"lesbian necromancers in space": 5/10. technically true, except that gideon isn't a necromancer and for the most part they aren't in space. can also be tonally misleading; implies a fun space opera adventure and fails to mention the impending emotional devastation. that being said it is iconic and (mostly) effective
"murder mystery in a haunted gothic castle": 8/10. MUCH better at capturing the tone and plot of the first book, but still a little off. imagine picking up the book because of this blurb and then watching gideon nav make a mean girls reference in the first 20 pages. the whiplash could kill you
"a locked tomb mystery": 5/10. nondescriptive and a little misleading, but i can't give this any lower than a 5 because the pun is very good. gideon would love this one and that should count for something
"gay goth among us": 10/10. i'm not even going to pretend like this one doesn't nail it. try and argue against this. you can't. captures the murders, the space-y setting, the queer characters, the tone and aesthetic, AND the contemporary humor. chef's kiss
"enemies to lovers 'i hate everyone but you' slow burn": 1/10. true if you squint. the relationship between gideon and harrow would make booktok weep
"catholic homestuck": 9/10. this means nothing and explains everything
this tweet by tamsyn muir:
[Image ID: A tweet by "tamsyn should be writing" @tazmuir: "sure, I edited from 12 o'clock to 4.30, but how much of that time did I spend on the discovery that the basis of my novel is 'what if these two were... teenage girls'", followed by an image of Skeletor and He-Man. /end ID]
10/10. conveys the pop culture savvy of the series, the complex dynamic between the main characters, and the humor of the writing style all at once. also makes me laugh every time i think about it
one of the best gideon moments hands down is when, post battle with new lyctor ianthe, she finds out that dulcinea and palamedes are sort of exes and she LIES DOWN ON THE GROUND ABOUT IT AND GROANS FOR FIVE WHOLE MINUTES. everyone is like “gideon get up” “gideon it’s not a big deal” and she is like literally i’m going to end it all. this is so embarrassing for me and palamedes must hate me (cam has told her four times this is Not True) i must go make things right with him immediately. babygirl there’s a feral infant proto-god who just consumed the soul of her 1950s greaser chewtoy sprinting around canaan house you HAVE to change your priorities. and yet she won’t and she doesn’t. i love her so bad