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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love this series! Harrow was a bit hard to follow along with at first coming from Gideon(without spoilers some things were different + 2nd person pov but I almost didn’t even notice the nonchronological order of the “now” arc), but as you figure out what’s going on/it’s explained in the book I got hooked again and kept wanting to read more. I wish there was more on just these characters but I don’t know if Nona/Alecto/any future books circle back to Harrow (especially after the ending) or just follow along their own stories within the plot line of the series? I’ll have to read Nona to find out! Also the only book that can say “none house left grief” and it fit the sentence & we recognize the none pizza left beef reference
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War
Minor: Child death, Cannibalism
Because this is a fantasy/scifi a lot of these triggers are based in that world so the way Harrow’s mental illness was described is going to be different from more realistic depictions, a lot of the death/mentions of bones, bodies, spirits etc had to do with their necromancy, some characters are immortal and heal their wounds, toxic friendships are more relevant to their circumstances than more realistic depictions, etc
Spoiler context on the gaslighting and mental illness:
Harrow uses her magic to mess with her own brain, therefore gaslighting herself + making the world and characters around her continue the facade
Some triggers were constant throughout the book and others were almost if not nonexistent until the last part of the book.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
harrow the ninth is a visceral, mysterious examination of grief and what it can drive us to do.
if gideon the ninth was a good book, harrow is a great book. i thought that i would be thrown off by the use of second person for an entire novel but not only did it lend itself perfectly well for communicating harrowhark’s state of mind and the mysterious, confused situation the reader (and harrow herself) drops into, it makes the climax of this book a visceral reveal and experience.
tamsyn muir proves once again that she has generational talent when it comes to creating a story and puppeting a reader through exactly what she wants, leaving the twist both firmly grounded in the universe and established with hints that seem like throw away lines on first read.
harrow the ninth proves itself to be a fantastic exploration of what grief can do to a person while setting the scene for a strong upheaval.
if gideon the ninth was a good book, harrow is a great book. i thought that i would be thrown off by the use of second person for an entire novel but not only did it lend itself perfectly well for communicating harrowhark’s state of mind and the mysterious, confused situation the reader (and harrow herself) drops into, it makes the climax of this book a visceral reveal and experience.
tamsyn muir proves once again that she has generational talent when it comes to creating a story and puppeting a reader through exactly what she wants, leaving the twist both firmly grounded in the universe and established with hints that seem like throw away lines on first read.
harrow the ninth proves itself to be a fantastic exploration of what grief can do to a person while setting the scene for a strong upheaval.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Vomit, Murder
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
(alfred coleman as eggman voice) what the actual SHIT??? WHAT?????????
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Vomit, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Let go of the need to understand what the heck is happening. The first 1/2 of this book is very confusing, but not in a bad way. You kind of just need to let yourself get pulled along, and eventually you do get satisfying answers (as well as more questions, of course). I liked HtN enough to re-read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Alcohol
Minor: Chronic illness, Mental illness
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
The second installation of the series is drastically different from the first, but just as brilliant. It's written in second person perspective and the chronology is confusing, but it's very much worth sticking with it. I think Harrow the Ninth ends up being most readers' favourite of Muir's books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death
Moderate: Violence, Murder
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I... I don't even know what to say!! This book was so fucking confusing!!
The timeline was hard to follow, I never knew when, where, with whom, or even who I was! So many people are (re-)introduced, there's so much going on, and a multitude of plot twists, POV changes, and other madness that my brain cannot compute.
This book made my head hurt...
The timeline was hard to follow, I never knew when, where, with whom, or even who I was! So many people are (re-)introduced, there's so much going on, and a multitude of plot twists, POV changes, and other madness that my brain cannot compute.
This book made my head hurt...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, War
The first book was fun because of Gideons inner monologues but never made any sense about what was going on until maybe the last 50 pages. It barely worked for Gideon the ninth. This book starts in third perspective and as the first book it makes zero sense. This book is tedious beyond beleif and uses long winded descriptions of bones and flesh to sound overly smart and informed and leaving the read feeling stupid for not understanding whats going on.
Its a slog and I feel people only love it because the author dedclared it sapphic. People pretend this book is gospel while simultanusously saying: no one gets what is happening and why and hoping the next book clears it up.
Its a slog and I feel people only love it because the author dedclared it sapphic. People pretend this book is gospel while simultanusously saying: no one gets what is happening and why and hoping the next book clears it up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was so much more dense than Gideon the Ninth and because I was befuddled at what the heck was going on for about three quarters of the book, I didn't vibe with it as much. This is obviously no fault of the book's; in fact, this is something I greatly admire in Tamsyn Muir's storytelling: the book doesn't treat us readers like we're dumb, doesn't offer explanations for everything every chapter, and frankly refuses to give the full picture for literally anything. It respects that we have some brain matter to come to our own conclusions with the hints we've been given without spelling everything out for us. And I think that's such a breath or fresh air.
This book is the very definition of unreliable narrator, and though I worked that out pretty quickly, it frustrated me a bit more because I couldn't figure out why. But I think the payoff is sufficient in the end and I am more than willing to forgive the lengthy word count because of it.
This book is the very definition of unreliable narrator, and though I worked that out pretty quickly, it frustrated me a bit more because I couldn't figure out why. But I think the payoff is sufficient in the end and I am more than willing to forgive the lengthy word count because of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Cannibalism, Pregnancy
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Interesting story, beautifully written, but damn if I didn't understand what was going on half the time...do not wait too long after reading the prequel to read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore