A review by rlgreen91
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

A few days later and I'm still not sure what to think of the wild ride that was Harrow the Ninth.  Reviewing this is a bit tricky, because there's so many twists and turns I don't want to give away but I also don't see the point in a review with the majority of the text concealed by a spoiler tag.

One thing I can speak relatively freely about is the worldbuilding in Harrow the Ninth , and how superb it is.  I loved the reasoning behind one of the antagonists, because it naturally followed the rules and conventions set during Gideon the Ninth so well - it just made so much sense that that would happen as a result of the initial action set 10,000 years ago!  I also loved how Muir is gradually expanding the world and universe that all of this takes place in.  We started with a very narrow focus on a few characters at the beginning of Gideon the Ninth and have expanded to other generations and the Nine Houses in general
(plus factions outside of the Nine Houses)
.  And it looks like Nona the Ninth is set to keep expanding our universe even more.  This approach can throw things off a bit since so far we've learned off these expanded events when our main characters did.  At times things might seem random to us because we - the characters and readers - lack the context to understand why something is significant just yet.  But overall Muir has laid this out really, really well and I know I'm gushing over this but it takes a lot of skill and effort to do this type of worldbuilding well in a work that slides between fantasy and science fiction and has more than one mystery at the core of its plot.

Just like in Gideon the Ninth and "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex", there's plenty of gorgeous language in Harrow the Ninth too.  A lot of great banter and comedic moments, like someone attempting to explain to Harrow where babies come from, but also a very kind and honest depiction of what it's like to suffer from depression, trauma, and the genuine feeling that you might be insane.  Not to mention all of the references, from the ones you only find by lurking Tumblr in the early 2010s to very Biblical/Christian ones that you only come across in advanced Sunday School.

Overall, a fantastic novel - no sophomore slump to be found here.  Looking forward to "As Yet Unsent."
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