Reviews tagging 'Death'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

343 reviews

spleenc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Oh. My. God.

Harrow the Ninth was perfect in more than one way.

You'll feel lost. I was completely lost during the first pages. I was wondering if my copy was faulty because I didn't understand what was happening. And so, you read. And you can't stop because you (or, at least, I), want to understand. Something wrong but you can't put your finger on it. Your brain works hard. It might make you angry, especially if you're not very patient. 

But then, the last quarter happens. And this time, you can't stop reading, even more than before. No more "one last chapter". No, this time, it's "I need to finish it today or I'll never sleep ever again". 

Harrow the Ninth is a true page-turner, taking you by a lot of different emotions. I was happy to find back some characters, to discover new ones and to learn more about others. The characters, the way they are written, theirs relationship... Everything makes sense and makes you love them.

I'm left with questions, wanting answers and desperate for Nona the Ninth.

I think The Locked Tomb books might my favorite 2022 reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Genocide, and Death of parent

beccaand's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Child death

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Genocide, Xenophobia, and War

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Death, Violence, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and War

hidemybook's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cannibalism

carbinara's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I just love Harrow and Ianthe and Mercymorn and

Ortus and Gideon

. I’m writing this review about a week after finishing, so I’ve got slightly rose-tinted glasses where I’m forgetting the middle 300 pages where I had no clue what was happening and sort of wanted to abandon it. However, the last 100 pages or so really pulled it together and despite not knowing what was happening most of the time, the action was fun and the characters were compelling. It had a good mix of comedy and seriousness, although I didn’t love the scenes at Canaan house, and thought the book could’ve been a little longer as the final 100 pages were very fast paced (I remember a certain chapter feeling like a soap opera in book form). Still, the storytelling and use of structure in this book were so well done, will definitely lick up the next instalment when its out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Cannibalism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The book starting out in second person threw me for a loop, but it was such a great tool to explore, how traumatised Harrow is and her in general. Also the POV switching to third person in the flashbacks makes it really easy to distinguish the different time lines.

Also, when it was revealed, that it was Gideon talking to Harrow this whole time with the "you", that was just an amayng plot twist!

Harrow's paranoia really set the darker tone of this book and it worked so well with the lonely fortress in deep space setting and makes the mystery just so much more mysterious.
I also really enjoyed, that this book spent more time with characters, that were just mentioned in the first book like Abigail and Magnus. And all the new characters are super interesting, too. Just like in the first book the relationships among them are written so well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Gun violence and Terminal illness

vhispas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

These books... it feels like they were written to be re-read. Both of them have to be read with intent and attention. I think they should be approached with openness, curiosity and tolerance for not being told things directly or quickly. 

In the first book I really loved how it is futuristic in setting but the language is archaic and obscure and I love the contrast. I think we see less rot in Harrow (which makes sense). I enjoyed the 2 points of view. I think it was very well done and adds to the story. It is a bit jarring to read in second person at first but I quickly adapted. 

I loved all the characters in this book. I enjoyed the fight scenes in this book better than the first. 

I was constantly asking myself questions (much like in Gideon’s) but at one point I didn’t even know what was true and what wasn’t. Once I physically got up and away from the book with a tiny weeny scream because a particular realization hit me and I just couldn’t contain the enthusiasm. This feels like an evolution of the first book.

I am fascinated about how different the book is to Gideon’s while at its core still having so many similarities. Almost like two particles of water going down the same stream (different but the same but different). And this also reflects Harrow and Gideon as characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Grief

Minor: War

eleanora's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Cannibalism, and Toxic friendship

montereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, and Gore