Review: Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1), by Tamsyn Muir

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, F/F

Goodreads 

The Emperor needs new necromancers, and the Ninth House Necromancer needs a cavalier. Gideon is not a cavalier, but she is the best swordswoman, and if she can pull off pretending to be a loyal, obedient cavalier of the Ninth, Harrow has promised her freedom. She knows she cannot trust Harrow, but this is probably her best chance at being free, so she will take her chances and try to fool the other eight necromancers and eight cavaliers. But she isn’t the only one with secrets, and as the trials for becoming a Lyctor begin, tensions grow and it is clear that not everyone (or anyone) will stay alive.

This book is not what I expected, from the dark, serious cover and a rather usual plot for fantasy, but… this was so amazing! The world building is kind of everywhere, so that you are not entirely sure what’s going on exactly in the beginning and I found it confusing to remember who was who from which House and how exactly they were different from each other. But you get used to it and catch up quickly. This way of exposing us to the world means that we jump right into the scene of Gideon’s failed and hilarious attempt to escape the Ninth House. We get introduced to her glorious personality, her great biceps and her hate-filled relationship with Harrow, the Reverend Daughter, and only necromancer of the Ninth House. I could not get enough of them.

You can absolutely sum up the book as a murder mystery with necromancers in space, locked up together in an abandoned mansion and with lots of butler-skeletons. Which is one of the best premises I’ve read in a while, and I thought Gideon the Ninth delivered! There are various disgusting necromancer skills put to test, so many bones all around and everyone is highly suspicious. You can even tell that Gideon herself is keeping secrets. The plot is not entirely unpredictable, but there are many twists I didn’t see coming at all, and I kept me turning pages like my life depended on it.

I cannot express very eloquently how fantastic this book was, and I’m basically just screaming “read this!!!” to a lot of people. Perhaps that is how I will end my review here, too: Read this! It’s so good!!