Review: Nine While Nine

Here is my Nine While Nine review! I hope you enjoy!

Title: Nine While Nine

Author: Stasia Morineaux

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: e-ARC

Publisher: Parliament House Publishing

Date Published: 24 July 2019

Goodreads Description:  

Isabeau Finne’s perfect world utterly unravels when she meets Death’s right-hand man one fateful night, spiralling her life into a world of chaos and the impossible.

Suddenly, she is no longer Isabeau and becomes part of the most secretive inner-workings of Death itself, as well as an otherworldly dominion of ancient magic. Now beings—which we were taught as children were merely fictional creations of wildly whimsical minds—are edging their way into her world as well. Buggans and Kobolds and Vargs…oh my!

She yearns for the simplicity of her old life—this one is full of dangers, unanswered questions, and cryptic dreams. After one particularly anomalous dream in which she learns of the Nine While Nine Legacy, things become truly precarious. Now, someone sees her as a risk…a threat…and wants to eliminate her.

Fortunately, she falls under the protection of Gideon—unless she leaves his territory—which is the one thing she wants the most…and wants the least.

I was given a free copy of this book by the publisher. 

Spoiler Free

This was a really enjoyable read. I loved the look into the inner workings of death and the world hidden in our own. The main characters were fleshed out and Isabeau was a relatable and realistic character. I could not put his book down. Some moments felt like a forbidden guilty pleasure while others astounded me with their incredible imaginativeness.

I loved the dark romance brewing between Isabeau and Gideon and I literally wanted to throw the book (in a good way) during certain scenes. I must have yelled “JUST KISS ALREADY” a thousand times. This is a fantasy adventure like no other.

I wasn’t a big fan of the world building and it could have been done better. Morineaux used a lot of Gaelic words and made up her own words that made it difficult for me to understand the roles of various people. I don’t want to constantly flip to the glossary when the characters are talking, and not being a native English speaker makes it more difficult to pronounce the words.

There was also too much waffle and not enough action. I felt like certain conversations were replayed over and over again, and Isabeau never really got the answers she wanted or needed. The book started off well, dragged in the middle, picked up again, and the dragged toward the end. The pacing was weird and I would have liked to see more diversity in the book.

Characters

Isabeau is not a Mary Sue. Morineaux created a believable, realistic character with a unique thought process and a realistic way of handling her own death. I mean, how would you feel if you woke up dead and had to leave your life behind when you just got it together?

I’d be pretty pissed, and I’d want answers. Morineaux delivers that perfectly. Isabeau’s dreams and goals in life make her relatable and she’s just another normal 30-year-old when she dies. I also liked the fact that the book had an older protagonist, it’s not something often seen in urban fantasy.

Liam was a drama queen. I didn’t like him and the way he treated Isabeau. I’m also not a big fan of love triangles and there was never any chemistry between him and Isabeau. I would have liked to know more about his background and his motives and I hope we get to see some character development in the next series.

Gideon was…oof. HOT. He’s a typical alpha male, which was annoying at times, but I liked the way Isabeau handled him. The chemistry between them is on fire, and I need the second book STAT to find out what happens.

Spoilers

I was confused by the ending, to be honest. It felt like the book just ended, and we only find out the meaning of the title about 66% into the book. Like I said, there was a lot of waffle. It felt like Gideon and Isabeau kept fighting over what she was and how she came to be. The dream sequences were interesting and pulled me further into the book and its mythology.

I still want to know why Isabeau has wings though, and how all the “other” worlds she visits works. I have SO many questions.

Story and Plot

I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the plot. The pacing was a little weird and the Gaelic/made up words confused me at times, but all-in-all I enjoyed this read very much! If you like dark, urban fantasy then this is the one for you.

General Thoughts

What did you think of Nine While Nine? You can view the release day blitz here!

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