Gideon the Ninth

I know what this book is trying to do. It's trying to blend high fantasy language and modern slang in a way that is interesting, engaging, and fun. However, it just doesn't land for me. Maybe it's because I so recently read Seven Blades in Black which does pull it off very well, but almost every time Gideon uses modern slang I am pulled right out of the setting. Not always, but when she references “pizza” after already stating they basically just eat cold gruel on her planet.... why? It's not refereshing, it's lazy. Another characters says “Hot dog!” at one point... which is not a modern exclamation and also “Where are the hot dogs in this world?”

It might have work if the world wasn't so very stylized, but it is excruciatingly stylized. The goth aesthetic here is making Tim Burton look like a hallmark Christmas movie.

Which all isn't to say it's a bad book. It has good bones, pun extremely intended. It's a fast-paced adventure murder mystery romance and there's a lot of good stuff in it. The twists are great. The fight scenes are maybe overkill, but they're impressive. However, overall I was left with a very juvenile vibe that kept me from really enjoying it.