Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you're looking for a book that's as awesome as it is confusing, Harrow is a great option, but you absolutely must read Gideon the Ninth first. I fell completely in love with Muir's world in this book. I'd thoughted I'd loved it before but that was a mere crush. A universe of goth and often gory magic that spends this book expanding on all of the above is exactly my cup of tea (though Harrow herself would pick a different comparison, being a fan of neither tea nor words under four syllables), all while I grew to care more and more about each of the characters involved.
Also, as a queer woman, there is something so deeply comfortable and affirming about reading a story like this, full of queer characters, relationships, and tragedy, but without queerness being the source of any tension or tragedy. Queerness is simply a fact of life in a way that feels like home, though I personally have never lived as part of a space faring necromantic society, and my swordplay has been limited to a single college fencing credit.
A word of caution to the squeamish reader: gore and the aesthetics of gore feature strongly in this series, though this is a case where the book's cover should have warned you about that clearly enough. Despite the goriness, I find Muir's setting to actually be quite beautiful in the grotesque, and scenes that might be something of nightmare felt vivid and terrific.
Having praised the highbrow content, I'd be remiss to not mention the low: spoilers for jokes you'll want to be caught off guard by as you read them in read time.How the hell did Muir pull off "choke me daddy," "none pizza with left beef," and "Hi, *double spoiler,* I'm Dad" in a serious book? I'm impressed.
Also, as a queer woman, there is something so deeply comfortable and affirming about reading a story like this, full of queer characters, relationships, and tragedy, but without queerness being the source of any tension or tragedy. Queerness is simply a fact of life in a way that feels like home, though I personally have never lived as part of a space faring necromantic society, and my swordplay has been limited to a single college fencing credit.
A word of caution to the squeamish reader: gore and the aesthetics of gore feature strongly in this series, though this is a case where the book's cover should have warned you about that clearly enough. Despite the goriness, I find Muir's setting to actually be quite beautiful in the grotesque, and scenes that might be something of nightmare felt vivid and terrific.
Having praised the highbrow content, I'd be remiss to not mention the low: spoilers for jokes you'll want to be caught off guard by as you read them in read time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Remember last book? No you don’t. Don’t even try to remember it or you’ll just be MORE confused. Prepare to not know what the fuck is happening until 3/4 of the way into the book. Also have you ever read 2nd person POV? It’s dreadful. It makes no sense until you’re 80% into the book. I wish there would have been at least pieces of things that made sense instead of just having us ride a roller coaster backwards upside down and in the dark until the very end of the book practically.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual content, Colonisation
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm honestly more confused ending it than I was starting it, but I kindof love it. Its a huge tone shift from Gideon The Ninth, which makes it feel like a completely different series, but I just love Harrow's character so.. I thought the play with second and third person was super f*ckin cool, which just made what happened later ALL the more fun. Muir does a great job of hiding the truth of literally everything from you until she deems you fit to know, which is a surefire way to keep me invested in the story. I desperately need answers and certain resolutions to come about so hopefully Book 3 doesn't disappoint.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a very special book. And by book I mean long, mind-bending, utterly beautiful poem - or love letter - or both.
I feel like I don’t have high enough praise to give this but I will try. This prose is otherworldly. It is a surreal and devastating painting of grief and it is a derisive remark and a dad joke all in one. There really is not a single word that goes to waste.
Harrow is an intriguing & exquisite character, warped by pain and unanswered questions, but still resolute and sincere. She’s sharply clever but also, endearingly, dumb-as-rocks and a little or a lot pathetic because of it. And she’s kind of impossible not to love. Like practically everyone Harrow meets, I too have a strong case of Nonagesimitis.
The character dynamics are unbelievably tantalizing, incomprehensible (complimentary) and endlessly entertaining - and much the same can be said for the plot.
I think I probably have a lot more to say. I have many questions too but I really wouldn’t have it any other way.
I feel like I don’t have high enough praise to give this but I will try. This prose is otherworldly. It is a surreal and devastating painting of grief and it is a derisive remark and a dad joke all in one. There really is not a single word that goes to waste.
Harrow is an intriguing & exquisite character, warped by pain and unanswered questions, but still resolute and sincere. She’s sharply clever but also, endearingly, dumb-as-rocks and a little or a lot pathetic because of it. And she’s kind of impossible not to love. Like practically everyone Harrow meets, I too have a strong case of Nonagesimitis.
The character dynamics are unbelievably tantalizing, incomprehensible (complimentary) and endlessly entertaining - and much the same can be said for the plot.
I think I probably have a lot more to say. I have many questions too but I really wouldn’t have it any other way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
so I think reading this sequel has summed up my feelings on how muir writes. she comes off as an amateur writer - whether that’s true or not, I have no idea, but that’s the root of all my critiques. I’m not a fan of the humor in this series, but even more so, all the characters (except for Harrow) have the same sense of humor, even when you would expect them not to, which sort of cheapens the dialogue and their individual characterization. the one (main) character that I feel does not share this quality is Harrowhark, who is written as the inverse of Gideon, so of course she won’t have the Gideon-like humor. I think Harrow is the best written character in the series and she is certainly my favorite which is why I think I enjoyed this book way more than the first. despite that, the fact that she is basically a Gideon foil feels a little lazy especially when you look at the dialogue. I love Harrow but I wish her traits and personality were independent of Gideon. I enjoyed Harrow’s perspective much more, but once it shifted back to Gideon’s (which I KNEW was going to happen… I hated the second person format but then realized very early on that Gideon was most likely not actually dead and she was speaking for Harrow) perspective, I felt mildly annoyed. I don’t dislike Gideon at all, but I’d simply rather not read things from her perspective, especially in first person. she’s fine as a side character! I just really do not like her sense of humor and again, it cheapens the story for me. especially when God - her father - said that very ridiculous, unnecessary dad joke upon meeting her. I legitimately rolled my eyes and sighed. I just can’t escape this sense of humor even when Harrow is leading the book! . she is a very interesting character and I do have a lot of love for her. the worldbuilding got SO much better in this book, but it’s not perfect. some things are still left unsaid or as loose threads (which I feel is not a part of the mystery and definitely attributed to what I imagine is inexperienced writing). I am still invested in the story despite my critiques (I just find the concept so fascinating - I desperately wish that the execution was better) so I’ll be continuing on with the series. I hope Harrow is in these next couple books because I do adore her and would certainly miss her if she was absent from the storyline.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Sexual content
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Genocide, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, War
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
A wild, confusing, horrifying, wonderful ride. You have to go into this knowing you will not know what the fuck is going on half the time, and even when you figure out what’s going on, there’s still so much we don’t know.
I love the tone, especially in the second half. The humor and references sprinkled in kill me. “…none House, with left grief.” made me LOL.
I love the tone, especially in the second half. The humor and references sprinkled in kill me. “…none House, with left grief.” made me LOL.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol