“Camilla and Palamedes were loved by Nona, said Paul. Pyrrha was loved by Nona. It’s finished, it’s done. You can’t take loved away.”

If I took the time to detail all my thoughts about this book, I’d be writing an essay. Tamsyn Muir has written an incredibly gripping, surprising, and moving novel. I was constantly reminded why I loved the first two books. Muir is a genius at speculative fiction. There’s even an alphanumeric code in some of chapter titles for a plot hint! I mean, who does that?! 

Like many of you, Camilla and Palamedes were two of my favorite characters from Gideon the Ninth. Their continuation in Nona the Ninth as a parental figure for Nona felt natural. Some of my favorite lines in the book were between Camilla and Palamedes. 

I was absolutely floored when I put together who Nona was. Pretty early on I thought I figured out what body Nona was inhabiting but I was still confused. As you ought to be while reading these for the first time, confusion gives way to beautiful and wonderful realization. It makes me feel really giddy to FINALLY know what Muir has been planning when I get to that point. 

I am going to have the biggest book hangover from this and I can only hope Alecto the Ninth comes out soon. 

Note: I HIGHLY recommend reading the Daily Kos reviews if the tonal shift in the epilogue confused you. A couple of things I read on their review made me understand it much better and I even went back into the book to highlight more parts.