Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Harrow la Novena by Tamsyn Muir

36 reviews

kierank's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Rewired my brain chemistry

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing and Alcohol

Minor: Colonisation

iane_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Eating disorder, Genocide, Sexual content, Suicide, and Cannibalism

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Dementia, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

jodean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

meat_muffin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Pregnancy

shadereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Genocide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and War

whatdoiknowjr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Torture, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

zghutcheson01's review against another edition

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

4.75

I didn’t love it as much as the prev book and the jokes felt a bit more forced and out of place than in the first book, but it was still absolutely fantastic. I was super confused but never to the point that I was irritated, mainly because it didn’t expect you to know what was going on and if you thought you knew, you were wrong. I didn’t love the second pov but it also wasn’t something I couldn’t get over.

 

For so much of the book, I was FREAKED THE FUCK OUT about where Gideon went like ??? She’s my favorite character and you take away all memory of her??? Then you tell me she’s Jesus???? AHHHHHH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content and Toxic friendship

Minor: Confinement, Colonisation, and War

irisraerah's review against another edition

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you're looking for a book that's as awesome as it is confusing, Harrow is a great option, but you absolutely must read Gideon the Ninth first. I fell completely in love with Muir's world in this book. I'd thoughted I'd loved it before but that was a mere crush. A universe of goth and often gory magic that spends this book expanding on all of the above is exactly my cup of tea (though Harrow herself would pick a different comparison, being a fan of neither tea nor words under four syllables), all while I grew to care more and more about each of the characters involved.

Also, as a queer woman, there is something so deeply comfortable and affirming about reading a story like this, full of queer characters, relationships, and tragedy, but without queerness being the source of any tension or tragedy. Queerness is simply a fact of life in a way that feels like home, though I personally have never lived as part of a space faring necromantic society, and my swordplay has been limited to a single college fencing credit. 

A word of caution to the squeamish reader: gore and the aesthetics of gore feature strongly in this series, though this is a case where the book's cover should have warned you about that clearly enough. Despite the goriness, I find Muir's setting to actually be quite beautiful in the grotesque, and scenes that might be something of nightmare felt vivid and terrific.

Having praised the highbrow content, I'd be remiss to not mention the low: spoilers for jokes you'll want to be caught off guard by as you read them in read time.

How the hell did Muir pull off "choke me daddy," "none pizza with left beef," and "Hi, *double spoiler,* I'm Dad" in a serious book? I'm impressed.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Remember last book? No you don’t. Don’t even try to remember it or you’ll just be MORE confused. Prepare to not know what the fuck is happening until 3/4 of the way into the book. Also have you ever read 2nd person POV? It’s dreadful. It makes no sense until you’re 80% into the book. I wish there would have been at least pieces of things that made sense instead of just having us ride a roller coaster backwards upside down and in the dark until the very end of the book practically.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content and Colonisation

msradiosilence's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail