Scan barcode
goblinhearted's reviews
43 reviews
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
5.0
I really liked Gideon the Ninth but after reading only the first ¼ of Harrow the Ninth, I felt like I liked this one a thousand times more. I feel seen.
This is one of those novels that is incredibly difficult to talk about without spoilers.
As vaguely as possible these were my top highlights:
☒ coping with your trauma in a deeply unhealthy way
☒ being in love with the 10,000 year old frozen body of a girl that you found in a tomb when you were ten
☒ having dinner with God and a handful of acerbic and contemptuous 10,000 year old Saints
☒ preparing for the potential end of the world???
☒ unexpectedly intimate bone stuff
I love this series and it makes me feel alive.
This is one of those novels that is incredibly difficult to talk about without spoilers.
As vaguely as possible these were my top highlights:
☒ coping with your trauma in a deeply unhealthy way
☒ being in love with the 10,000 year old frozen body of a girl that you found in a tomb when you were ten
☒ having dinner with God and a handful of acerbic and contemptuous 10,000 year old Saints
☒ preparing for the potential end of the world???
☒ unexpectedly intimate bone stuff
I love this series and it makes me feel alive.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Gideon wants nothing more than to be set free and to be allowed to leave the planet. She has tried running away countless times without success. Harrow makes Gideon a deal: if she accompanies her to a competition as essentially her bodyguard/fighter or "cavalier" then after it’s over, Gideon will be set free.
The bulk of the novel takes place during the competition, where we get to learn about the other eight Houses, who have also each sent one representative pair of a necromancer/cavalier pair. We learn about each planet’s personality types, roles and necromantic specialties. There are a lot of characters and complexities which makes it difficult to keep track of who is who, so it’s handy to have a spoiler-free list.
A lot of chaos ensues as the novel hovers between fantasy, sci-fi, horror and a little murder mystery as a treat.
As time goes on, it becomes clear that Gideon and Harrow need to at least try to work together, but… it’s almost physically painful for them to be nice to each other.
This novel (and series) has some very camp moments that reference internet memes or overly-millennial-dialogue but like, (I never thought I would say this) good ones - it pulls them off in a genuinely entertaining way. (I should mention as an aside here that the author of this book has been writing fanfiction from a young age. Some of her Homestuck fanfics are still available online somewhere. I feel like she must have grown up in the same circles of the internet that I frequented in my past, for better or for worse lmao, but she manages to distill that sort of atmosphere, in the best way possible, as comic relief in her books.) A few examples of these vibes are below.
and,
and...
There is so much to say about this book. It’s not a romance, or a YA (Young Adult) novel. It has some pretty dark and tragic scenes. It’s dense book with a lot going on that doesn’t fully make sense until the final quarter of the book. Since the novel is told from Gideon's POV and Gideon is left in the dark about a lot of stuff, this makes sense. It’s the type of book that benefits from multiple re-reads, or at least watching some (spoiler-free) video essays or reading some forum threads afterward.
This is only the first book in a series of four. After finishing, I immediately picked up the next book Harrow the Ninth which I proceeded to love about a thousand times more if that’s even possible.
I enjoy a lot of books, but this one has been the most fun I’ve had reading in a long time.
5.0
I don’t typically read sci-fi or fantasy books so picking this up after its recommendation was a stretch for my comfort zone. How could I not be sold on the classic pitch, “lesbian necromancers in space”?
The novel is narrated by Gideon Nav, a super charismatic and witty lesbian who loves swords, working out, and reading magazines with scandily-clad necromancers. She is an indentured servant to the heir of the House of the Ninth, which is basically a cold, dark planet. The Ninth House’s necromantic specialty is bones (cue a million and one bone puns) and it has a storied, dark and complicated past which resulted in Gideon and Harrowhark Nonagesimus (the heir to the house) being the only two children of their generation to grow up together. They have a relationship which can only be described as somewhere between hate and obsession with one another.
The novel is narrated by Gideon Nav, a super charismatic and witty lesbian who loves swords, working out, and reading magazines with scandily-clad necromancers. She is an indentured servant to the heir of the House of the Ninth, which is basically a cold, dark planet. The Ninth House’s necromantic specialty is bones (cue a million and one bone puns) and it has a storied, dark and complicated past which resulted in Gideon and Harrowhark Nonagesimus (the heir to the house) being the only two children of their generation to grow up together. They have a relationship which can only be described as somewhere between hate and obsession with one another.
“Nonagesimus,” [Gideon] said slowly, “the only job I’d do for you would be if you wanted someone to hold the sword as you fell on it. The only job I’d do for you would be if you wanted your ass kicked so hard, the Locked Tomb opened and a parade came out to sing, ‘Lo! A destructed ass.’ The only job I’d do would be if you wanted me to spot you while you backflipped off the top tier into Drearburh.”
“That’s three jobs,” said Harrowhark.
Gideon wants nothing more than to be set free and to be allowed to leave the planet. She has tried running away countless times without success. Harrow makes Gideon a deal: if she accompanies her to a competition as essentially her bodyguard/fighter or "cavalier" then after it’s over, Gideon will be set free.
The bulk of the novel takes place during the competition, where we get to learn about the other eight Houses, who have also each sent one representative pair of a necromancer/cavalier pair. We learn about each planet’s personality types, roles and necromantic specialties. There are a lot of characters and complexities which makes it difficult to keep track of who is who, so it’s handy to have a spoiler-free list.
A lot of chaos ensues as the novel hovers between fantasy, sci-fi, horror and a little murder mystery as a treat.
As time goes on, it becomes clear that Gideon and Harrow need to at least try to work together, but… it’s almost physically painful for them to be nice to each other.
“Don't die in a bone. I am your creature, gloom mistress. I serve you with fidelity as big as a mountain, penumbral lady."
Harrow's eyes flickered open. "Stop."
"I am your sworn sword, night boss."
"Fine," said Harrow heavily.
Gideon's mouth was about to round out the words "bone empress" before she realised what had been said.
This novel (and series) has some very camp moments that reference internet memes or overly-millennial-dialogue but like, (I never thought I would say this) good ones - it pulls them off in a genuinely entertaining way. (I should mention as an aside here that the author of this book has been writing fanfiction from a young age. Some of her Homestuck fanfics are still available online somewhere. I feel like she must have grown up in the same circles of the internet that I frequented in my past, for better or for worse lmao, but she manages to distill that sort of atmosphere, in the best way possible, as comic relief in her books.) A few examples of these vibes are below.
"While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade.”
and,
Gideon was experiencing one powerful emotion: being sick of everyone’s shit.”
and...
He had the eyes of a very beautiful person, trapped in resting bitch face.
There is so much to say about this book. It’s not a romance, or a YA (Young Adult) novel. It has some pretty dark and tragic scenes. It’s dense book with a lot going on that doesn’t fully make sense until the final quarter of the book. Since the novel is told from Gideon's POV and Gideon is left in the dark about a lot of stuff, this makes sense. It’s the type of book that benefits from multiple re-reads, or at least watching some (spoiler-free) video essays or reading some forum threads afterward.
This is only the first book in a series of four. After finishing, I immediately picked up the next book Harrow the Ninth which I proceeded to love about a thousand times more if that’s even possible.
I enjoy a lot of books, but this one has been the most fun I’ve had reading in a long time.
"Nav, show them what the Ninth House does."
Gideon lifted her sword... "We do bones, motherfucker."
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
3.0
What a strange little book with an interesting sociological premise: how would kids in the 1970s spend their days after their last-living parent dies (and where would they hide the body?) I wasn't sure what to expect. I liked it well enough but it also didn't particularly stick with me, nor would I go out of my way to recommend it. All of that to say, it was an okay read!
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
4.0
This is a re-read for me! I read this for the first time a handful of years ago and I really enjoyed it - enough to pick it up again. I have a weakness for long family sagas that span decades. The author did a really good job of encapsulating the political atmosphere that existed between Korea and Japan throughout the early and mid 1900s and how this might have impacted a family living during this time. (I'm also a fan of novels about suffering and hardships, so this one was right up my alley.)
It's a long one, too, and doesn't linger on a specific character for too long. Instead it jumps between characters, sometimes not giving you a satisfying conclusion for a particular event. However in this way, it felt very realistic. Life is not full of many satisfying conclusions.
I did not expect it to take me nearly a month to finish though! It is not the type of novel that you devour in one (or even a few) sittings. It's heavy and moves slow but it was always nice to return to whether I read through one chapter or a dozen in a sitting.
It's a long one, too, and doesn't linger on a specific character for too long. Instead it jumps between characters, sometimes not giving you a satisfying conclusion for a particular event. However in this way, it felt very realistic. Life is not full of many satisfying conclusions.
I did not expect it to take me nearly a month to finish though! It is not the type of novel that you devour in one (or even a few) sittings. It's heavy and moves slow but it was always nice to return to whether I read through one chapter or a dozen in a sitting.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.
I could not get through this book. I promise I am not being snobby but this seemed very unpolished, overly simplistic and did not read like a novel. I hated the narrator. Sorry 😭
The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck
3.5
While I really enjoyed the surreal fairy-tale vibe of this book, I didn't look forward to continue reading it as much as I expected to. I liked the characters but would have liked to get to know them a little better. It's a short read, but the plot/conclusion left me wanting more. Overall, I enjoyed it but it fell a little flat for me.
Circe by Madeline Miller
Now just imagine an entire novel told with this level of care and intensity of imagery. I’ve always felt that I had some form of aphantasia - when the brain doesn’t form mental images as part of imagination - but this novel has me doubting even that.
I love Greek mythology. There has always been something exceedingly beautiful and fascinating about it. Despite my love for it, I don’t know all of the details of all of the myths - there are so many - but I remember deeply appreciating them when I encountered them in school. Now, the focus here is on Circe, but her story is intertwined with the stories of others which are told in passing - such as the story of Daedalus and Icarus, and King Minos and the Minotaur to name a few early ones. The most striking and impressive aspect, to me, is how Miller keeps each story accurate exactly as they are told - retaining the family tree exactly as it existed in the classics. So in this way, her writing becomes less of something which is loosely based on the myths and takes creative license based on that foundation, to something that has been impressively and meticulously researched yet strung together in a beautiful, literary way, from a fresh perspective.
My only complaint, which is really just a side-effect of what I have explained above, is that the parts with Odysseus, Telegonus and Telemachus which converge more directly with the events in The Odyssey, were less compelling to me - partly because I was already somewhat familiar with that story, but also partly because the focus seemed to be pushed away from Circe and onto characters that already have received a ton of coverage. I recognize it is unfair to praise a book for staying impressively true to source material, but then turn around and say that it should have deviated. I think I just would have loved to see more of Circe's independence.
It has been such a long time since I loved a book this much. I took this one slow, savoring each chapter because I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want it to end.
5.0
I knew before the end of the first chapter that this was going to be a five-star book.
First, Miller’s writing style: it is absolutely gorgeous. Her writing style, the metaphors and similes she sprinkles throughout her prose are wonderfully accurate for a Greek and mythological setting. Below is an excerpt of when Circe is taken to her father, Helios’, field of white cows.
First, Miller’s writing style: it is absolutely gorgeous. Her writing style, the metaphors and similes she sprinkles throughout her prose are wonderfully accurate for a Greek and mythological setting. Below is an excerpt of when Circe is taken to her father, Helios’, field of white cows.
“I had never seen a cow before, of any kind, but it did not matter: the animals were so obviously beautiful that I needed no comparison. Their coats were pure as lily petals and their eyes gentle and long-lashed. Their horns had been gilded – that was my sisters’ doing – and when they bent to crop the grass, their necks dipped like dancers. In the sunset light, their backs gleamed glossy-soft.”
Now just imagine an entire novel told with this level of care and intensity of imagery. I’ve always felt that I had some form of aphantasia - when the brain doesn’t form mental images as part of imagination - but this novel has me doubting even that.
I love Greek mythology. There has always been something exceedingly beautiful and fascinating about it. Despite my love for it, I don’t know all of the details of all of the myths - there are so many - but I remember deeply appreciating them when I encountered them in school. Now, the focus here is on Circe, but her story is intertwined with the stories of others which are told in passing - such as the story of Daedalus and Icarus, and King Minos and the Minotaur to name a few early ones. The most striking and impressive aspect, to me, is how Miller keeps each story accurate exactly as they are told - retaining the family tree exactly as it existed in the classics. So in this way, her writing becomes less of something which is loosely based on the myths and takes creative license based on that foundation, to something that has been impressively and meticulously researched yet strung together in a beautiful, literary way, from a fresh perspective.
My only complaint, which is really just a side-effect of what I have explained above, is that the parts with Odysseus, Telegonus and Telemachus which converge more directly with the events in The Odyssey, were less compelling to me - partly because I was already somewhat familiar with that story, but also partly because the focus seemed to be pushed away from Circe and onto characters that already have received a ton of coverage. I recognize it is unfair to praise a book for staying impressively true to source material, but then turn around and say that it should have deviated. I think I just would have loved to see more of Circe's independence.
It has been such a long time since I loved a book this much. I took this one slow, savoring each chapter because I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want it to end.
Disturb Not The Dream by Paula Trachtman
2.0
This became a bit of a hate-read for me…
I picked this up for two reasons: one, because it was recommended by some fans of V.C. Andrews and two, it seemed to fit into the genre of ‘vintage horror’ which I was curious about.
I’ve only read Andrews’ fiction that she had written herself before death. I’m not sure if this can be compared to her ghostwritten work. However, if there ever was a trashy, shock-value piece of writing this would be it. Just about (as others have mentioned) every trigger warning applies to the content of this book. But the thing is, I don’t feel like the majority of the “shocking” events are really justified by the storytelling (especially not in the way the “shocking” events of V.C. Andrews’ work seem to be). It seemed more like the writer was just including things to see what she could get away with.
Again, I’m not super familiar with this genre. I have heard that some writers in the genre do include sleazy, ‘pulpy’ things like this just for the shock value, as if the shocking act itself counts as horror - so it’s possible that this author was just mimicking what had become the ‘norm’ at this point in 1981.
I picked this up for two reasons: one, because it was recommended by some fans of V.C. Andrews and two, it seemed to fit into the genre of ‘vintage horror’ which I was curious about.
I’ve only read Andrews’ fiction that she had written herself before death. I’m not sure if this can be compared to her ghostwritten work. However, if there ever was a trashy, shock-value piece of writing this would be it. Just about (as others have mentioned) every trigger warning applies to the content of this book. But the thing is, I don’t feel like the majority of the “shocking” events are really justified by the storytelling (especially not in the way the “shocking” events of V.C. Andrews’ work seem to be). It seemed more like the writer was just including things to see what she could get away with.
Again, I’m not super familiar with this genre. I have heard that some writers in the genre do include sleazy, ‘pulpy’ things like this just for the shock value, as if the shocking act itself counts as horror - so it’s possible that this author was just mimicking what had become the ‘norm’ at this point in 1981.