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possibilityleft's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Stalking, War, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Dementia, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
devirtualized's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
thecatconstellation's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
dinoofathens's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, and Child death
arobear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I thought my heart would be healed, but it is sadly still in disarray.
What I was NOT expecting: BONE SOUP, liking Ortus by the end, or liking Ianthe, let alone thinking she's sexy... And God's dad jokes. So many dad jokes.
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Alcohol and War
Minor: Child death and Self harm
elizmoe's review against another edition
- 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'm screaming, i'm crying, i'm throwing up even more than harrow in the first 5 chapters of this book. gideon and harrow have forever altered my brain chemistry. i understand that these books are perhaps not for everyone, but they are definitely for <i>me</i>; every reality-bending, viscerally disgusting, brow-furrowing-inducing moment of this stupid lesbian necromancer and her stupider lesbian cavalier were for me, and i am wretchedly grateful.
too early to say for sure, but this book may have ruined me for other books? we'll see, but i have a bad feeling that anything else i will read that contains any of the following:
necromancy
swordplay
space
nonlinear storytelling
unreliable narrator(s)
enemy lesbians
will just leave me wondering why that book can't be her*.
*the locked tomb series
also the payoff of this book is CRAZY. if you are like 20% through and not seeing the vision and considering DNF, i urge you to carry on even if the 500 pages feel daunting. you won't believe your eyes when shit starts coming together, because so many pieces do. even pieces that don't, i am confident will be explained in the next two books, as there were many many setups from book 1 that made for some incredible reveals in this book.
i have so much more to say about this book but most of it is yelling. even the occasional ill-advised meme inserts couldn't mar this book for me! and that's pretty insane!!
Graphic: Physical abuse, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Violence, Medical trauma, Genocide, Cursing, Child death, Body horror, Death, War, Torture, Gore, Vomit, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Stalking, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Suicide
starryfran's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Vomit, Death, Gore, Suicide, and Body horror
bluejayreads's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
Unreality (severe)rlgreen91's review against another edition
- 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
One thing I can speak relatively freely about is the worldbuilding in Harrow the Ninth , and how superb it is. I loved the reasoning behind one of the antagonists, because it naturally followed the rules and conventions set during Gideon the Ninth so well - it just made so much sense that that would happen as a result of the initial action set 10,000 years ago! I also loved how Muir is gradually expanding the world and universe that all of this takes place in. We started with a very narrow focus on a few characters at the beginning of Gideon the Ninth and have expanded to other generations and the Nine Houses in general
Just like in Gideon the Ninth and "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex", there's plenty of gorgeous language in Harrow the Ninth too. A lot of great banter and comedic moments, like someone attempting to explain to Harrow where babies come from, but also a very kind and honest depiction of what it's like to suffer from depression, trauma, and the genuine feeling that you might be insane. Not to mention all of the references, from the ones you only find by lurking Tumblr in the early 2010s to very Biblical/Christian ones that you only come across in advanced Sunday School.
Overall, a fantastic novel - no sophomore slump to be found here. Looking forward to "As Yet Unsent."
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, War, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
avacadosocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
I'm still digesting this one... Not sure I enjoyed it quite as much as the first book, but I still very much enjoyed it. The first half of it was pretty confusing and harder for me to get through (although I was still invested). But once it got into the second half and I better understood what was going on, I was a lot more engrossed in it.
I'm not sure what else to say about this, besides that it's a real whirlwind of emotions and I'd go from horrified to tearing up to cracking up laughing in the span of like one page.
I have no idea what happened at the end but I want to read the next book very soon. I feel like that's just the Locked Tomb experience.
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Violence, and Body horror
Minor: Child death