I really struggled with this book. I liked the first one a lot, and it's fine that this one was different. And I totally get that diving into a confusing setting in media res can be a compelling narrative strategy. But - two-thirds of the whole book is a long time to sustain that, especially when other cryptic things start creeping back in during the final third as well. I'm honestly not sure whether I will pick up the third one or not.
It took me a few tries, which is often something that makes me reconsider (the folks on the r/Fantasy subreddit have an acronym for it, DNF). But I liked the literary feel enough and the complexity of the situation sufficiently to keep going.
No spoilers, but Nona is equally different from both Gideon and Harrow as they are from each other, but again in a good way. It emphatically does not wrap up the series, which was originally marketed as a trilogy. But I find that enjoyable (if vaguely alarming) - much the same way that the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy escaped authorial intent, I think this would be a lesser series if Muir had put a leash on it to stick to three books. And much like Adams, each book is enough fun on its own that I don't much mind that they're showing up "untidily." Especially when human psychological messiness is such a core theme.
I really struggled with this book. I liked the first one a lot, and it's fine that this one was different. And I totally get that diving into a confusing setting in media res can be a compelling narrative strategy. But - two-thirds of the whole book is a long time to sustain that, especially when other cryptic things start creeping back in during the final third as well. I'm honestly not sure whether I will pick up the third one or not.
It took me a few tries, which is often something that makes me reconsider (the folks on the r/Fantasy subreddit have an acronym for it, DNF). But I liked the literary feel enough and the complexity of the situation sufficiently to keep going.
No spoilers, but Nona is equally different from both Gideon and Harrow as they are from each other, but again in a good way. It emphatically does not wrap up the series, which was originally marketed as a trilogy. But I find that enjoyable (if vaguely alarming) - much the same way that the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy escaped authorial intent, I think this would be a lesser series if Muir had put a leash on it to stick to three books. And much like Adams, each book is enough fun on its own that I don't much mind that they're showing up "untidily." Especially when human psychological messiness is such a core theme.