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saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Harrow the Ninth is even weirder than its predecessor. Written in second person from Harrow's perspective, the book spends its time having Harrow be absolutely unhinged and difficult to predict (in a good way) and gaslighting you about book one. It continues to mix horror, comedy, space opera, fantasy, and other genres into a unique blend, though this book is a bit less comedic than the first and a little more mysterious.
What makes this series work as well as it does is its use of POV voice. Gideon and Harrow both have such distinct voices that work for their perspective stories. Gideon is much more sarcastic and straight to the point while not straight herself. Gideon will fight you on a moment's notice and make your mom jokes the entire time. Harrow is more calculating, but also unpredictable. She often surprises the reader despite the fact we're in her head, despite the fact that due to the second person narration, we are her. She's dealing with a host of mental health issues such as trauma and psychosis which heavily effects her POV, her mental health isn't great to say the least. Thankfully her mental health issues aren't used in a stigmatized way and aren't used to play into tropes such as the mad woman or whatever the fuck was Joker (2019). Harrow is more so a well rounded character.
I do have some critiques. First off, there are some blind spots in the world building. Two books in and I still don't I quite understand what this world is like, especially just to live in it. We spend so much time with the necromancers and cavaliers and God, I wish we got more time with the normal people who live in this world and how they deal with all this. I also still find the magic system confusing, though it is a bit easier to understand in this book since the POV character is a necromancer. I get the basic principles and powers of it but don't quite understand its limits.
I honestly regret not getting to this book sooner, it's even better than the first one and had me hooked and gasping as I tried to piece together what was happening. The Locked Tomb series is perfect for anyone looking for something a little weird, especially if your branch of weird and branch of humor are the Tumblr variety. There's something very Tumblr-esque about this series. It's difficult to explain but Tamsyn Muir spent many years on the hellsite and it shows.
TWs: psychosis, trauma, mentions of genocide, death of animals, grief, lots of gore especially related around corpses
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent
whiterabbitslibrary's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
queenie_ofthe_void'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
emilyplun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual content
angstifies'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
i saw someone descrive this book as “an acid trip written in second person” and i can’t help but agree, loved it.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Cannibalism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
marinamelanidis'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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
theatrealpaca'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
judetime'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
Also: it hurt so bad. Tamsyn Muir is ruining my life. This is my favorite book series.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and War
mads_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and War
tieflingkisser's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent