Reviews tagging 'Death'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

343 reviews

danawfaith's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

I felt like I was going crazy for like 2/3rds of the book. then in the last act I finally got it and the payoff was incredible. And then in the last chapter, just kidding you don't understand anything. Which is what I've come to expect from the Locked Tomb, so five stars.

Excellent use of the second person. The worldbuilding feels very indepth and detailed, despite the fact we spend so little time out in the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Self harm, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

ruuntvoces's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Mental illness and Cannibalism

saestrah's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I'm usually on the side of 'don't put memes in literature' on the basis that memes get outdated very quickly and are hard to contextualise for readers unfamiliar with the memes. In Gideon the Ninth the narrative got away with it very well, as they were more like easter eggs that are easily glossed over. In Harrow the Ninth the memes are a little more.... 'obvious'? If you recognise the meme then it's funny, but for anyone unfamiliar with it, it would be hard to understand what it meant and why the character said it.

The POV change to second person is as jarring as it is compelling, and it's justified with the plot as well as making the world-building and unfolding mysteries all the more immersive. As confused as I was for the majority of the book, everything pulls together in the last quarter as mysteries were finally explained and the strings throughout this book and Gideon the Ninth started to come together. Harrow's narration is incredibly unreliable, and it reflects Muir’s ability to create such distinctive characters and their voices.

Despite the narrative differences, Harrow the Ninth still stays true to the rest of the Locked Tomb series, with internet meme references and sword fights, but also textually explores themes of grief, guilt, and trauma, and the intersection between the three. It’s certainly an ambitious sequel, and tests the reader’s patience at times, but it was impressively executed and guarantees several re-reads to fill the time before Alecto the Ninth is released.

Re-read review: This was much easier to read the second time around, and I was amazed by how many easter eggs and lines of foreshadowing that I'd missed the first time. Now I could focus less on the mystery and more on the story, I found the prose even lovelier and the characters even more fleshed out. This is so far my favourite book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Bullying

editorbrenna's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

brindlecat's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Book two in the amazing Locked Tomb trilogy. I found this book a bit slower to get through than the first book in the series (which I've found fairly standard for the second book in a trilogy -- it also ended on a fairly definite cliffhanger, unfortunately), but I so enjoy the world and the characters that it wasn't much of a problem.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

thisiscourt's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Medical content

bookcapybara's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I went into this book expecting more of the (very enjoyable) same that was given to us in the first book. 

This was not the case. 

If you don’t like being confused, I do not recommend this book. I spent a solid 70% of this book with very little idea of what was going on, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. I could not put this book down. I needed answers. And when the answers were delivered, I was not disappointed. 

The only thing keeping me from rating this 5 stars is that, like the first book, I feel like the tone of several key scenes was undermined by humour. 

I will now eagerly await the release of the third book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

charlieleelee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Violence and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jimmyreadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• 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, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

ha1yan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-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

This book was such an amazing follow-up to Gideon the Ninth. We've got double the millennial meme references (none House left grief!?), even more terrifying space necromancy, and DRAMA. It has one of the weirdest perspectives and plots I've ever read and I LOVED IT. Harrow the Ninth is the ONLY way bury your gays should be used in media, actually.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Ableism and Genocide

Hallucinations, manipulation and gaslighting, unreality