Nona the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir’s third Locked Tomb novel is at once more intimate and more bewildering than what came before. By centering Nona, a character full of sweetness, appetite, and mystery, Muir shifts the series into unexpectedly tender territory without losing its chaos. The voice is vibrant and strange, capturing a consciousness that feels childlike, alien, and emotionally acute all at once. The book remains densely layered with lore, secrets, and the series’ signature necromantic weirdness, so it rewards readers already invested in the world. Yet amid the confusion, there’s a startling amount of feeling—about found family, care, and the fragility of ordinary days in a collapsing world. Muir’s talent for mixing cosmic horror with meme-speed banter is still very much intact. The novel often feels like emotional disorientation as an art form, but when it hits, it hits hard. It’s strange, messy, and deeply beloved for good reason.