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saucy_bookdragon's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This series is deeply unhinged.
Harrow the Ninth is even weirder than its predecessor. Written in second person from Harrow's perspective, the book spends its time having Harrow be absolutely unhinged and difficult to predict (in a good way) and gaslighting you about book one. It continues to mix horror, comedy, space opera, fantasy, and other genres into a unique blend, though this book is a bit less comedic than the first and a little more mysterious.
What makes this series work as well as it does is its use of POV voice. Gideon and Harrow both have such distinct voices that work for their perspective stories. Gideon is much more sarcastic and straight to the point while not straight herself. Gideon will fight you on a moment's notice and make your mom jokes the entire time. Harrow is more calculating, but also unpredictable. She often surprises the reader despite the fact we're in her head, despite the fact that due to the second person narration, we are her. She's dealing with a host of mental health issues such as trauma and psychosis which heavily effects her POV, her mental health isn't great to say the least. Thankfully her mental health issues aren't used in a stigmatized way and aren't used to play into tropes such as the mad woman or whatever the fuck was Joker (2019). Harrow is more so a well rounded character.
I do have some critiques. First off, there are some blind spots in the world building. Two books in and I still don't I quite understand what this world is like, especially just to live in it. We spend so much time with the necromancers and cavaliers and God, I wish we got more time with the normal people who live in this world and how they deal with all this. I also still find the magic system confusing, though it is a bit easier to understand in this book since the POV character is a necromancer. I get the basic principles and powers of it but don't quite understand its limits.
I honestly regret not getting to this book sooner, it's even better than the first one and had me hooked and gasping as I tried to piece together what was happening. The Locked Tomb series is perfect for anyone looking for something a little weird, especially if your branch of weird and branch of humor are the Tumblr variety. There's something very Tumblr-esque about this series. It's difficult to explain but Tamsyn Muir spent many years on the hellsite and it shows.
TWs: psychosis, trauma, mentions of genocide, death of animals, grief, lots of gore especially related around corpses
Harrow the Ninth is even weirder than its predecessor. Written in second person from Harrow's perspective, the book spends its time having Harrow be absolutely unhinged and difficult to predict (in a good way) and gaslighting you about book one. It continues to mix horror, comedy, space opera, fantasy, and other genres into a unique blend, though this book is a bit less comedic than the first and a little more mysterious.
What makes this series work as well as it does is its use of POV voice. Gideon and Harrow both have such distinct voices that work for their perspective stories. Gideon is much more sarcastic and straight to the point while not straight herself. Gideon will fight you on a moment's notice and make your mom jokes the entire time. Harrow is more calculating, but also unpredictable. She often surprises the reader despite the fact we're in her head, despite the fact that due to the second person narration, we are her. She's dealing with a host of mental health issues such as trauma and psychosis which heavily effects her POV, her mental health isn't great to say the least. Thankfully her mental health issues aren't used in a stigmatized way and aren't used to play into tropes such as the mad woman or whatever the fuck was Joker (2019). Harrow is more so a well rounded character.
I do have some critiques. First off, there are some blind spots in the world building. Two books in and I still don't I quite understand what this world is like, especially just to live in it. We spend so much time with the necromancers and cavaliers and God, I wish we got more time with the normal people who live in this world and how they deal with all this. I also still find the magic system confusing, though it is a bit easier to understand in this book since the POV character is a necromancer. I get the basic principles and powers of it but don't quite understand its limits.
I honestly regret not getting to this book sooner, it's even better than the first one and had me hooked and gasping as I tried to piece together what was happening. The Locked Tomb series is perfect for anyone looking for something a little weird, especially if your branch of weird and branch of humor are the Tumblr variety. There's something very Tumblr-esque about this series. It's difficult to explain but Tamsyn Muir spent many years on the hellsite and it shows.
TWs: psychosis, trauma, mentions of genocide, death of animals, grief, lots of gore especially related around corpses
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Animal death, Grief, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Death of parent
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