Oh No That's Actually Horrifying... )
TL;DR: All of the trigger warnings for sexual assault and very child-unfriendly violence. That said, though, this was a great mix of deadly decadent court politics, good old-fashioned skulduggery, and intense magical WTF-ery. Actually, "intense" is a good word for Mélusine in general - it sucked me in early on, and I was *gone* until almost the very end. And yes, I do have the second volume on order from the library. :D
