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rowanbg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
Okay but on a more serious note: this book is stylistically experimental, and the fact that it pulls it off most of the time is something that I do have to give it credit for. It would probably pull it off better if every other description wasn't a metaphor and if Muir had put down the thesaurus for half a second, but here we are.
I will say that I'm an outlier in that the things that other people love are the things that I really don't. I think the memes will make the book age like milk-- dad jokes are eternal, but people in 10 years might not know about miette, or none pizza with left beef. I'm also not a fan of the Gideon/Harrow relationship. Spoilers for Gideon the Ninth-
Graphic: Gore, Death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Mental illness, Body horror, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, and Chronic illness
wlwkara's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Gore and Self harm
danawfaith's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Excellent use of the second person. The worldbuilding feels very indepth and detailed, despite the fact we spend so little time out in the world.
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Vomit
Moderate: Eating disorder, Medical content, Murder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Genocide
saestrah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The POV change to second person is as jarring as it is compelling, and it's justified with the plot as well as making the world-building and unfolding mysteries all the more immersive. As confused as I was for the majority of the book, everything pulls together in the last quarter as mysteries were finally explained and the strings throughout this book and Gideon the Ninth started to come together. Harrow's narration is incredibly unreliable, and it reflects Muir’s ability to create such distinctive characters and their voices.
Despite the narrative differences, Harrow the Ninth still stays true to the rest of the Locked Tomb series, with internet meme references and sword fights, but also textually explores themes of grief, guilt, and trauma, and the intersection between the three. It’s certainly an ambitious sequel, and tests the reader’s patience at times, but it was impressively executed and guarantees several re-reads to fill the time before Alecto the Ninth is released.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying
ha1yan's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Ableism and Genocide
Hallucinations, manipulation and gaslighting, unrealityharrownova's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Blood, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, and Death
plumpaperbacks's review against another edition
Representation:
- lesbian protagonist
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit
The content warnings above are only accurate for the portion of the book that I read.kim_kv's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, and Vomit
brenticus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Harrow the Ninth has you wading through the grueling psychosis of Harrowhark as you question how much of what she's seeing, experiencing, feeling, remembering is real. Because very quickly you find that something has changed in the brief period between this book and the previous, and while I don't think it was hard to figure out why there were still a lot of questions to work through.
Mostly I want to call out the best case of second-person narration I've ever seen. The reason why is pretty obvious from the get-go, I think, but still, it works so well and I love it.
Really don't know where the third book is going to take this, but definitely excited to see what disturbing monstrosity Muir cooks up next.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Self harm
Minor: Sexual content
kelecoo's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Violence