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m0rt's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicide
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
5.0
Where do I even start to review this absolute masterpiece of a second novel? It has taken me an embarrassing amount of time to pick up Harrow and I’ll fully admit it’s because I wasn’t quite as in love with Gideon the Ninth as I expected to be. But I saw this book in the library and thought what the hell, it’s time. And what a fucking idiot I’ve been when I could have made this book my entire personality OVER A YEAR AGO if I’d only read it then.
This book is a master class in point of view, plot structure, horror as comedy, the exceptional use of gothic genre, and divinity. I’d like to discuss each of these in turn.
Point of view
I think second person POV gets a real bad rep in the book community but I am a big fan of it, it’s one of my favourite tools Muir used in this book. I think this showed the same expertise that Jemisin showed in her use of second-person POV in the The Broken Earth trilogy. This tense creates such an element of mystery and omnipotence and horror - it is a POV for horror and it is used expertly in Harrow.
Structure
I know lots of people found Harrow’s structure confusing, but somehow I actually found this one less confusing than Gideon. Maybe because of my love of books with timelines that jump around and you kind of just accept not knowing what’s going on and go along for the ride?? But I loved not knowing what the fuck was happening, loved the timeline structure that gave us past and future Harrrow, I thought it allowed us a much deeper sense of who Harrow was and a much closer connection to her which made the events of the book so much more horrific for the reader and so much more unbearable in their grief.
Horror as comedy
Have I ever read a funnier book? I definitely can’t quite remember ever laughing at one quite so much as this. Page after page, I just could not stop laughing. The soup scene absolutely undid me, and I want it to get the love it deserves as peak humour and utter genius.
Gothic
Where do I even begin? This entire book is a masterclass in the idea of gothic genre as haunting; Harrow as haunted by past, by trauma, by loss, by the genocide of her conception, by grief. It it fantastic, and it is so deeply traumatic to read, I never wanted to stop and yet it also felt like I was being repeatedly punched in the chest, and then I read the author's note and it made sense. Muir gets Harrow because Muir has lived Harrow.
Divinity
The twist to such has intimate relationship with, and worship of, divinity in Harrow was an interesting choice but one which I loved because I am of course always obsessed with the portrayal of religion in SFF. I am deeply looking forward to delving closer into divinity on reread as I feel this will be an area that so much more is noticed on reread. But all I can say is I loved the fatherly vibes, I loved the subtle darkness below the surface, I loved the relationships God had with each of his companions and how that manipulated the relationships they had with each other, I loved loved loved it.
This book is a masterpiece of gothic science fantasy, it will emotionally haunt me as Harrow is haunted by a 10,000 year old corpse.
Content warnings: hallucinations, depictions of severe mental health crisis, grief, mass child death, genocide, graphic blood and gore, war, body horror, vomit, self-harm (for magic), graphic descriptions of corpses, murder, necrophilia, sex, death of parent, death of loved one, suicide, physical abuse, emotional abuse, amputation
----
Finished it with 3 minutes left of sapphic September to spare!! A MASTERPIECE. Full review incoming after I sleep.
This book is a master class in point of view, plot structure, horror as comedy, the exceptional use of gothic genre, and divinity. I’d like to discuss each of these in turn.
Point of view
I think second person POV gets a real bad rep in the book community but I am a big fan of it, it’s one of my favourite tools Muir used in this book. I think this showed the same expertise that Jemisin showed in her use of second-person POV in the The Broken Earth trilogy. This tense creates such an element of mystery and omnipotence and horror - it is a POV for horror and it is used expertly in Harrow.
Structure
I know lots of people found Harrow’s structure confusing, but somehow I actually found this one less confusing than Gideon. Maybe because of my love of books with timelines that jump around and you kind of just accept not knowing what’s going on and go along for the ride?? But I loved not knowing what the fuck was happening, loved the timeline structure that gave us past and future Harrrow, I thought it allowed us a much deeper sense of who Harrow was and a much closer connection to her which made the events of the book so much more horrific for the reader and so much more unbearable in their grief.
Horror as comedy
Have I ever read a funnier book? I definitely can’t quite remember ever laughing at one quite so much as this. Page after page, I just could not stop laughing. The soup scene absolutely undid me, and I want it to get the love it deserves as peak humour and utter genius.
Gothic
Where do I even begin? This entire book is a masterclass in the idea of gothic genre as haunting; Harrow as haunted by past, by trauma, by loss, by the genocide of her conception, by grief. It it fantastic, and it is so deeply traumatic to read, I never wanted to stop and yet it also felt like I was being repeatedly punched in the chest, and then I read the author's note and it made sense. Muir gets Harrow because Muir has lived Harrow.
Divinity
The twist to such has intimate relationship with, and worship of, divinity in Harrow was an interesting choice but one which I loved because I am of course always obsessed with the portrayal of religion in SFF. I am deeply looking forward to delving closer into divinity on reread as I feel this will be an area that so much more is noticed on reread. But all I can say is I loved the fatherly vibes, I loved the subtle darkness below the surface, I loved the relationships God had with each of his companions and how that manipulated the relationships they had with each other, I loved loved loved it.
This book is a masterpiece of gothic science fantasy, it will emotionally haunt me as Harrow is haunted by a 10,000 year old corpse.
Content warnings: hallucinations, depictions of severe mental health crisis, grief, mass child death, genocide, graphic blood and gore, war, body horror, vomit, self-harm (for magic), graphic descriptions of corpses, murder, necrophilia, sex, death of parent, death of loved one, suicide, physical abuse, emotional abuse, amputation
----
Finished it with 3 minutes left of sapphic September to spare!! A MASTERPIECE. Full review incoming after I sleep.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, and War
queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Borderline impossible to understand the first time through. The second time through was a lot easier... things made more sense. Eye color is important so pay attention. One of the hardest books I've ever read. It was so cool... Harrow is so horribly sad, I love her she's great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, Gun violence, Vomit, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
judetime's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Part of it is written in second person and there are perspective switches, which isn’t everybody’s jam. I didn’t mind the second person so much.
Also: it hurt so bad. Tamsyn Muir is ruining my life. This is my favorite book series.
Also: it hurt so bad. Tamsyn Muir is ruining my life. This is my favorite book series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and War
nikenacs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
GtN left me absolutely stunned and this one managed to top that effect, by far. The layers, twists and turns of this plot are out of this world. By the end, the plot was twisting so hard I didn't know which way was up and down. And Harrow, dear Harrow, I care about you so fucking much. Together with GtN, easily my favorite book I've read this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Gaslighting, and Death
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Genocide, War, and Xenophobia
jordanp543's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
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? It's complicated
4.0
Some of the best use of second person in a “traditional” novel. Tamsyn Muir better stop with these cliffhangers though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Suicide
Minor: Self harm
emvdw's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Quite different from it's predecessor, equally mysterious and just so so good. Gideon is suspenseful, Harrow is tense.
I am forlorn after finishing it... I preordered Nona.
I am forlorn after finishing it... I preordered Nona.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Mental illness
Minor: Suicide
bruisedtigers's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I'm very torn on this book. While reading, you know something strange has happened; you know things aren't quite right. However, it takes so long for the reasons behind that to become clear, and as a result I kept turning pages more out of frustration than curiosity. It felt like reading one long, complicated riddle, and the answers weren't satisfying enough to make up for it -- especially since new questions just pop up to replace the old ones. I don't think this needed to be quite so long to get across the point it was trying to make. The narrative takes its time, and the payoff didn't compensate for the ordeal of getting that far.
Maybe it suffers from being in the middle of a series, and maybe it would be nicer on a re-read, but I've finished feeling unsatisfied. Love for the characters redeems this for me. I will likely still read the next in the series, but compared to the first, it's unfortunately disappointing.
Maybe it suffers from being in the middle of a series, and maybe it would be nicer on a re-read, but I've finished feeling unsatisfied. Love for the characters redeems this for me. I will likely still read the next in the series, but compared to the first, it's unfortunately disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Gore, and Death of parent
pboyreads's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit
untoworthy'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Moderate: Death of parent and Cancer
Minor: Child death, Child abuse, and Sexual assault