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alainral's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Gore, Terminal illness, and Slavery
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Cannibalism, Cursing, Medical trauma, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer
kodi_rae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’ve often heard this book summed up as “lesbian space necromancers” and I love how it gets to the point but leaves so much to the imagination. This was a really fun and unique read. The world building is deep and the reader gets dropped right into the action, leaving a lot to be leaned and figured out as you go. Because of that, it took me a bit of time to feel like I really understood what was going on. I read a physical copy of the book which had a list of the houses and all the cast of characters that I referenced constantly and was very helpful. The back had a glossary and also descriptions for how to pronounce some of the names. I *almost* wish I had read it first but I might have still felt a little lost so maybe it wouldn’t have helped much anyway.
I think my one critique is that it moved so fast that the way the relationship between the two main characters fluctuates over time did not feel totally believable to me. But I will still read the other books in the series because it was so interesting and fun.
I think my one critique is that it moved so fast that the way the relationship between the two main characters fluctuates over time did not feel totally believable to me. But I will still read the other books in the series because it was so interesting and fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Gore, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Cursing
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
3.5
Quick review: this book was so much fun but it takes the completely wrong lessons form action animes. To the point many things were contradictory, cliche or predictable when you know Muir is capable of much more if she pushed herself or even reread and noticed she got ahead of herself and didn’t always keep track of characters or why a location change in a fight makes sense.
Muir’s character dynamics and character multidimensional and the way she writes women so central though is incredible.
Muir’s character dynamics and character multidimensional and the way she writes women so central though is incredible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Infertility, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Bullying, Suicide, War, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Child death, Death, Blood, Cancer, and Body shaming
bohboh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Gore, Grief, Child death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, and Vomit
Minor: War
evierysik's review against another edition
It was so slow and boring and a little confusing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Torture, Blood, Gore, Death, Bullying, Violence, and Cursing
Moderate: Suicide
vyralvyris's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? N/A
4.75
Super fascinating world building, interesting magic system, and great cast of characters. Basically haunted clue in space with lesbians. Points off for being a little hard to follow sometimes but rarely an issue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Death
Moderate: Slavery, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Classism, Confinement, and Grief
yogomagpie's review against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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.