Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

65 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

funny sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book had me wheezing with laughter at some points. It also had me scrambling, trying desperately to fill in the blanks in the story (most of my theories ended up being wrong).  The inclusion of the immortals in this story was delightful (even if the immortals themselves were not) and I thought that Mercymorn’s commitment to the bit about the infants was hilarious. It took me a minute to get used to the second-person voice that at least half of the book is written in, but ultimately I think it worked well for the story. There are these big intangible subjects that Muir never really talks about, but that permeate the entire story nonetheless. Love is one of those things, and the second person pov grabs a handful of that intangible quality and twists it and makes art of it, then hands it back to us as the readers. It’s not my typical beloved writing style that would focus more inwards, but it’s captured my heart anyway. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. Original Rating: 4.75

Second Read: This book was IMMENSELY more enjoyable (and heart wrenching) the second go around. I’m frankly astounded at how much went right over my head on the first read. I should also say that it was remiss for me to spend so much of my first review talking about how funny it is. It IS funny, but it’s also so deeply sad that it’s hard to wrap your head around. There is so much grief at the forefront—the plot is necessary, but it”s driving force, at every point, is grief. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Vomit, and War

Minor: Cannibalism, Alcohol, and Self harm

rustagh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism

iane_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Violence, Self harm, Stalking, Torture, Body horror, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Eating disorder, Genocide, Ableism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Suicide, Cannibalism, Child death, and Confinement

Minor: Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Miscarriage, Cancer, Terminal illness, Animal death, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Acephobia/Arophobia, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and War

therealratking's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

"Unexpectedly, this did not kill her; and what did not kill her made her curious."
Whats the book about?
After the disaster that was Canaan House, the newly born Lyctor Harrowhark the Ninth is struggling to survive on the Emperor's ship. Not only is her brain fucked up but someone is trying to kill her. To add to all this misery, the resection beasts are closing in and Harrows necromancy has decided to stop working as it should.
Whats my opinion?
This book made me ball my eyes out, a rare feat that only the Locked Tomb series had managed to do. The second person POV, while confusing at first ends up making so much sense that my jaw dropped. I loved following Harrow's messed up daily life and the dark humor introduced in Gideon the Ninth follows through. Overall i loved this book and if you loved the first book, you'll love this one even more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Cannibalism

shelbymarie314's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Stalking, and Death

Minor: Cannibalism

schmetterlingsbluetenartige's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism

hayleyvem's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Bullying

Moderate: Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Genocide, Infertility, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Cancer, and Suicide

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

provo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

I knew before reading this that the plot would not make sense until 2/3 trough, so I was prepared for the confusion.
The finale was something else and bumped my rating from 4 to 5 stars, incredibly satisfying to unwind all the what-the-fuck-is-going-on.
But: check trigger warnings before reading, like there’s a lot of really graphic stuff.
Also maybe not a book anyone should read during an active psychotic episode (this is not a joke).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, War, Death of parent, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Murder, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, and Suicide attempt

vampire_burrito's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that I was going to get gaslit by a lesbian for 400 pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cannibalism, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Grief

amanda_bristol's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Abandonment, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Body horror, Murder, Medical content, Bullying, Vomit, Cancer, Cannibalism, and Gore