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Mark

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Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #3)

by Tamsyn Muir (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in May 2023

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Mark said: " I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did, I truly did. There were a couple variables working against me. For whatever reason, listening to Harrow the Ninth, the book before this, didn't click with me and I was a little confused. To take it a I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did, I truly did. There were a couple variables working against me. For whatever reason, listening to Harrow the Ninth, the book before this, didn't click with me and I was a little confused. To take it a step back, I had no issue with Gideon the Ninth, just had to keep referring to the cast list in the beginning for reference. Anyway, so I left HtN a little confused but still satisfied. A quick internet search cleared up some of my answers and we are good to go.

Now we're on to Nona, and I'm not coming in with the strongest foundation. In hindsight I should have re-read Harrow and maybe even Gideon. So I came in a little rocky. To make matters worse, the main character is about as confused as I am. You see, though she is technically 18, Nona has only been alive, as far as she can tell, for 6 months. So she doesn't really know who everyone is. Couple that with names that don't quite translate in her head, for instance you meet a group of kids who have weird nicknames like "hot sauce." It's implied that they may have other names, that's just how Nona hears them. Then you have other characters with missing memory, people with code names, etc. And I just found myself desperately trying to understand what was going on. Near the latter third of the book, things started clicking for me. But I still found myself immediately doing some internet searching to fill in the numerous blanks in my head. I read a synopsis of the story and LOVED what I read. Which is a shame. So, I will start wrapping up these rambling words by saying I intend to reread this series before the fourth book comes out. Partially because I enjoyed the first so much, and partially to set the next book up for success.

Some quick praise, despite my confusion with the plot I found the core group of Nona, Camilla/Palamedes and Pyrrha to be fun. Seeing people try to play "fake family life" with, let's just say, a lot of shit going on, was endearing and tragic and weird. Well executed.

Speaking of characters, I really enjoyed the dynamic between Camilla and Palamedes and I'll just leave it at that for spoilers sake.

Lastly, if you enjoyed The Locked Tomb's humor thus far, you'll find that in spades here, and frankly it's what kept me going. That and the excellent narration of the audiobook (I split my time between reading and listening).

Phew okay. Rant over. I know I gave it a 3/5 but please don't let this dissuade you from giving it a shot. It's a very unique story/series and I don't regret reading it at all :) ...more "

Jun 11, 2023 04:54PM · see review