littki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Gore
abby_can_read's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
This book was amazing. I really enjoyed reading it. I found this book to be a little slower, not as fast and action-paced as the previous two. The characters were amazing and I loved watching them grow/evolve.Â
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Body horror
Moderate: Gore, Violence, and War
Minor: Eating disorder
erinoco's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore and Death
underabrig's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, and Death
Moderate: War and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Addiction
therealratking's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, Body horror, Murder, Death, Genocide, War, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Cannibalism
lolajh's review against another edition
- 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
Spoiler
I just wish there was interaction between Harrow and Gideon or Alecto and Pyrrha and noodle and paul but I get why Tamsyn wants to leave us to anticipate all that for the finale lolThis book was very different to the others in so many waysânot a bad thingâin regards to the
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initialSpoiler
but not really the more you read it lolSpoiler
like the history of necromancy and earthSpoiler
which lets talk about the dreams, because at first I thought the dreams about the Resurrection was what Nona dreamt of each night, then I thought they were purely just harrowâs fictional dreams, but then I realised theyâre Harrowâs dreams of Alectoâs memories and that what Nonaâs recurring dream consists of is the pool scene with Harrow and Gideon from book 1 (this reddit thread was a godsend Jesus đźâđš) With the Resurrection dream sequence throughout the book, I was definitely quite relieved and interested to receive the intricate explanation of it that is far more in depth than in book 2. I loved learning about Alectoâs history and who she was, and was really connected with her story prior to Nona. Even though sheâs a very powerful resurrection beast and the utter soul of the earth, when the earth was killed she was practically just a child who got taken advantage of by John into forming a Lyctor bond with him, into loving him, into giving him so much power and then being locked away in a tomb created just for her merely because sheâs a resurrection beast for 10 000 fucking years. Johnâs relationship with her is very much icky and weird just as Harrowâs is, and I need to see Alecto realising heâs not good for her and go apeshit on him. Also learning how John became a necromancer, the first necromancer in fact, was soâŠintriguing? I feel like a lot the necromancy practiced in this series is mostly focused on humans, but the fact that John can grow flowers changes everything about the necromancy being taught in the Houses. Thereâs potential for life to be grown through necromancy, if it even can be called that anymore? The powers the Earth gave to John were âlife and deathâ powers, and he seemed to only use life powers on humans and death powers on everything else. I believe he couldâve actually fixed the world by growing back the deforested trees all over the world, but his thirst and greed for power didnât even allow him to take this into account. I would really love if Harrow, after seeing these memories of necromancy, realises she could be capable of growing life like trees and plants and grass after her whole life dealing with only death. I know itâs a lot to hope for, but imagine if the series ends with John dead and Harrow and Gideon on their own planet that Harrow regrew with life and she doesnât have to manipulate death anymore đ„č I really need a happy ending like this man.The astonishing way in which this is written allows you to find out about things at just the right time, to have questions answered after impatient weeks of reading, and to finally have some somewhat satisfaction
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that usually just ended up with me crying. Me realising Nonaâs dying??? Camilla and Palamedes basically both dying to become a single blended soul as a Lyctor??? đ fuck!!!!! No but thereâs actual satisfying realisations too, like understanding Nona is Alecto but that Nona and Alecto act differently because Nona has the memories of the earth, but not the memories of Alecto when she got resurrected as a person. She knows all the languages and animals that have existed on earth, finds comfort in eating sand and bathing in saltwater because she is the earth, and connects with Varun because sheâs a resurrection beast too.Spoiler
Also I just need to talk about Gideon for a bit (btw wifegideonnav on tumblr summed up her character in this book perfectly) The past two books Gideon has been the one telling the story. Weâre able to see whatâs going on in her mind and for the most part, weâre on her side. In this book, Nona hasnât known Gideon as long as we have, and she doesnât like her. Gideon acts practically the same as she has previously, but for some weird reason, she appears unlikeable just because Nona doesnât like her and TAMSYN OH MY GOD you are a genius for manipulating me like that. I got PISSED OFF when Gideon was mean to Nona and called her an infant even though Gideonâs always been mean but reading in her pov has blinded me of her flaws???? God itâs just so crazy. Gideonâs my absolute favourite character, and Tamsyn so easily altered my opinions like a fucking absolute genius. Now I do still love Gideon, and absolutely think that sheâs not entirely her in this book not just because of the manipulation and depression and everything thatâs happened; her soulâs not fully whole. A lot of her soul is still intact inside Harrowâs body from when Harrow did âthe workâ and stopped herself from consuming Gideonâs soul any longer, plus John couldâve fucked with it. If the bits of her soul in Harrowâs body manifested through Nona, it explains Nonaâs attraction to her body (aka Gideonâs attraction to Harrow) and why she likes Gideonâs humour but not Gideon herself (Gideonâs definitely got some insecurity issues after all thatâs happened lol). Regardless, Gideonâs barely a shell of herself. Though she is, after all, âthe saddest girl in the whole entire worldâ đ And the thing is, all of this couldâve been explained if Gideon was the main character and the perspective character (or maybe it wouldnât, sheâs quite an unreliable narrator lmao). But because she isnât, because Nona doesnât know her, she just seems like your everyday bad guy, and thatâs really heartbreaking. Something to note that I have done in my past reviews and have noticed throughout the series, as well as something wifegideonnav commented on, is that Gideon is traumatised and sad and she disguises this through her narration, through her front of having this chill, impenetrable attitude. With Nonaâs narration, the sadness and utter meanness of Gideon is able to shine through, as well as it being more blatantly obvious the toll that this seriesâ events have had on Gideon. Her upbeat spirit doesnât hit the same as it did in the first book when she was only kinda traumatised. Now?? Sheâs full on broken, and I donât blame her. Sheâs died twice for Harrow and nothing truly good has come from it. Sheâs had enough, and thatâs understandable. Sheâs a powerful woman who hasnât had many wins so far and she feels sheâs been taken for granted but if thereâs one thing itâs that with John, she finally feels necessary, needed, loved. And, because we donât see her perspective, all of this could really just be Gideon pretending, doing what she needs to to survive. Considering sheâs never really liked her dad this makes sense, but regardless, this is the place sheâs in and thatâs okay.I am SO excited for Alecto, for whenever the cover and synopsis are revealed and then the book itself AHHH. Iâm so excited for her to become a main character
Spoiler
in a different way that she was through Nona. I love Nona and Iâll miss her still; I hope Alecto remembers Pyrrha, Camilla, Palamedes, Noodle and the kids đ«Spoiler
as much as I love Camilla and Palamedes, I donât want Gideon and Harrowâs love story to be told like theirs are: from another personâs perspective. Especially since Harrow and Gideon are main characters, I really hope we get their narration again.Also, after reading this and Harrow again, I feel much more connected to The Body as a character in the previous book.
Spoiler
I always thought she was a mere hallucination of Alecto, but she actually is Alecto, who was able to possess Harrow when she first saw her and kissed her as a kid, then was eventually able to manifest as Nona once no other souls were âawakeâ I guess, in Harrowâs body. Iâm able to see now that in Harrow, Alectoâs actions of comfort towards Harrow werenât hallucinations, they were actually Alectoâs doings, and now I really adore their relationship, not as much in a romantic way just because I think Harrowâs âloveâ for Alecto is a bit biased by idolisation, and also Gideon exists. I donât actually know what Iâll do if Griddlehark isnât endgame. It would be such a great play by Tamsyn to make the ending of Alecto not happy or even satisfactory in the slightest, but Iâll be so fucking upset if Alecto and Harrow are endgame and Gideonâs alone đGraphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder
hellsjerome's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Death and War
bdingz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
I love these characters so much. Canât wait for Alecto.
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: War
kryg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Eating disorder, Gun violence, and War
tiredcreature's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Gore and Eating disorder