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vael's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
angorarabbit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
4.25
TLDR: Confusing at first the end pays off your hard work.
I was totally confused by the time I was 30% in so I went back to the dramatic personae at the beginning of the book and wrote brief descriptions which helped a lot. Ms Muir has taken the rule to tell not show so what you know about this world is what Gideon knows and deems worthy to think about. Which makes sense, I wouldn’t bother describing how trees grow in my everyday life. There are several appendices that would have been very helpful to read before instead of after. They do not contain any spoilers so perhaps they are in the front in other editions.
Besides my confusion this was a well written book. The world is intriguing and the characters are interesting and for the most part developed. Gideon is a fresh voice in a fantasy world full of heroes saving damsels. Harrowhawk has surprising depth that doesn’t appear until you are past the 50% mark. The plot is complex with surprising twists, the ending is satisfying. I do think the final boss fight was a little to long, but the action was well described. I am looking forward to reading Harrow the Ninth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Sexual content
beckahh_i's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
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
4.0
I have no idea what happened, but I had a good time. Parts of it were really funny and easy to follow, and other parts it seemed like nothing happened but there was still so much information being thrown at you that nothing quite made sense? I'll likely continue the series and want to do a reread at some point, but I'm not sure how fast that will happen
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
booktamerghc's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer and Grief
jahnadv's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Body horror and Cannibalism
toastyghosty13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
Absolute chaos. Lesbian necromancers in space exploring a haunted gothic mansion is the quote on the front and it is correct and yet it is so much more. Think Agatha Christie "And Then There Were None". The humor is unexpected and unprecedented (I implore you to read the naming choice section at the end of the book too) and the characters are unique and psychotic.
The beginning is super confusing with all of the names of people and places thrown at you very quickly, but it is worth it! About 20%-30% of the way through it clicked for me.
I immediately bought the other books in both ebook and physical copy format as soon as I finished. The ending was givingBloodborne ascending and fear the old gods and I am OBSESSED .
For the Ninth.
The beginning is super confusing with all of the names of people and places thrown at you very quickly, but it is worth it! About 20%-30% of the way through it clicked for me.
I immediately bought the other books in both ebook and physical copy format as soon as I finished. The ending was giving
For the Ninth.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
corsetedfeminist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Look, I don’t cry often.
I don’t remember the last time I cried over a book.
I sobbed during the entire last battle and the Epilogue, and then I spent probably 20 minutes just staring at the ceiling.
This book is now firmly one of my favorite books ever, and it deserves 1,000 stars.
Gideon, my dear, sweet himbo. She has exactly three brains cells, and they are: Horny™️, Sword™️, and Harrow™️. The interaction between those brain cells throughout the book is perfect. Creating a crass, sarcastic character and then giving her a vow of silence for half the book so everyone assumes she’s so mysterious and internally she’s just grumbling at Harrow the entire time was perfect. Everyone’s disappointment when she did speak was perfect. Her protective fire- towards Harrow, towards the Fourth house, towards Dulcinea- was perfect in combination with her constant attempt to convince herself that she hates Harrow.
Harrowhark, my fierce, traumatized baby. I love a deeply morally grey character, but Harrow…. Her commitment to The Ninth House (and her personal aesthetic and mystery) and the weight of literally centuries of expectations is perfectly balanced with her slowly giving in to being vulnerable and soft with Gideon.
Their relationship gave me life, and then it just destroyed me. The theatrical hatred on both sides, and the barbed comments back and forth (Gideon’s nicknames. How am I to be normal!?!?) are firmly the best part of the first 2/3 of the book, and the heartbreaking loyalty and sacrifice of the last chapters are what made me cry over this book. It has so many little comments back and forth that just tore me to bits. (I cannot be normal about Gideon quoting the section from the book of Ruth that is commonly used in wedding vows. I just can’t.)
The rest of the plot, beyond these two, is extremely well done- I kept getting absolutely floored by plot twists, and then not having time to recover before something else happened. By the end I genuinely had no idea what was happening anymore except that I would die and/or kill for Gideon and Harrow.
It is quite literally perfect, and I’m starting Harrow the Ninth today so I can cry over space lesbians once again.
I don’t remember the last time I cried over a book.
I sobbed during the entire last battle and the Epilogue, and then I spent probably 20 minutes just staring at the ceiling.
This book is now firmly one of my favorite books ever, and it deserves 1,000 stars.
Gideon, my dear, sweet himbo. She has exactly three brains cells, and they are: Horny™️, Sword™️, and Harrow™️. The interaction between those brain cells throughout the book is perfect. Creating a crass, sarcastic character and then giving her a vow of silence for half the book so everyone assumes she’s so mysterious and internally she’s just grumbling at Harrow the entire time was perfect. Everyone’s disappointment when she did speak was perfect. Her protective fire- towards Harrow, towards the Fourth house, towards Dulcinea- was perfect in combination with her constant attempt to convince herself that she hates Harrow.
Harrowhark, my fierce, traumatized baby. I love a deeply morally grey character, but Harrow…. Her commitment to The Ninth House (and her personal aesthetic and mystery) and the weight of literally centuries of expectations is perfectly balanced with her slowly giving in to being vulnerable and soft with Gideon.
Their relationship gave me life, and then it just destroyed me. The theatrical hatred on both sides, and the barbed comments back and forth (Gideon’s nicknames. How am I to be normal!?!?) are firmly the best part of the first 2/3 of the book, and the heartbreaking loyalty and sacrifice of the last chapters are what made me cry over this book. It has so many little comments back and forth that just tore me to bits. (I cannot be normal about Gideon quoting the section from the book of Ruth that is commonly used in wedding vows. I just can’t.)
The rest of the plot, beyond these two, is extremely well done- I kept getting absolutely floored by plot twists, and then not having time to recover before something else happened. By the end I genuinely had no idea what was happening anymore except that I would die and/or kill for Gideon and Harrow.
It is quite literally perfect, and I’m starting Harrow the Ninth today so I can cry over space lesbians once again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Infertility, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
keiwald's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Sloooow start, but picks up to the point where it's a sprint to the finish line.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Death of parent
It is a book about necromancy, lots of bones, lots of death, lots of blood.owls_rainbow's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
kerrythefire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
This was a little slow to start, but once things got going it was really entertaining! This is prob more like a 4.15 ⭐️ rating or something but I'm rounding up because of the high of how it finished - the climax kept climaxing. This was a pretty character driven story and plot, so I think the end felt extra energized because it basically said "you know the characters now, now this is just going to be all action-packed plot for a few chapters". It maybe could have used a little more drawing out in the resolution to give it a more satisfying emotional punch, because it feel like it got wrapped up fairly quickly.
There were a lot of characters to keep track of, which can be made even harder when listening vs. reading, but I thought the narrator did a good job using different voices and Tamsyn Muir did enough to define each of their personalities and alignments that it made for a richer story. It was also fun seeing all the different kinds of necromancers, and I honestly could have gone even deeper there to satisfy the lore need in me.
From the beginning you could tell that there was a different connection between Gideon and Harrow other than just pure hate, and it was nice to see that relationship evolve while at the same time not have the book focus solely on that relationship. Their banter was always fun though. It was nice to see each of their relationships (mostly Gideon because this was her book) with other characters too.
I do feel like we still have some unanswered questions about Gideon's history and who she is, so hopefully more is revealed in the subsequent books. Will be interesting to see this next chapter of Harrow!
Also, the cover art is epic!
There were a lot of characters to keep track of, which can be made even harder when listening vs. reading, but I thought the narrator did a good job using different voices and Tamsyn Muir did enough to define each of their personalities and alignments that it made for a richer story. It was also fun seeing all the different kinds of necromancers, and I honestly could have gone even deeper there to satisfy the lore need in me.
From the beginning you could tell that there was a different connection between Gideon and Harrow other than just pure hate, and it was nice to see that relationship evolve while at the same time not have the book focus solely on that relationship. Their banter was always fun though. It was nice to see each of their relationships (mostly Gideon because this was her book) with other characters too.
I do feel like we still have some unanswered questions about Gideon's history and who she is, so hopefully more is revealed in the subsequent books. Will be interesting to see this next chapter of Harrow!
Also, the cover art is epic!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death