Reviews tagging 'Death'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

343 reviews

lkj2018's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

wind_dog's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death and Cursing

Minor: Genocide, Sexual content, Vomit, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

rowanbg's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

I spoiled myself for this book and still had no idea what was going on half the time.
Okay but on a more serious note: this book is stylistically experimental, and the fact that it pulls it off most of the time is something that I do have to give it credit for. It would probably pull it off better if every other description wasn't a metaphor and if Muir had put down the thesaurus for half a second, but here we are. 
I will say that I'm an outlier in that the things that other people love are the things that I really don't. I think the memes will make the book age like milk-- dad jokes are eternal, but people in 10 years might not know about miette, or none pizza with left beef. I'm also not a fan of the Gideon/Harrow relationship. Spoilers for Gideon the Ninth-

I just don't believe that someone who has been abused and imprisoned her entire life would fall in faithful, self-sacrificial love with her jailer after seeing her improve after only a month

. And trust me, as a lesbian I am not quick to put down lesbians. There were a number of smaller things that I would like to see someone with more expertise than me talk about, mainly the portrayal of disability and race, because both of those felt weird. In the end, I'll probably read the final book in the trilogy to see how it resolves, but I'm not waiting for it with baited breath. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, and Alcohol

emmaward55's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

 I don't know how to review this book without just listing all the swear words I know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide, Gun violence, Grief, and Pregnancy

Also brief allusions to necrophilia and a more detailed description of a lobotomy.

organizedmess's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

The switch to 2nd person was jarring and it will definitely throw you for a loop. As the story progresses, things clear up and at a very rapid pace. Once things start to click, it's like a string of dominoes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement and Cannibalism

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, and Colonisation

jupitermond's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Child death and Sexual content

caitsidhe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

HOLY SHIT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

cursedepub's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

Completely blew Gideon the Ninth out of the water with atmospheric, experimental storytelling, a powerful point of view, and a breathtaking final confrontation and ending. 

Harrow the Ninth reads like a completely different animal from Gideon the Ninth - it's so much more complex, with so much more for the reader to uncover and read between the lines to see, and the depth of Harrow's emotions (grief, fear, pride, shame) painting the whole novel is truly stunning. While I found the mystery aspect of Gideon the Ninth clumsy, the puzzles, revelations, and shifting loyalties of the First House in Harrow the Ninth were very deftly handled and kept me guessing and engaged the whole time. There is a lot of very clever playing with expectations about characters' personalities and values that give a richness to interactions and relationships. The point of view shift gave me whiplash in a really positive and incredible way. 

There are some parts I definitely... did not like, and the pacing is not entirely consistent. That being said,  this book grew to mean a lot to me personally while I was reading it, and I think many people who have suffered loss or trauma will find catharsis in Harrow's point of view. You will feel for her deeply and cheer for her throughout the whole novel, despite how grisly and violent everything turns. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

un_petit_oiseau's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

bumblebeefarts's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad 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

Such a departure from Gideon; Definitely a weirder read, if you can believe it, but your patience and faith will be rewarded by a skillfully written tome and unraveling secrets.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Child abuse