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froyobaggns's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Slavery, Vomit, and War
city_girl_writer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
The writing and world felt dense at the beginning, but I learned to get used to and stuck it out. It was worth it in the end for me. Not sure if this is something I can recommend to anyone. Word of advice? Give it at least 100 pages before you dnf it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Cursing
shelvesofivy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Genocide and War
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
I was suggested this read by my co-parent. When I started reading I was almost overwhelmed by the world building. I think it would have been easier to take in as a novel than an audiobook because it started with a list of dramatis personae (characters) and as I did not know anything about the world it was a lot to take in. As someone who was a gothic teen I fully got behind the aesthetic of robes and dinge, and wearing sunglasses inside. The setting feels low tech but then you remember that there are spaceships, and you are just hanging out in ruins of centuries past.
This is a story about a group of necromancers, each paired with a fighter, who are attempting to unlock the secrets of a complex that will allow them to ascend to semi-godhood. They are needed as the tools of a mighty god necrolord who is .. running out of minions (which could cause the end of the empire?). The plot flow runs like a party based RPG and the challenges feel a bit like a videogame. I was reminded of Portal more than once.
This book is a confluence of nerdinesses. The language was appealing to me because the author is a New Zealander (like me). Many of the quirky idioms are from my local Kiwi dialect and from internet memespeek, which meant that I was right at home with the queer parlance. There was even a "yeah nah" in there which made me chuckle, and, until now, I have never once heard of someone referred to in a novel as "a bit of a d*ck". As someone who is interested in anatomy, I found myself familiar with medical terminology that was liberally peppered through the book, and as someone who reads psychology books, I was also familiar with random gushes of pop-psychology neuroscience. This might make the book a little impenetrable or, just exotic? to some readers.
As far as the action in the story is concerned, combat flows like an action anime. There are rapier duels and magic duels and combos of the two. There are weird undead things and so much rot, bone, teeth, goo, viscera, flesh, blood, body parts.. unidentifiable liquids. Things jab and pierce and stick and gloop and spray. I was reminded of Akira, Elfen Lied, and Attack on Titan (and many other newer and less well known titles). The plot turns on a dime and the antagonists launch into expository monologues that reveal that you were completely in the dark in so many ways, but I don't hate it.
Also as in anime there are some .. kind of problematic moments that are pure "fanservice". The main character is continually eyeing-up and sexualising other characters, which comes across as funny, and also very gay, but also a bit eyerollingly cringe.
Wrap this all together with some deep lore, trauma-informed tragic backstory, a few (deliberately) disastrously toxic relationships, and some feels, and you get a recipe for a book that launches a fandom. Yeah, I'll read the others, even if parts of it are a hot mess and I don't actually enjoy all the fight-scenes and battles. The characters are fun and there is enough deliberately left unrevealed that I am intrigued to find out what comes next.
This is a story about a group of necromancers, each paired with a fighter, who are attempting to unlock the secrets of a complex that will allow them to ascend to semi-godhood. They are needed as the tools of a mighty god necrolord who is .. running out of minions (which could cause the end of the empire?). The plot flow runs like a party based RPG and the challenges feel a bit like a videogame. I was reminded of Portal more than once.
This book is a confluence of nerdinesses. The language was appealing to me because the author is a New Zealander (like me). Many of the quirky idioms are from my local Kiwi dialect and from internet memespeek, which meant that I was right at home with the queer parlance. There was even a "yeah nah" in there which made me chuckle, and, until now, I have never once heard of someone referred to in a novel as "a bit of a d*ck". As someone who is interested in anatomy, I found myself familiar with medical terminology that was liberally peppered through the book, and as someone who reads psychology books, I was also familiar with random gushes of pop-psychology neuroscience. This might make the book a little impenetrable or, just exotic? to some readers.
As far as the action in the story is concerned, combat flows like an action anime. There are rapier duels and magic duels and combos of the two. There are weird undead things and so much rot, bone, teeth, goo, viscera, flesh, blood, body parts.. unidentifiable liquids. Things jab and pierce and stick and gloop and spray. I was reminded of Akira, Elfen Lied, and Attack on Titan (and many other newer and less well known titles). The plot turns on a dime and the antagonists launch into expository monologues that reveal that you were completely in the dark in so many ways, but I don't hate it.
Also as in anime there are some .. kind of problematic moments that are pure "fanservice". The main character is continually eyeing-up and sexualising other characters, which comes across as funny, and also very gay, but also a bit eyerollingly cringe.
Wrap this all together with some deep lore, trauma-informed tragic backstory, a few (deliberately) disastrously toxic relationships, and some feels, and you get a recipe for a book that launches a fandom. Yeah, I'll read the others, even if parts of it are a hot mess and I don't actually enjoy all the fight-scenes and battles. The characters are fun and there is enough deliberately left unrevealed that I am intrigued to find out what comes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Cannibalism
elizmoe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.75
regarding the ending: from the bottom of my heart, tamsyn muir — you can get bent (affectionate) (mostly. i’m mad but i get it but also i want them to be in love but also i guess that’s what fan fiction is for. you’re on thin ice tho))
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actual review:
half the time i had no idea what was going on, but i didn’t care because i was having an incredible time. i wish more books were this unapologetically ambitious with genre, plot, and world building. i’m absolutely feral to start harrow the ninth!!
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actual review:
half the time i had no idea what was going on, but i didn’t care because i was having an incredible time. i wish more books were this unapologetically ambitious with genre, plot, and world building. i’m absolutely feral to start harrow the ninth!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment and War
ztynzo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
no_u14's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
alouette's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
feels like half the worldbuilding didn't actually make it onto the page, leaving me confused for most of the plot related aspects. the battle scenes were cool and well written, though, and the idea of the trials was fascinating (very danganronpa-esque!).
meanwhile, the character related aspects: while there was a really cool overall cast, the direction the author took with gideon's character and her relationship with harrow made me incredibly uncomfortable. a lot of gideon's POV is just her watching other people accomplish things or discuss things or be proactive, and the things that she accomplishes are often done at the behest of others. she was witty and brave, but felt like more of a commentator than a character.
and then the ending... for gideon to sacrifice her life for a girl in a position of power over her who legitimately tortured her for years? ew there's a difference between dark books for the sake of sending a message and books that romanticize abusive behaviour. this leaned heavily towards the latter, especially when half the marketing is about there being lesbians.
meanwhile, the character related aspects: while there was a really cool overall cast, the direction the author took with gideon's character and her relationship with harrow made me incredibly uncomfortable. a lot of gideon's POV is just her watching other people accomplish things or discuss things or be proactive, and the things that she accomplishes are often done at the behest of others. she was witty and brave, but felt like more of a commentator than a character.
and then the ending...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
thecatconstellation's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.5
Mysterious, a bit creepy, super gory. I enjoyed this overall, but at times was just too confused. There is a lot to keep track of and a lot of world building that happens indirectly. I do like the characters, even though I would not refer to them as “lovable”. Some of the plot twists were clear early on, though not all of them. Overall, a good read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Vomit, Grief, and Cannibalism
Minor: Cursing
mooshake's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.75
i love one (1) horny on main sword lesbian
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Genocide and Suicide