Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

61 reviews

bookspaperink's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

kaylamoran's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This book was so enormously disappointing to me.  I adored Gideon the Ninth, and this felt like an entirely different series.  I couldn't handle the pacing, I was so bored.  I hated the second person, even though in the end it all made sense.  And Harrow is just so much more boring than Gideon.  None of what made the first book special to me was present in book two.

And honestly, I just spent the entire book confused.  I still frankly have no idea what happened in this book and I couldn't summarize it if I tried.

I'll still continue the series.  I loved book one enough for that.  But this is without a doubt my biggest disappointment so far of 2021.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content and War

daydreamermoonwalker's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

Original review: 4/5 stars

The first half of the book was really confusing and kinda boring, but I kept reading because I love the characters and wanted to see what happened to them. I'm glad I did, because the second half of the book was excellent. It was fast paced and all the mysteries from the first half got answered. Another thing to note is that a good chunk of the book is written in 2nd person pov, which was an interesting experience. And it's very different in tone compared to Gideon the Ninth, which isn't a bad thing, just a bit jarring.

Updated review: 5/5 stars 

This books is *so* much better the 2nd time reading it. All the confusing aspects from the first read make more sense, but it's complex enough that you're still trying to figure out all the details and foreshadowing. The 2nd person POV is weird to get used to at first but god is it genius. This is one of those books that's so complex, interesting, and just plain funny that I'll be rereading it for years to come. Oh and I absolutely love Muir's writing style. Again it's kinda weird at first, but once I got into it it was fantastic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and War

valpuri's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, and Alcohol

jmcordero's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Child death, Genocide, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Pregnancy

ashyouwish's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide

lkj2018's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

rowanbg's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

I spoiled myself for this book and still had no idea what was going on half the time.
Okay but on a more serious note: this book is stylistically experimental, and the fact that it pulls it off most of the time is something that I do have to give it credit for. It would probably pull it off better if every other description wasn't a metaphor and if Muir had put down the thesaurus for half a second, but here we are. 
I will say that I'm an outlier in that the things that other people love are the things that I really don't. I think the memes will make the book age like milk-- dad jokes are eternal, but people in 10 years might not know about miette, or none pizza with left beef. I'm also not a fan of the Gideon/Harrow relationship. Spoilers for Gideon the Ninth-

I just don't believe that someone who has been abused and imprisoned her entire life would fall in faithful, self-sacrificial love with her jailer after seeing her improve after only a month

. And trust me, as a lesbian I am not quick to put down lesbians. There were a number of smaller things that I would like to see someone with more expertise than me talk about, mainly the portrayal of disability and race, because both of those felt weird. In the end, I'll probably read the final book in the trilogy to see how it resolves, but I'm not waiting for it with baited breath. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, and Alcohol

emmaward55's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 I don't know how to review this book without just listing all the swear words I know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide, Gun violence, Grief, and Pregnancy

Also brief allusions to necrophilia and a more detailed description of a lobotomy.