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mhaap's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Finished it out of spite because I thought surely it must get better! But I found the main and her abuser quite unbearable & ultimately unredeemed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
ceridwen33's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Grief
nesquik05's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The thing that really frustrated me about this book is that nothing is explained. The world of the nine houses has so much potential, the mechanics of necromancy had so much potential! There are so many moments where I could glimpse an absolutely fascinating sliver of context - for all of one sentence before Gideon tore it from my grasp. Nothing frustrated me more than when a character would begin explaining something, and Gideon, the 13-year-old boy that she was, would say "Boooring, shut up!" Harrow and Gideon's relationship was ridiculous, but also hilarious, I did very much enjoy that.
The book started extremely slowly, and didn't particularly pique my interest, but I'd heard really good things about it so I kept going, and after a while it certainly picked up and I got more invested, but then it just slowed down again and I got bored again... Then quite suddenly, it became incredibly fast-paced, and nothing ever really felt completed again! All in all, I was disappointed by the lack of worldbuilding - it really did feel like the author just couldn't be bothered to actually flesh it out, and so made Gideon the most uncurious person ever. Haven't decided whether I'll read any more of the series - on the one hand, I want to know more! On the other, I'm not sure I'm going to find anything more out...
The book started extremely slowly, and didn't particularly pique my interest, but I'd heard really good things about it so I kept going, and after a while it certainly picked up and I got more invested, but then it just slowed down again and I got bored again... Then quite suddenly, it became incredibly fast-paced, and nothing ever really felt completed again! All in all, I was disappointed by the lack of worldbuilding - it really did feel like the author just couldn't be bothered to actually flesh it out, and so made Gideon the most uncurious person ever. Haven't decided whether I'll read any more of the series - on the one hand, I want to know more! On the other, I'm not sure I'm going to find anything more out...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Physical abuse and Toxic relationship
jelliclejules's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Cannibalism
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
gygaxis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
clovetra's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
welcome gideon the ninth, you are now one of my elite employees (/ref).
i am broken. i am shattered. i am changed.
i am but a simple lesbian.
i’ve been sitting here for an hour contemplating how to rate this. on one hand, the concepts were so frustrating to comprehend, and it was to the point where after every chapter i was consulting a guide because i wasn’t sure i was actually grasping what was going on, which made all 479 pages incredibly frustrating. on the other hand, this book is all i could think about. usually to fall asleep i employ a video essay of something that’s my special interest — recently only until dawn has been scratching that itch. but my body was craving a gideon the ninth video essay. all i could think about was this book.
needless to say, i can overlook how annoying this book was to read at times simply for the grip it had on me.
i love griddle. what an insane fuckjng nickname. i adore her, her inner monologue, her relationships, her reactions, her one liners, everything.
i would die for the sixth, and harrowhark baby im coming for you in the next series hold on for me.
the plot was fucking insane. who decides “yeah the book i’m writing is about sapphics in space who are necromancers and also there’s a lowkey murder mystery plot with some romantic undertones and high fantasy oh and yeah did you forget we’re in space. and necromancers.” like ?????? i want what muir was having when conjuring up the idea of the locked tomb. absolutely batshit insane. and i wouldn’t have it any other way.
i don’t really know what i was expecting from the plot but im very pleasantly surprised by what it ended up being! even more surprised as i got a semi-big spoiler and yet it really didn’t spoil shit for me! like the spoiler did hold a lot of weight in the plot but because so much happens in this story it was so easy to focus on the other reveals happening simultaneously.
the fight scenes were a bit hard to follow especially when the necros are involved, and the trials were so fucking confusing to my mind. but honestly i was so invested in the characters, mainly the ninth & the sixth, that i can’t put this book any lower than 5-stars.
i’m gonna go stare at griddlehark fan art for the next 3 hours sobbing. also this book gave me such a big fucking headache oh my god reading my neuroscience textbooks is easier.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War
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
andi885's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.0
Honestly, I don't think I gave this book the attention it needed/deserved. I was confused through most of it and when I found myself on the other side of the confusion, understanding the plot didn't really make it better. It was very gory and had a lot of characters that were especially hard to keep straight because the main character would randomly give them nicknames just as I was figuring out who they were. I finished the book disappointed and still kind of confused. I may reread this later, but I won't be starting book 2 until I have (and only if rereading book 1 is more satisfying than this first read).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, and Suicide
aurabora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-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
5.0
I listened to the audiobook version of this book, so when it started with the list of dramatis personae, I immediately had to stop and look up a written version to follow along and figure out what I was in for! (Luckily there are many wiki-type pages out there.) Once I did that, I had no issue delving into the world and its story.
It doesn't really take off until all the houses have arrived at Canaan House, but then the story morphs into an interesting puzzle box/locked room mystery. I was not expecting an "And Then There Were None" type of intrigue in this fantasy novel, but it was a pleasant surprise! I'm not sure I 100% followed all of the logical jumps the characters made as they figured out the puzzles, but I was able to follow all of the plot points no problem. There's a lot of intrigue and unanswered questions about the world that I'm itching to learn more about, so I will absolutely be continuing on with the series.
Surprisingly, I found the book to be a joyful reading experience, so that's primarily why I'm rating it 5 stars. Horror and necromancers are not normally my thing, and I've read plenty of grimdark novels that, while good, were harder to get through. However, this does not qualify as horror at all, so I was safe there. There were just a few more mentions of skeletal features and viscera than I would normally seek out, but not so many as to put me off. After each listening session, I found myself in a better mood and eager to find more time to continue on!
Gideon's voice was so strong throughout, and I thought that the audiobook narrator did an excellent job in capturing it while differentiating all the other characters' voices. It first caught me off guard that Gideon does use so much "modern" language (like "that's what she said" jokes), but I guess who's to say that language doesn't belong in this world? Once I got over that initial anachronistic feeling, I thoroughly enjoyed the humor.
It doesn't really take off until all the houses have arrived at Canaan House, but then the story morphs into an interesting puzzle box/locked room mystery. I was not expecting an "And Then There Were None" type of intrigue in this fantasy novel, but it was a pleasant surprise! I'm not sure I 100% followed all of the logical jumps the characters made as they figured out the puzzles, but I was able to follow all of the plot points no problem. There's a lot of intrigue and unanswered questions about the world that I'm itching to learn more about, so I will absolutely be continuing on with the series.
Surprisingly, I found the book to be a joyful reading experience, so that's primarily why I'm rating it 5 stars. Horror and necromancers are not normally my thing, and I've read plenty of grimdark novels that, while good, were harder to get through. However, this does not qualify as horror at all, so I was safe there. There were just a few more mentions of skeletal features and viscera than I would normally seek out, but not so many as to put me off. After each listening session, I found myself in a better mood and eager to find more time to continue on!
Gideon's voice was so strong throughout, and I thought that the audiobook narrator did an excellent job in capturing it while differentiating all the other characters' voices. It first caught me off guard that Gideon does use so much "modern" language (like "that's what she said" jokes), but I guess who's to say that language doesn't belong in this world? Once I got over that initial anachronistic feeling, I thoroughly enjoyed the humor.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
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