Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

193 reviews

moondragon8's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

On to book 2!! Yippee!
This was a tricky one. It was one of those books where the main character was basically having a prolonged breakdown throughout the whole thing. I don't always like those books that much. This one was sort of enjoyable, though!
The first 2/3rds of the book were mostly Harrow having a really terrible time while weird stuff happened everywhere. I found this book a lot darker than the previous one--not as much death, but much more morbidity, body horror, and all a lot more graphically described (probably because Harrow's a necromancer and Gideon's just a sword guy). Plus, last book's necromancy was like 90% bones. There was a lot more....meat necromancy in this one.
The final third of the book was really fun. A lot of stuff got revealed, and not all of it made a ton of sense while I was reading it, but some of it did, and it was very satisfactory when pieces began to click into place.

I loved all the dreambubbly (sorry for the Homestuck, but that's what they are!) parts. I wanted more of Harrow's weird alternate universes! They were so fun!!

On the "it's complicated" up above: None of the major characters in this were exactly lovable, but they were really, really fun to read about.

Harrow's brain ghosts were very lovable, though. Abigail my beloved!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, and Gore

There is a scene of brain surgery. It's not exactly explicit, but it, uh. It happens.

msradiosilence's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, War, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

meecespieces's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Gore, Death, and Mental illness

possibilityleft's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Stalking, War, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Dementia, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

devirtualized's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a very special book. And by book I mean long, mind-bending, utterly beautiful poem - or love letter - or both.

I feel like I don’t have high enough praise to give this but I will try. This prose is otherworldly. It is a surreal and devastating painting of grief and it is a derisive remark and a dad joke all in one. There really is not a single word that goes to waste. 

Harrow is an intriguing & exquisite character, warped by pain and unanswered questions, but still resolute and sincere. She’s sharply clever but also, endearingly, dumb-as-rocks and a little or a lot pathetic because of it. And she’s kind of impossible not to love. Like practically everyone Harrow meets, I too have a strong case of Nonagesimitis. 

The character dynamics are unbelievably tantalizing, incomprehensible (complimentary) and endlessly entertaining - and much the same can be said for the plot. 

I think I probably have a lot more to say. I have many questions too but I really wouldn’t have it any other way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

Moderate: Gun violence, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Cancer, and Suicide

nonsense's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, Mental illness, and Death

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A wild, confusing, horrifying, wonderful ride. You have to go into this knowing you will not know what the fuck is going on half the time, and even when you figure out what’s going on, there’s still so much we don’t know. 

I love the tone, especially in the second half. The humor and references sprinkled in kill me. “…none House, with left grief.” made me LOL.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Self harm

Minor: Abandonment, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, and Sexual assault

dinoofathens's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, and Child death

arobear's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow, what a trip! Started out slow, but I loved how the narrative was crafted and everything was revealed bit by bit. There's still a TON of questions I have, but I'm hoping they're answered in the next two books. 

I love Harrow - she needs to be protected at all costs even though she is a badass! I have so many feelings (confused? yes; but good confused??) and I've been so torn up over comparing Harrow/Gideon to Orpheus/Eurydice because Harrow can't acknowledge her at all and Gideon thinks that means she doesn't like her.... but she literally CAN'T without killing her soul1! sdflskjdflsjfdls 
I thought my heart would be healed, but it is sadly still in disarray. 

What I was NOT expecting: BONE SOUP, liking Ortus by the end, or liking Ianthe, let alone thinking she's sexy... And God's dad jokes. So many dad jokes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcohol and War

Minor: Child death and Self harm

elizmoe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Tamsyn Muir, meet me in the pit. So I can give you a <i>hug</i>. And then sue you for emotional damages. 

i'm screaming, i'm crying, i'm throwing up even more than harrow in the first 5 chapters of this book. gideon and harrow have forever altered my brain chemistry. i understand that these books are perhaps not for everyone, but they are definitely for <i>me</i>; every reality-bending, viscerally disgusting, brow-furrowing-inducing moment of this stupid lesbian necromancer and her stupider lesbian cavalier were for me, and i am wretchedly grateful. 

too early to say for sure, but this book may have ruined me for other books? we'll see, but i have a bad feeling that anything else i will read that contains any of the following:

necromancy
swordplay
space
nonlinear storytelling
unreliable narrator(s)
enemy lesbians

will just leave me wondering why that book can't be her*. 

*the locked tomb series

also the payoff of this book is CRAZY. if you are like 20% through and not seeing the vision and considering DNF, i urge you to carry on even if the 500 pages feel daunting. you won't believe your eyes when shit starts coming together, because so many pieces do. even pieces that don't, i am confident will be explained in the next two books, as there were many many setups from book 1 that made for some incredible reveals in this book. 

i have so much more to say about this book but most of it is yelling. even the occasional ill-advised meme inserts couldn't mar this book for me! and that's pretty insane!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Violence, Medical trauma, Genocide, Cursing, Child death, Body horror, Death, War, Torture, Gore, Vomit, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Stalking, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Suicide