Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

72 reviews

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

belladonnashrike's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.0

so I think reading this sequel has summed up my feelings on how muir writes. she comes off as an amateur writer - whether that’s true or not, I have no idea, but that’s the root of all my critiques. I’m not a fan of the humor in this series, but even more so, all the characters (except for Harrow) have the same sense of humor, even when you would expect them not to, which sort of cheapens the dialogue and their individual characterization. the one (main) character that I feel does not share this quality is Harrowhark, who is written as the inverse of Gideon, so of course she won’t have the Gideon-like humor. I think Harrow is the best written character in the series and she is certainly my favorite which is why I think I enjoyed this book way more than the first. despite that, the fact that she is basically a Gideon foil feels a little lazy especially when you look at the dialogue. I love Harrow but I wish her traits and personality was independent of Gideon. I enjoyed Harrow’s perspective

but once it shifted back to Gideon’s (which I KNEW was going to happen… I hated the second person format but then realized very early on that Gideon was most likely not actually dead and she was speaking for Harrow) perspective, I felt mildly annoyed. I don’t dislike Gideon at all, but I’d simply rather not read things from her perspective, especially in first person. she’s fine as a side character! I just really do not like her sense of humor and again, it cheapens the story for me. especially when God - her father - said that very ridiculous, unnecessary dad joke upon meeting her. I legitimately rolled my eyes and sighed. I just can’t escape this sense of humor even when Harrow is leading the book!

much more. she is a very interesting character and I do have a lot of love for her. the worldbuilding got SO much better in this book, but it’s not perfect. some things are still left unsaid or as loose threads (which I feel is not a part of the mystery and definitely attributed to what I imagine is inexperienced writing). I am still invested in the story despite my critiques (I just find the concept so fascinating - I desperately wish that the execution was better) so I’ll be continuing on with the series. I hope Harrow is in these next couple books because I do adore her and would certainly miss her if she was absent from the storyline. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gore, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Vomit

cherrycoeur's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Sexual content

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Addiction

Minor: War, Sexual content, Death of parent, Grief, and Genocide

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

barrybj's review against another edition

medium-paced

5.0

what. the fuck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Pregnancy, Gore, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, War, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

perleerose's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

If you thought gideon the ninth was wild, strap yourself in for a wild ride. Just when you think you understand what’s going on in the book, everything will be proven false.

I would say read the bits at the end if you haven’t already as they contain important plot info.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual content

catboykit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Cursing, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, Grief, and Death

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, and War

mooshake's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious slow-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

hahaha what the fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Genocide, and Sexual content

purplepenning's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

I've never read such a fascinating, brain-breaking, frustrating, stomach-turning, compelling, off-putting, word-feast of an epic science fantasy horror mystery in my life. Muir is a heck of a writer (the humor! the viscera! the metaphor! the meter! the characters! the action!) but I'd have to read both Gideon and Harrow again to feel like I understand enough to say more. And I'm not likely to do that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Sexual content, War, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, and Mental illness

Minor: Pregnancy

necrophilia