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A review by smartflutist661
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
As with Harrow, this book is very unlike the previous two. For those who hadn't figured it out already, hopefully it's obvious by the first or second John interlude that the Houses are our solar system . Also obvious from the John interludes is the identity of the soul inhabiting Harrow's body . It's clear reasonably early that John is talking to Harrow (as he addresses her by name) , but also to the spirit of the Earth ... and then it becomes clear that the body is Harrow's , thus the soul must be the Earth , though the fact that Alecto/the Body is the Earth is not as immediately obvious. Also, Gideon is definitely mixed in there somewhere , though a good chunk of her is in her own body at the moment. (Also, on the subject of John, the narrative always presents him on the surface as sort of neutral at worst, but read just a tiny bit deeper and he's basically the worst.)
But back to the book itself. I have a soft spot for ignorant protagonists, and Nona is nothing if not that. She is basically the ultimate vessel for dramatic irony, and if you don't pay attention to what's going on around Nona, you'll miss the whole plot. In fact, Nona is a far more reliable narrator than either Gideon or Harrow, and we get a lot of insight into the characters in her orbit thanks to her innocence and her ability to read people, which was also a pleasure, and close to the only "necromancy" (in whatever sense it's related) we see for most of the book. An excellent use of third-person limited.
I also enjoyed getting a more lived-in world. As fun as Canaan House and the Mithraeum were, they were very sterile. Here we get things happening around our characters that don't involve them (at least, sort of); there are shopkeepers and teachers and some sort of civic structure.
Of course, there is also pain. It wouldn't be The Locked Tomb without emotional turmoil, and though it never hits me as hard as other books have, narratively and thematically it is extremely effective. I'll just say I'm really excited to see how things wrap up in Alecto, but I'm also sad it's the end.
But back to the book itself. I have a soft spot for ignorant protagonists, and Nona is nothing if not that. She is basically the ultimate vessel for dramatic irony, and if you don't pay attention to what's going on around Nona, you'll miss the whole plot. In fact, Nona is a far more reliable narrator than either Gideon or Harrow, and we get a lot of insight into the characters in her orbit thanks to her innocence and her ability to read people, which was also a pleasure, and close to the only "necromancy" (in whatever sense it's related) we see for most of the book. An excellent use of third-person limited.
I also enjoyed getting a more lived-in world. As fun as Canaan House and the Mithraeum were, they were very sterile. Here we get things happening around our characters that don't involve them (at least, sort of); there are shopkeepers and teachers and some sort of civic structure.
Of course, there is also pain. It wouldn't be The Locked Tomb without emotional turmoil, and though it never hits me as hard as other books have, narratively and thematically it is extremely effective. I'll just say I'm really excited to see how things wrap up in Alecto, but I'm also sad it's the end.