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troisha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Grief
caryndi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was so rooting for Tamsyn Muir to improve as a writer, and she has! Harrow felt tighter than Gideon and, despite its structure, I was able to follow it a lot better. Might be because we didn't have nine houses' worth of characters to deal with, but it's still not a straightforward story.
To me, writing a book in second-person is asking your readers to buy in right away, because if you fail it's gonna be awful. It did not fail, but all the same, I was glad we went back and forth between narrators so it wasn't all second person. Besides, Harrow was a delightful narrator. Despite the back-and-forth, the story also felt cohesive--no bumpy/abrupt emotional arcs like in Gideon. There were some unanswered questions I assume will be addressed in Book 3; it's clear Muir has taken the time to set up elements for the last book so I do hope all of them come together nicely.
I had fewer complaints about the writing in this book, though there were a couple of meme references that I found ill-fitting. I'm not sure if people who aren't Extremely Online (and especially on Twitter) will catch them, but that's the kind of thing that throws me out of the story--a reference to something that is very much now (or a few years ago) when we live in a non-necromantic society.
Overall it was hella fun, and if you were kinda iffy after the end of Gideon, I urge you to give Harrow a try.
Recommend If you've already read Gideon the Ninth, yes! If you haven't, read my review of that one first because I had a lot more issues with it than I did with Harrow.
To me, writing a book in second-person is asking your readers to buy in right away, because if you fail it's gonna be awful. It did not fail, but all the same, I was glad we went back and forth between narrators so it wasn't all second person. Besides, Harrow was a delightful narrator. Despite the back-and-forth, the story also felt cohesive--no bumpy/abrupt emotional arcs like in Gideon. There were some unanswered questions I assume will be addressed in Book 3; it's clear Muir has taken the time to set up elements for the last book so I do hope all of them come together nicely.
I had fewer complaints about the writing in this book, though there were a couple of meme references that I found ill-fitting. I'm not sure if people who aren't Extremely Online (and especially on Twitter) will catch them, but that's the kind of thing that throws me out of the story--a reference to something that is very much now (or a few years ago) when we live in a non-necromantic society.
Overall it was hella fun, and if you were kinda iffy after the end of Gideon, I urge you to give Harrow a try.
Recommend If you've already read Gideon the Ninth, yes! If you haven't, read my review of that one first because I had a lot more issues with it than I did with Harrow.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Gun violence and Suicide
ehmannky's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
Truly wild and I was totally lost about 80% of the time and this is maybe one of the best books I've read this year. This is just such a profoundly different kind of fantasy/science fiction book and I adore it.
So much of it is in a second-person narrative, and I barely even noticed it (until the twist comes in and I screamed--totally forgot about this twist on the second read through). I feel like it would have been so easy to just stick with the irreverent humor of Gideon and weirdness of the first book for the entirety of the sequel, but Muir takes so many risks that pay off dramatically and it's so great. The humor is still there, but it's just coupled with a lot of deep feelings. It's a maddening and spectacular book.
Even knowing the twist at the end just enhanced the book for me. I felt there was so much foreshadowing and hints about what is to come that I just did not recognize the first time I read through it (because the first time I read it I felt I was being gaslit and was just trying to stay afloat) and it's just a delight to read.
So much of it is in a second-person narrative, and I barely even noticed it (until the twist comes in and I screamed--totally forgot about this twist on the second read through). I feel like it would have been so easy to just stick with the irreverent humor of Gideon and weirdness of the first book for the entirety of the sequel, but Muir takes so many risks that pay off dramatically and it's so great. The humor is still there, but it's just coupled with a lot of deep feelings. It's a maddening and spectacular book.
Even knowing the twist at the end just enhanced the book for me. I felt there was so much foreshadowing and hints about what is to come that I just did not recognize the first time I read through it (because the first time I read it I felt I was being gaslit and was just trying to stay afloat) and it's just a delight to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Death of parent, and War
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