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lotus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Vomit, and Medical trauma
massivepizzacrust's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I don't know how to rate this! I don't understand most of what just happened! This is either the most confusing series in the world or a beautiful puzzle that will sort itself out in the conclusion of the trilogy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Vomit
toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
What an amazing book. I enjoyed the first in the series but this book was fantastic from beginning to end and honestly made the first book more amazing in retrospect. So excited for the 3rd book when it comes out, this world is so intriguing and I just want to know everything about it. It's really a story and world you can dig you teeth into and get lost in, and manages to mix fantasy and magic with scifi in a unique and compelling way. Definitely will be rereading
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
This book deals with a lot of dark themes and death and body horror, due to the nature of its focus on necromancy. Lots of complicated and possibly manipulative and toxic relationshipslaurendubs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
mk_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of the most confusing but delightful books I’ve ever read. Suddenly I find myself ready to get multiple tattoos of skulls and skeletons to remind me of this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- 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
Harrow The Ninth is deeply necromantic and gorgeous; full of the most beautiful body horror with a casual familiarity with death, the dead, and those who refuse to die. For everyone who read GTN and wants to be more confused, for longer, with even more viscera.
First and foremost: If you made it to the end of Gideon The Ninth, and you liked it, you’ll like Harrow The Ninth. If you haven’t read Gideon The Ninth, go do that (or at least read our review) and then come back, this will be here when you return. If you have a phobia of skeletons, viscera, blood, gore, or the frequent removal and rebuilding of bodies... don't read it, it's really okay if this one isn't for you (but I hope for your sake it is, because it's fantastic). It would be deeply disturbing to anyone who has an abiding and genuine fear of such things, so please use your discretion.
Now that you’re here: Harrow The Ninth is perfect for anyone who read Gideon The Ninth and said to themselves, "I would like to spend longer not knowing what's happening but having a great time." Every phrase I want to use to describe this book reminds me of how people who have done drugs talk about how they feel. I was disconcerted frequently, confused generally, and loving every minute of it even though I didn't know what was going on (and clearly wasn't supposed to). It felt good to read, the prose had a visceral quality (both in terms of the syllabic density and its propensity to describe actual viscera). About halfway through I had a guess at what might be going on (and I was only partially right), it wasn't until 70%-80% of the way through that I reached the explanation and truly understood. But that turning point where I finally got what was happening, wow, I think it was an even greater emotional payoff for me than when I finally understood what was happening in Gideon.
As for my usual book two check for series of at least three books (as this is a trilogy): This wraps up several things from the previous book (but you don't really understand how until very far in). There is an entire storyline which only is within this book, in one way, but also transcends it and encompasses the first book in even more bizarre ways, so... I don't know whether this qualifies as having a storyline unique to this book, I really don't know. I think there is a major thing which is introduced and resolved wholly within this book, but with how trippy these books are it's totally possible that I'll re-read Gideon and realize it was actually begun there. This definitely leaves some major things to be addressed in the third book, which is good. The POV character did change, and the voice is very distinct from the previous narrator, oh yes. Lastly, this is a bizarre case where the first 60% of the book might actually be less confusing if the reader had not read the first book. I don't recommend picking up this one as your starting point, since the conclusion will make absolutely no sense without having read Harrow, but since this is a trilogy and not a long-running series this criterion isn't super important. TLDR: This book defies my usual book two checks and that feels appropriate. It's a great continuation while also having plenty to hold its own, and the narrator feels distinct from the first book's narrator. This makes me need the sequel as soon as I can get it.
First and foremost: If you made it to the end of Gideon The Ninth, and you liked it, you’ll like Harrow The Ninth. If you haven’t read Gideon The Ninth, go do that (or at least read our review) and then come back, this will be here when you return. If you have a phobia of skeletons, viscera, blood, gore, or the frequent removal and rebuilding of bodies... don't read it, it's really okay if this one isn't for you (but I hope for your sake it is, because it's fantastic). It would be deeply disturbing to anyone who has an abiding and genuine fear of such things, so please use your discretion.
Now that you’re here: Harrow The Ninth is perfect for anyone who read Gideon The Ninth and said to themselves, "I would like to spend longer not knowing what's happening but having a great time." Every phrase I want to use to describe this book reminds me of how people who have done drugs talk about how they feel. I was disconcerted frequently, confused generally, and loving every minute of it even though I didn't know what was going on (and clearly wasn't supposed to). It felt good to read, the prose had a visceral quality (both in terms of the syllabic density and its propensity to describe actual viscera). About halfway through I had a guess at what might be going on (and I was only partially right), it wasn't until 70%-80% of the way through that I reached the explanation and truly understood. But that turning point where I finally got what was happening, wow, I think it was an even greater emotional payoff for me than when I finally understood what was happening in Gideon.
As for my usual book two check for series of at least three books (as this is a trilogy): This wraps up several things from the previous book (but you don't really understand how until very far in). There is an entire storyline which only is within this book, in one way, but also transcends it and encompasses the first book in even more bizarre ways, so... I don't know whether this qualifies as having a storyline unique to this book, I really don't know. I think there is a major thing which is introduced and resolved wholly within this book, but with how trippy these books are it's totally possible that I'll re-read Gideon and realize it was actually begun there. This definitely leaves some major things to be addressed in the third book, which is good. The POV character did change, and the voice is very distinct from the previous narrator, oh yes. Lastly, this is a bizarre case where the first 60% of the book might actually be less confusing if the reader had not read the first book. I don't recommend picking up this one as your starting point, since the conclusion will make absolutely no sense without having read Harrow, but since this is a trilogy and not a long-running series this criterion isn't super important. TLDR: This book defies my usual book two checks and that feels appropriate. It's a great continuation while also having plenty to hold its own, and the narrator feels distinct from the first book's narrator. This makes me need the sequel as soon as I can get it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, and Vomit
Minor: Child death and Genocide
CW for vomit, self harm, mental illness, reference to child death, genocide (not depicted), necrophilia, violence, body horror, fratricide, major character death.starbirdbones's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood
idksamiguess's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Child death, Vomit, and Cannibalism
emmiemk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Child death
bzedan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A worry with series that change POV over different books is that you won’t always get as vivid a feeling of who a character is as the character changes but that wasn’t an issue at all here. Harrow, weird, grumpy Harrow, shines darkly through as she navigates her life as a lyctor - which of course grows more complicated than imaginable, of course partly through Harrow’s own machinations. I’m deeply fond of depictions of immortals that highlight what living millennia can do to the mind an relationships and hoo boy, this has got it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood