jesshwrth 's review for:

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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: Complicated

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If you're checking reviews because you're struggling with this book, I was right there with you- Harrow The Ninth is up there with one of the strangest and in some ways most challenging books that I've ever read. I came very close to DNFing at about 45%, and now that I'm finished, it's an easy five star. So if you're feeling the same way, I really encourage you to stick with it!

Harrow is unlike any other book I've read. This is a book that really benefits from a close read and careful attention, but will make you feel like you're being punished for trying to figure it out at first, but it invites and, I'm confident to say, would reward a reread. Once the narrative starts to unfurl, it's beyond satisfying. Muir places breadcrumbs expertly throughout the story, even when it feels at its most confusing, and you can tell you are in safe hands for the arc that she has planned.

I loved the Harrow that we met in Gideon, so I was very excited to get to delve deeper into her in this book. On that count, I am both satisfied and left wanting, and desperately hoping that Nona will give me more of both she and of our favourite butch cavalier.

Their relationship is one of the keystones of this series, so a book in which we don't get to see them interact for a single scene was torturous, but in the best way imaginable. The yearning is off the charts. The way that Harrow loves is filthy and desperate and sad.

This book allows us to explore more of Ianthe's character too, and I love how Muir makes this feel so different than the impression we had of her in Gideon and from Gideon's POV, now that we're able to see with different eyes. She's awful and I love her.

One of the shining stars of this novel is the Emperor/God/The Kindly Prince of Death, a character who is at once utterly repellant, hilarious, and exudes power and menace. The epilogue of this book leaves me completely baffled about what Nona will bring, but I hope it's got plenty more of him.

One of my favourite things about this story is that it feels like the sequel to something much more straight forward, but doesn't allow the reader to ease in with that story. I'm fascinated by the story of the Saints and the Resurrection and all that came before Gideon and Harrow, and loved getting to piece it together slowly as more or less a bystander to these powerful characters. All of the characters felt substantial and fleshed out, and I hope that I get to know them better in the rest of the series, but I suspect that Muir might keep those stories just out of focus- as torture, because she's that kind of author. 

The reveal that the 2nd person POV chapters are not actually second person at all was one of the most brilliantly executed twists I've ever seen in a book. It transformed the book from truly baffling to a compelling and unputdownable ride for the last three hundred pages. That twist put the story on its head and removed any sense of safety you had as a reader, revealing that this story has the ultimate unreliable narrator. I can't give enough praise for that; it was genius, and it's probably one of the best things about the book- if anyone has any tips on how to recommend this book without giving this away, I'd love to hear them!