Reviews tagging 'Death'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

343 reviews

wardenred's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Kill us twice, shame on God.

Wow. This book was a trip.

As I try to gather my thoughts and emotions into something coherent, I realize that whatever rambling attempt at coherence is possible will inevitably come at the expense of spoilers. So. Many. Spoilers. I find it impossible to talk about my impressions without mentioning all the big twists and bigger reveals. So I guess I'll just say: this was a wild ride, Harrow's mind is about as dark a place as I expected, the worldbuilding and mystery plots here are even better than in book one, and the storytelling techniques the author applies are devious. 

If you start reading Harrow the Ninth and wonder if you're reading a sequel to the wrong novel, please just keep reading.

Also, can I please have book three right about now? No? Damn. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

rjteverow's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.5

 By a third of the way in, I was feeling drugged. I could not figure out what was going on, I couldn’t follow the narrations, and everything was so convoluted it literally made me feel like my brain wasn’t functioning.

At half way, the fog was clearing - I knew I was still missing huge chunks of information, but now it felt like I could get there - and I couldn’t put the book down. By the last quarter, I was texting my friends every other page about how fucking broken my heart was.

I found the book REALLY hard to get into, but so so worth it by the end of it. I don’t know if I would reread the whole book in a hurry, it does feel like it fucked with my head in a big way, but I am definitely still enamored of the series and even more eager to read the next one. My one thing, which I think was more of an issue in Gideon than in Harrow, is that some of the language and humor feels very time-specific - it won’t necessarily be as funny in several years.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

harrownova's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

A triumph. I can’t. Incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

marioncromb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

It being roughly a year since i'd read Gideon, so starting this book had me even more confused and doubting my memories than i think the author intended, but once i got that that /was/ the point i was fully on board, brain racing to try and unpick the mystery before Muir reveals it to us slowly, masterfully, thread by thread. The humour is not quite the same as in Gideon but is still very much there. I think this will be the best book i read this year, its only flaw being perhaps it doesn't end in an as self-contained a way as Gideon - its going to be a tough wait for Alecto, but i definitely want to reread both Gideon and Harrow in that time with new understanding & to spot all the clues i missed first time round!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Medical content, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Genocide, Sexual content, and Suicide

laurajones's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

olivialandryxo's review against another edition

Even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of Gideon the Ninth, I was curious to see where the story would go and what Harrow’s narration would be like. I found Harrow the Ninth to be boring and rather confusing, and ultimately decided not to finish at the 34% mark. Even the shortest chapters felt like they dragged on for ages. I also thought that the usage of second person narration was jarring; I’m not used to reading it, and in this instance, since I was already struggling to get immersed in the book, it certainly didn’t help. I’m kind of sad to ditch this book, but I just don’t have the time or energy for books I’m not liking.

Representation:

• lesbian protagonist

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Medical content

The content warnings above are only accurate for the portion of the book that I read.

katie_the_librarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

I'd give this 10 stars if I could. It needs re-reading and savoring.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

kamreadsandrecs's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

As the novel progresses, determining what is real and what isn’t becomes very important indeed. It’s not only about whether or not Harrow’s story is true, or if the unknown narrator’s story is true; it’s also about not knowing if the people one is supposed to trust wholeheartedly are actually telling the truth.

Full review here: https://wp.me/p21txV-JE

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Murder

keen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Minor: Child death and Kidnapping

theoldestbennetsister's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent