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marleysrambles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
yogomagpie's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
5.0
I described this as a series of “that escalated quickly,” nonstop until the end. It’s a total blood bath. I have a lot of questions and I wish I could look up each character online. But I can’t, because I fear I might stumble upon a spoiler from the next books in the series. So the only thing to do is barrel ahead with Harrow the Ninth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Body horror, Gore, Child death, and Blood
nefariousbee's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
read it for the third time, it just doesn't get old. each time I find something new, something I missed, something I can appreciate more with knowing more from other books or fan theories. it's hard to get into it once you do... I haven't read a more impactful book series. there is just so much depth to everything. we could study this thing for entire semesters and never run out of stuff to talk about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Vomit, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Cancer, Cursing, Murder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Infertility, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Emotional abuse
bebidocrimes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
First of all, how DARE you give me a hot buff sword-fighting lesbian, let me get so so attached, and then have her reflect my deepest insecurities back to me. It felt a little slow until Gideon was finally being let in on a little of anything instead of wandering the halls. After that, it felt like a boulder rolling down a hill just picking up speed and stakes until it punched me right in the ribcage. The tension in early action scenes was cut by Gideon being a smartass, but as it progressed it felt very intense and it just kept growing. Every character was so intriguing, even those with a little less development (Second, mainly) but everyone was incredibly charming. I am hungry for more but I think I need a minute to lie on the floor and stare at a wall for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Cancer, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Terminal illness, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
athenian_frog's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
“Harrow was sprawled on a sofa spread with tattered brocade, robes abandoned, scrawny black clad legs crossed at the ankles. In Gideon’s mind she looked like an evil stick”(56).
The experience was DEFINITELY made better by putting on the YouTube audiobook as I read (at around 1.75-2x speed). Moira Quirk gave everyone pretty distinct voices, and writing is casual enough to lend itself better to someone reading it/enunciating conversations.
If you have the means I recommend annotating and/or maintaining post-it’s with your predictions. I found it pretty fun, since the lore and the plot itself were ensconced in mystery ★彡
POSITIVES:
+ Main characters have distinct personalities and voices. Supports and side characters feel interesting in their own respects
+ character exchanges are pretty fun to read. Gideon and her necromancer did a good job of this overall, especially.
—-> it’s made extra impactful because you get a taste of their intense relationship dynamic in a strong way by ch 3.
+ Gideon herself comes off very strongly off the page. Doesn’t feel like she’s just being shuffled by the plot without a say which can be an issue sometimes
+ the entire cast, in some way contributed to the plot and they felt very much present through the story.
+ really cool applications of necromancy, necromantic magic, spirit manipulation etc.
+ thoughtful construction of a necromantic religion, varied forms of cavalry-necromancer relationship
+ you need more interesting women characters in your life? Here take several
+ lesbians being cool! I mean there’s no mystery to Gideon being wlw but don’t expect people to start pairing up in this book at least.
+ it seems like this necromantic society is queernormative, even the house the other necromantic houses deem “most religious” which is always nice to see
+ mysterious elements of the plot done pretty well. Highlights the world/relationships between necromancer houses. You have a lot of fun theorizing.
NEGATIVES:
- the lore is interesting but you have to do some mental floundering at the beginning. I felt like I was tossed into the metaphorical ocean for the first chapter or two.
- (minor) Yes, Gideon and her cavalier have really solid relationship development but it did feel a tad bit rushed towards the end. I think it’s still pretty good overall though.
-some repetitive writing towards the beginning. If you’re familiar with the sentence subject repetition you find often in fanfiction:
“One day, (statement A). One day, (statement B). One day, (statement C)”
“Act accordingly meant (A). Act accordingly meant (B). Act accordingly meant (C)”
Once, this kind of repetition happened like twice on the same page. Personally, this got pretty annoying. Thankfully it only happens around 4 times within the first 60pgs, and very, very sparingly throughout the rest of the book (around 7 times total for the whole book).
- some characters die, and while they have distinctive personalities and issues going on I felt like they died too quick to really get that punch in the gut. A bit of missed potential there.
—-> some of this is improved by book 2 but I think book 1 still could’ve done better here, for the standalone reading experience.
- some really corny humor that might work or might not. It usually landed for me but sometimes it didn’t.
-the epilogue felt a little weak, especially when the climax was actually pretty good
Overall a fun read. It made me continue the rest of the series which I am enjoying so far!
———————————————————
“When [Harrowhark] spoke again, she made her voice quite calm and normal: ‘Why?’
‘Probably because you asked.’
The heavy eyelids shuttered open, revealing baleful black irises. ‘That’s all it takes, Griddle? That’s all you demand? This is the complex mystery that lies in the pit of your psyche?’
Gideon slid her glasses back onto her face, obscuring feelings with tint. She found herself saying, ‘That’s all I ever demanded,’ and to maintain face suffixed it with, ‘asswipe.’(224)”
The experience was DEFINITELY made better by putting on the YouTube audiobook as I read (at around 1.75-2x speed). Moira Quirk gave everyone pretty distinct voices, and writing is casual enough to lend itself better to someone reading it/enunciating conversations.
If you have the means I recommend annotating and/or maintaining post-it’s with your predictions. I found it pretty fun, since the lore and the plot itself were ensconced in mystery ★彡
POSITIVES:
+ Main characters have distinct personalities and voices. Supports and side characters feel interesting in their own respects
+ character exchanges are pretty fun to read. Gideon and her necromancer did a good job of this overall, especially.
—-> it’s made extra impactful because you get a taste of their intense relationship dynamic in a strong way by ch 3.
+ Gideon herself comes off very strongly off the page. Doesn’t feel like she’s just being shuffled by the plot without a say which can be an issue sometimes
+ the entire cast, in some way contributed to the plot and they felt very much present through the story.
+ really cool applications of necromancy, necromantic magic, spirit manipulation etc.
+ thoughtful construction of a necromantic religion, varied forms of cavalry-necromancer relationship
+ you need more interesting women characters in your life? Here take several
+ lesbians being cool! I mean there’s no mystery to Gideon being wlw but don’t expect people to start pairing up in this book at least.
+ it seems like this necromantic society is queernormative, even the house the other necromantic houses deem “most religious” which is always nice to see
+ mysterious elements of the plot done pretty well. Highlights the world/relationships between necromancer houses. You have a lot of fun theorizing.
NEGATIVES:
- the lore is interesting but you have to do some mental floundering at the beginning. I felt like I was tossed into the metaphorical ocean for the first chapter or two.
- (minor) Yes, Gideon and her cavalier have really solid relationship development but it did feel a tad bit rushed towards the end. I think it’s still pretty good overall though.
-some repetitive writing towards the beginning. If you’re familiar with the sentence subject repetition you find often in fanfiction:
“One day, (statement A). One day, (statement B). One day, (statement C)”
“Act accordingly meant (A). Act accordingly meant (B). Act accordingly meant (C)”
Once, this kind of repetition happened like twice on the same page. Personally, this got pretty annoying. Thankfully it only happens around 4 times within the first 60pgs, and very, very sparingly throughout the rest of the book (around 7 times total for the whole book).
- some characters die, and while they have distinctive personalities and issues going on I felt like they died too quick to really get that punch in the gut. A bit of missed potential there.
—-> some of this is improved by book 2 but I think book 1 still could’ve done better here, for the standalone reading experience.
- some really corny humor that might work or might not. It usually landed for me but sometimes it didn’t.
-the epilogue felt a little weak, especially when the climax was actually pretty good
Overall a fun read. It made me continue the rest of the series which I am enjoying so far!
———————————————————
“When [Harrowhark] spoke again, she made her voice quite calm and normal: ‘Why?’
‘Probably because you asked.’
The heavy eyelids shuttered open, revealing baleful black irises. ‘That’s all it takes, Griddle? That’s all you demand? This is the complex mystery that lies in the pit of your psyche?’
Gideon slid her glasses back onto her face, obscuring feelings with tint. She found herself saying, ‘That’s all I ever demanded,’ and to maintain face suffixed it with, ‘asswipe.’(224)”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Chronic illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Terminal illness, Death, Violence, and Suicide
(Straightforward statement, little to Jo description) Several children die by poisoning en masse before the story takes place. Detailed descriptions of wounds, flesh and bone crafting (in part due to necromancy focus) (Descriptive) More than one child character is killed. (Semi-Described) A character kills themself by throwing themself upon an iron spike. It is pretty brief. Two parents and another character kill themselves by hanging, and pre-arrange for their child to do the same. The child does not. (Described) A reoccurring character suffers from a terminal illness that is associated with their necromantic house. They often cough up blood or appear very sickly.nie_fertig's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I've heard a LOT of good things about the Locked Tomb series and I can see why it's so popular! I mean who doesn't love lesbian necromancers with swords, plus a pinch of a good murder mystery?! :D
However, as amazing as these concepts are, I just couldn't get super invested into the worldbuilding and characters?? I think it's because I was always exhausted when I read it (thank you two part-time jobs,,,), but it was just too much for me and I lost track of a LOT of the many incredible characters
I think I'll try to read the next book after I quit one of my jobs, cause then I'll have more time to invest in the worldbuilding and characters, but for now, I'm going to hold off
I will admit though, the ending FLOORED me even though I was lost most of the time, so it's absolutely worth the read whenever you get the chance!!
However, as amazing as these concepts are, I just couldn't get super invested into the worldbuilding and characters?? I think it's because I was always exhausted when I read it (thank you two part-time jobs,,,), but it was just too much for me and I lost track of a LOT of the many incredible characters
I think I'll try to read the next book after I quit one of my jobs, cause then I'll have more time to invest in the worldbuilding and characters, but for now, I'm going to hold off
I will admit though, the ending FLOORED me even though I was lost most of the time, so it's absolutely worth the read whenever you get the chance!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder
wogslandwriter's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Confinement, Bullying, Chronic illness, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Cancer, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Sexual content
unboxedjack's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood
Minor: Terminal illness and Cancer
lizziaha's review against another edition
dark
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Y’all I did NOT see that end coming. But I had a good time on the journey. The relationship dynamic between Gideon and Harrow is just gorgeous and hilarious, and I loved Gideon as a narrator. The vibes were immaculate, right down to the skeleton housekeepers and Gideon’s faked aesthetic, and I’m scared that the sequels won’t measure up to this one.
Reread: The details only make this book MORE devastating. The foreshadowing that went completely over my head on my first read now cut DEEP. Also, i had my suspicions upon my first read with all the “one flesh, one end” talk, but Muir does in fact quote the book of Ruth in this book and it was so detrimental to my mental health that I think I’m going to have to take legal action. Also having read all 3 released books, I can still say that GtN is my fave, but the sequels do measure up (though not in the way I expected them to).
Reread: The details only make this book MORE devastating. The foreshadowing that went completely over my head on my first read now cut DEEP. Also, i had my suspicions upon my first read with all the “one flesh, one end” talk, but Muir does in fact quote the book of Ruth in this book and it was so detrimental to my mental health that I think I’m going to have to take legal action. Also having read all 3 released books, I can still say that GtN is my fave, but the sequels do measure up (though not in the way I expected them to).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Death, Body horror, and Cursing
Moderate: Child death, Violence, Cancer, and Suicide
Minor: Grief
tobibi's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
This really reinvigorated my reading mood. It took a bit to build up, but the world building is presented very well (little to no infodumps) and the characters are introduced slowly, so you get a general feel for them throughout the book. The horror elements are good, though a bit less striking than I thought they would be, but that's likely due to our POV (Gideon). I enjoyed seeing the back and forth in Griddlehawk's relationship progression, and the ending was heartbreakingly good. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.
favorite lines
"... Where I'm going, I promise to piss fidelity all the livelong day. I have lots of fealty in me. I fealt the Emperor with every bone in my body. I fealt *hard*." (p. 43)
"With the proper motivation, Griddle could wield two swords in each hand and one in her mouth. While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade." (p. 53)
"Harrow said, "No."
"I want to go," said Gideon.
"This sounds impossibly vapid."
"I want to eat a dessert."" (p. 167)
Harrow's voice, almost a whisper: "A light, Nav."
"What?"
"You *did* bring a torch."
"This is a service I was unaware I was meant to provide," said Gideon. (p. 204)
... "Thoughts?"
Gideon said, "Did you know that if you put the first three letters of your last name with the first three letters of your first name, you get 'Sex Pal'?" (p. 274)
"Ask me how I am and I'll scream," she said.
"How are you," said Camilla, who was a pill.
"I see you calling my bluff and I resent it," said Gideon... (p. 305)
Once Gideon would have loved to hear Corona talk to her with that low, breathy intensity, maybe saying "Your biceps... they're eleven out of ten," but right now she did not want anyone to talk to her at all. (p. 327)
"... Look, Nav. You ratted out your childhood nemesis to get her in trouble. You didn't kill her parents, and she shouldn't hate you like you did, and *you* shouldn't hate you like you did."
He was peering at her through his spectacles. "Hey," she objected lamely, "I never said I hated myself."
"Evidence," he said, "outweighs testimony." (p. 336)
... "I'm an abomination. The whole universe ought to scream whenever my feet touch the ground. My parents committed a necromantic sin that we ought to have been torpedoed into hte centre of Dominicus for. If any of the other Houses knew of what we'd done they would destroy us from orbit without a second's thought. i am a *war crime*." (p. 353)
"... I made myself watch, when my parents -- I could not do the slightest thing my House expected of me. Not even then. You're not the only one who couldn't die." (p. 355)
... "You apologize to me now? You say that you're sorry when I have spent my life destroying you? You are my whipping girl! I hurt you because it was a relief! I exist because my parents killed everyone and relegated you to a life of abject misery, and they would have killed you too and not given a second's goddamned thought! I have spent your life trying to make you regret that you weren't dead, all because -- I regretted I wasn't! I ate you alive, and you have the temerity to tell me that *you're sorry*?" (p. 356)
"Hm," said Camilla neutrally, and Gideon knew immediately that she organized Palamedes's and her socks by color and genre. (p. 365)
... She didn't need a very long look to tell that Dyas was dead. For one thing, her skeleton and her body had apparently tried to divorce. (p. 372)
"She took Babs," she said, which seemed fair enough.
But then Corona started crying again, big tears leaking out of her eyes, her voice thick with misery and self-pity. "And who even cares about Babs? Babs! She could have taken *me*." (p. 394)
Harrow said, with some difficulty. "I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it."
"Yes, you can, it's just less great and less hot," said Gideon." (p. 437)
favorite lines
"I want to go," said Gideon.
"This sounds impossibly vapid."
"I want to eat a dessert."" (p. 167)
"What?"
"You *did* bring a torch."
"This is a service I was unaware I was meant to provide," said Gideon. (p. 204)
Gideon said, "Did you know that if you put the first three letters of your last name with the first three letters of your first name, you get 'Sex Pal'?" (p. 274)
"How are you," said Camilla, who was a pill.
"I see you calling my bluff and I resent it," said Gideon... (p. 305)
He was peering at her through his spectacles. "Hey," she objected lamely, "I never said I hated myself."
"Evidence," he said, "outweighs testimony." (p. 336)
But then Corona started crying again, big tears leaking out of her eyes, her voice thick with misery and self-pity. "And who even cares about Babs? Babs! She could have taken *me*." (p. 394)
"Yes, you can, it's just less great and less hot," said Gideon." (p. 437)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Murder, Classism, Death, Torture, Cursing, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Slavery, and Abandonment