i've said it before but i'll say it again: there has never been anything like gideon the ninth, there has never been a sequel like harrow, and once agi've said it before but i'll say it again: there has never been anything like gideon the ninth, there has never been a sequel like harrow, and once again there has never been a third book like nona. tamsyn muir has the extraordinary ability to completely reinvent her own genre with every book in her series, and it's for this reason that the books are never subject to the myriad problems of pacing, stakes, continuity, expectations etc. that usually plague subsequent books in a series. every new book is a completely new experience, narratively. i won't even say it keeps you on your toes, it's more like it spins you around and punts you onto another planet. i don't get stressed out with trying to guess or anticipate, i simply let myself be swaddled like a baby in muir's capable and magical hands. all this to say: i would die for cam and palamedes, screaming, crying, throwing up on the floor etc. etc.
my only comments on the actual content are that whatever is happening with the gender, it is very gender and i love it, and also i am crying bc Go Loud 2: Electric Boogaloo...more
THE SECOND GENRE BUSTING AND REDEFINING BOOK IVE READ THIS YEAR. what a wild summer I'm having. it's not really adequate to say that i like this book,THE SECOND GENRE BUSTING AND REDEFINING BOOK IVE READ THIS YEAR. what a wild summer I'm having. it's not really adequate to say that i like this book, it's more like i've integrated how good this book is into the belief system which governs my life. it's up there with circe, captive prince, gideon the ninth, its in the club of books written by an author with a ruthless and masterful control of language, regardless of genre. it comes at you with twists and surprises while also assuming intelligence on the part of the reader, which is really something. also has fascinating and deeply cutting themes about imperialism and colonialism, which is SO SPICY and appropriate in a book involving kingdom/kingship. really refreshing change from all those YA books set in kingdoms bc like 'ooh princes are so romantic' lmao
if you like any of the above: military strategy, political drama, warfare, mindgames, kingdom/court settings, highly competent people working with/against other highly competent people, lesbians, i would recommend this lol also if you like dune for any reason, you will probably like this, everything that is compelling in dune is magnified like times 100...more
this book truly girlbossed gatekeeped gaslighted the shit out of me on the first read, but even then I could appreciate the outrageous, truly cutting this book truly girlbossed gatekeeped gaslighted the shit out of me on the first read, but even then I could appreciate the outrageous, truly cutting edge fuckery. I said it about the first book, but I truly didn't even know you could write like this. tazmuir out here redefining what I know fantasy/fiction to be capable of. NO ONE is doing it like her. i genuinely feel so fortunate to be alive to witness what she's creating in real time, like imma be telling my kids about this shit for REAL.
i always liked to reread things, but the way this series is set up makes rereading quite literally a different experience. i spent the first read of this mostly being confused and upset and annoyed (but still thought it was good), on a second read every single part of it is delicious and SPICY. and i mean dramatic fucked up plot twists spicy, not sex spicy. on first read everythign is confusing, on every read after that it gets more and more tragic. saddest book in the series, i am ruined forever...more
i haven't even finished this but i need to yell about it. so yall know how there recently have been some really good romance books that are so good bei haven't even finished this but i need to yell about it. so yall know how there recently have been some really good romance books that are so good because they are clearly written by someone who is as unhinged and chaotic as the modern online girl is, (eg. love hypothesis, hating game) and it really shows in the writing? now imagine if a high fantasy about lesbian necromancers set in a fully realized, darkly lavish alien world was written by the same kind of person. except it's also genuinely creepy murder mystery, psychological thriller, science fiction, and freaking comedy.
im yelling, screaming, crying, throwing up on the floor, etc. it's unlike anything i've ever read, and the prose and character building reminds me a LOT of captive prince. this is cracking my top 5 favorite books on this mortal plane.
i didn't even know anyone could write like this. she combines completely inane, immature, stupidly-funny stream of consciousness humor with genuinely compelling heavyweight storytelling AND cutting, heart-aching character study. plus, there's swords and fighting, and magic and kingdom shit. and ENEMIES TO LOVERS. SCREAM...more
i really cannot adequately explain why reading about monkeys affects me so strongly but this blew my FREAKIN socks off. i already sort of suspected iti really cannot adequately explain why reading about monkeys affects me so strongly but this blew my FREAKIN socks off. i already sort of suspected it would, bc i first encountered ape language studies in a linguistics class and the class readings included some excerpts from this book which had me literally crying about chimpanzees at 3 am but ANYWAYS this is my first five star in forever, i HIGHLY and AGGRESSIVELY recommend reading it
this book is a riveting ROLLER COASTER. it's weaves seamlessly between narrative and discussion of theory, which might drag on for some people but the research of Descartes, Skinner, and Chomsky that Fouts talks about is literally what I learn about in class and its so interesting to see him position them meaningfully within a context that actually affects his life and research??? but yeah the book has fascinating theories in it but author's voice really shines through, the stories he tells are so filled with love and it makes the serious stuff even more heart-wrenching, i was like laughing out loud and crying while i was reading and stewing for DAYS thinking about monkeys... its hard to explain everybody please read this...more
holy moly it's like madeleine miller has a channel straight to my heart and every word she writes just fills me till im just a big ol bag of emotions holy moly it's like madeleine miller has a channel straight to my heart and every word she writes just fills me till im just a big ol bag of emotions (how's that for an extended metaphor lmao)
usually books, even my favorites like the infernal devices or six of crows, have a few parts in them that are super profound and emotionally jarring and that's what makes them my favorites, and you know how when you reread a book like that when you get to the deep parts you really savor every word because you know it's the best part and you know every word matters ??? EVERY PART OF CIRCE IS LIKE THAT WHAT THE FUCK
every single word of this book is important. this book is filled with truisms, which normally I would be wary of because it sounds like someone just preaching to me, but the way circe learns from things that happen to her is unrelentingly realistic and emotionally accessible. honestly it's actually kind of emotionally exhausting being so invested and being punched in the soul repeatedly for like 394 pages.
honestly i've always loved greek mythology but madeleine miller brings it to a whole new level - how she writes literally puts all the other myth stuff i've read to shame. where other mythology writing is just retelling of tales, circe and song of achilles really in every sense of the word, bring the characters to life in a way I've never really seen before - it's such a novelty to recognize the myths I know but this time it's happening to characters I care about and it brings me actual pain in my hEART ??? that's wild It's just so incredible the way she writes about divinity and the gods.. like in other mythology literature the gods are just distant pieces of squabbling shit that come around to smite things and fuck shit up, and the farthest that they're humanized is that they're petty and fight with each other. Madeleine Miller really focusses in on the actually interesting and also heart-wrenching parts of living forever - love and loss, memory and loneliness, knowing that you'll outlast everyone you ever care about.. hnnnffggh im a sad empty bag of sadness save me
also the character growth in this book is incredble. circe's arc in these 394 pages is more than harry potter managed in 7 books. lil headass wizard took a whole series to what, be slightly less angry and listen to hermione more? even though circe's journey literally spans thousands of years, madeleine miller keeps you right there with her every step of the way. everything that circe feels is imprinted onto your soul. im serious yall when Telegonus was being a lil shit i literally wanted to SMACK him into the sea like reading about circe raising him made me want to have a child less is that bad lmao
anyways haha madeleine miller owns my ass i want her to live forever and write everything about mythology ever. like i want her to pull a rick riordan and just keep expanding into different mythologies and have 238327 series where each one has its own spinoff and the spinoffs have spinoffs.
i think i'll have to read this again to form any kind of coherent opinion, except i don't really know if i can handle reading this again LMAO this was i think i'll have to read this again to form any kind of coherent opinion, except i don't really know if i can handle reading this again LMAO this was kind of mentally draining, in a maybe good way? one gets the feeling of being constantly manipulated by the author, like donna tartt's just kind of slapping me around a room and throwing me over furniture. but in a good way? hoo boi
I think this is one of the first books i've read where you get the sense that the author is palpably, and masterfully, in control of the story and characters. it's not the plot twists, which you're made aware of from the start, but since this is in first person, everything that is done to Richard - all the ways he's manipulated and blindsided, forced into things and left helpless - you can feel as a reader, which is like wildly uncomfortable and mentally taxing.
at over 200,000 words this was a hefty boi that i probably should have read more slowly but i did not so mostly a bitch is just very overwhelmed. donna tartt scares me because she's so good and making you sympathize with people who should probably not be sympathized with. in hindsight, literally everyone in this story is a terrible person, but as a reader, and also as Richard, you can't help but want everyone to like him, which is horrible because everyone including Richard is a genuinely selfish, self-absorbed dick. also when i say donna tartt manipulates you i MEAN it i have never waited so eagerly for a character to die and felt so relieved when he did and the sentence with which it happened involved picking ferns. bless.
most of the criticisms of this book are that donna tartt is self-absorbed and trying to0 hard to sound erudite and intellectual or whatever, which tbh might be a little true. but the tone mostly just seems similar to Frankenstein to me, which i personally liked. it's a little exhausting to be stuck in this world of painfully intense detail and experience Richard's stressful, murdery, shitty life but that might be because i read this nonstop for two days straight. but the first half of the book, which is heavy on romanticized details and imagery was super enjoyable. the second half, which is murder and alcoholism, is less enjoyable. but go figure lmao...more
"I think if I gave you my heart, you would treat it tenderly." B I TCH !!!!!"I think if I gave you my heart, you would treat it tenderly." B I TCH !!!!!...more
"the heart is an arrow; it demands aim to land true." inEJ god whatta bamf an A+ queen i'd shave my goddamn eyebrows for her don't @ me"the heart is an arrow; it demands aim to land true." inEJ god whatta bamf an A+ queen i'd shave my goddamn eyebrows for her don't @ me...more
Loading...
