Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

91 reviews

danawfaith's review against another edition

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

5.0

I felt like I was going crazy for like 2/3rds of the book. then in the last act I finally got it and the payoff was incredible. And then in the last chapter, just kidding you don't understand anything. Which is what I've come to expect from the Locked Tomb, so five stars.

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Self harm, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

saestrah's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• 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

4.0

I'm usually on the side of 'don't put memes in literature' on the basis that memes get outdated very quickly and are hard to contextualise for readers unfamiliar with the memes. In Gideon the Ninth the narrative got away with it very well, as they were more like easter eggs that are easily glossed over. In Harrow the Ninth the memes are a little more.... 'obvious'? If you recognise the meme then it's funny, but for anyone unfamiliar with it, it would be hard to understand what it meant and why the character said it.

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.

Re-read review: This was much easier to read the second time around, and I was amazed by how many easter eggs and lines of foreshadowing that I'd missed the first time. Now I could focus less on the mystery and more on the story, I found the prose even lovelier and the characters even more fleshed out. This is so far my favourite book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Bullying

ha1yan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-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 book was such an amazing follow-up to Gideon the Ninth. We've got double the millennial meme references (none House left grief!?), even more terrifying space necromancy, and DRAMA. It has one of the weirdest perspectives and plots I've ever read and I LOVED IT. Harrow the Ninth is the ONLY way bury your gays should be used in media, actually.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Ableism and Genocide

Hallucinations, manipulation and gaslighting, unreality

harrownova's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

A triumph. I can’t. Incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

olivialandryxo's review against another edition

Even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of Gideon the Ninth, I was curious to see where the story would go and what Harrow’s narration would be like. I found Harrow the Ninth to be boring and rather confusing, and ultimately decided not to finish at the 34% mark. Even the shortest chapters felt like they dragged on for ages. I also thought that the usage of second person narration was jarring; I’m not used to reading it, and in this instance, since I was already struggling to get immersed in the book, it certainly didn’t help. I’m kind of sad to ditch this book, but I just don’t have the time or energy for books I’m not liking.

Representation:

• lesbian protagonist

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Medical content

The content warnings above are only accurate for the portion of the book that I read.

kim_kv's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.75

I raced through this book, and loved the mystery and intrigue and complex characters, narrators, timelines, etc. These books, to me, are wonderfully unique and engaging. I just wish we'd had a less time in the build up and more time with all the revelations. If you liked the first book, I would 100% reccomended this one too. I just wish I could start reading the third book to get more answers, which I guess is ultimately a good sign!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, and Vomit

brenticus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• 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

Gideon the Ninth was a crazy ride, I thought. Tone and worldvuilding were a bit off at times, but largely more than good enough to excite me for this one.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

kelecoo's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, and Blood

bi_blue's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, and Self harm

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

enbylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

I thought I was kinda smart but I guess I’m not because I had no clue what the FUCK was happening in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Self harm