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lunarlibra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, War, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Eating disorder, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Murder, Racism, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Child death
whichwayis_weston7's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
ladythana's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Gore, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Gaslighting, Dementia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Gun violence, Self harm, Abandonment, Bullying, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Medical trauma
Minor: Body shaming and Colonisation
loungeroomlizard's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
On the positive side, I about lost my mind at "None House with left grief," and the memes only accelerated after that. I'm sure I missed a bunch of them, but I loved every one I spotted. It helped to ground the series in a particular time
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
shottel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Outside of the deep themes of regret, loss, absence, grief, and psychosis, there is much to say positively. Harrow manages to pull off pop culture references and memes humorously, without making me want to throw the book across the room. (Minimally spoiling example: A subtle joke invoking none pizza left beef.) This, combined with a tamer but still present version of the sense of humor that made Gideon distinctive makes for an enjoyable time. It doesn’t lag so hard in the first half like Gideon does (although I do feel it could’ve likely been shortened a good 50-100 pages). The ending was exciting, the payoff for working through over 400 pages of confusion (albeit a well-written 400 pages) deeply worth it. My only gripe is that, without spoiling anything, the last 5 or so pages are a bit confusing and sad in a way I don’t think fits, but this doesn’t harm it enough for me to say the ending was anything but excellent.
Overall, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who has read Gideon the Ninth and would be interested in a good mystery or an evocative portrait of disturbed mental faculties.
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Self harm
Minor: Pregnancy, Dementia, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
boywonder's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
This book helped me understand Harrow a lot better (though I don't like her all that much, but liking a character has nothing to do with whether they are well-written or a good character). I think the pacing is kind of slow at the start, which is in keeping with the last book.
I don't really like or appreciate the tumblr meme additions like "none x with left y" and things like that. Because I know a bunch of spoilers that come after this, I sort of understand why they might fit, but it doesn't work for me. I also think after the reveal of who the second-person narrator is, the tone changes to be more what you expect from that character and it was almost jarring.
For me, seeing that this author CAN write less snappy on purpose than the last book, I was almost disappointed. The first book really stood out to me as internet writing and this one didn't (for the most part) until the last quarter. Still, overall I like this book better, though I like Gideon as a character more than Harrow.
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Child death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: War and Vomit
ellenwm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
But Woaw is it worth it!!! This is not an easy or quick read, though. Two things kept me going: reviews that (correctly) said the final quarter brings it all together in a satisfying way and my absolute adoration for Gideon the Ninth. The majority of the novel alternates between two plot lines, with one written in second person to distinguish it. That choice irked me at first, but the function and the reason were eventually borne out. There’s a glaring difference from Gideon the Ninth for most of the book that will also disappoint many readers (but that you can’t really say without spoiling GtN), but it’ll make sense eventually.
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Genocide, Child death, Cursing, and Murder
Minor: Cursing
sdskuld's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Violence, Murder, Blood, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
DO NOT START WITH THIS BOOK. Start with Gideon the Ninthskudiklier's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
mild spoilers
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Cursing, Alcohol, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death and Sexual content
ee_comins's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Suicide