Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

323 reviews

monicalaurette's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

"She had cost too much to die."

This book was just so much, I had read Gideon the Ninth a while ago and should have possibly read a summary and re-read the summary for this book before reading because I felt like I was dropped into a story half-way through. just so much confusion while reading and while it was a fun story and I was getting like angry and being so confused haha.

One thing that I was just a little thrown off on, that I don't remember being so prominent in GtN was pop culture references in the book and how some of them just didn't feel like they fit with the story, just something the author wanted to add in. But I thought the 'S' was a funny little touch to nostalgia.

 The only thing our civilization can ever learn from yours is that when our backs are to the wall and our towers are falling all around us and we are watching ourselves burn we rarely become heroes. 

I felt so vindicated when it came out that Harrow erased Gideon from her mind because I was like 'who is this ortus? what is this Canaan house?

for a god, John should have caught on to the whole 'temporal lobe mind erase' thing sooner

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

sourcherrysyrup's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

Tamsyn Muir really shows incredible range with this book. I felt like I was wading through the character’s mind, suffering alongside her and just as confused and lost as she was. The way she slowly reveals the circumstances of the story to both her characters and readers is genius. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Suicide and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

bootrat's review

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism

corsetedfeminist's review against another edition

challenging 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

It’s okay, I didn’t need my heart to be in one piece anyway.
If you’re keeping a spreadsheet, yes, this book also made me cry. 
I’m not sure how to write a review for it, because it defies my normal method of writing reviews and I don’t want to spoil certain very startling plot points, but I shall try. 
I really liked the growth of Harrow’s character in this and I found myself identifying with her a lot as someone who grew up in religion and then suddenly started deconstructing it all. The constant question of what is real or not in this book makes it both rather confusing to read but also riveting, and Harrow’s struggles with mental illness and hallucinations is handled realistically- gently by those who love her, and as another way to manipulate her by others. (Ianthe, when I get my hands on you, you’re going to regret being the surviving twin) I loved Harrow in the last book, but I came to love her even more in this one- she is deeply, deeply flawed, but also deeply broken and simultaneously trying to be better, even when her methods are… questionable. 
The plot itself is complex and confusing, but also grabs you by the throat and drags you along in a way that cannot be escaped. I’m still a little unclear on all of the relationships that are detailed in the last few chapters, and I’m pretty sure I need a spreadsheet, but the story manages very complicated and obscure worldbuilding while preserving the atmosphere and drive in a way that keeps the story moving forward. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

kerrythefire's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

I don't think I've ever been so ambivalent about a book before. I think the biggest thing is that it didn't need to be this long, and while Tamsyn Muir's writing is really visual and paints a very clear picture of what's happening, most of this book was just exposition and telling what was happening... and that gets old after a while. 

It was intentionally confusing for about the first 2/3 which, honestly wasn't a deal breaker for me because I picked up on the fact that I didn't actually need to be paying super close attention to try to make it all make sense or put the seemingly mismatched pieces together. The individual vignettes, as I'll call them, we're interesting enough to keep me listening as background noise, but I was really just waiting for when everything would be explained. That starts with the Epiparodos of Act IV and then Act V is basically where all the "story" actually happens. 

The use of second person for some of the chapters was well done. It did lend to more of the exposition telling that weighed the book down, but it worked well for why it was being used in the story (which I guessed pretty early on, but if you didn't, I can see this making the whole first 2/3 even more confusing and hard to follow). In general, this book asked a lot of readers: it asked for you to wade through a lot of mystery and chaos for more than half the book to get to the real story, it asked you to keep track of multiple names for the same characters, it asked you to sit through a lot of telling vs. showing... 

I did like the story overall, it just took too long to get there and we spent too long in the

false memories

stage of Acts I - IV. I don't think I'm invested enough to read the next two books. I'll just read the wiki page synopses if I feel like I need some closure.

The cover art is still 🔥 though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

isaaah's review

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and War

krisalexcole's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Vomit, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

zefancifulreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

What an epic! I spent most of the book saying to myself “what the fuck?!”
The world building was a bit dense at times but I loved the psychological breadcrumbs and the whispers of “is this how it happens?”.
Very fun. This series is a delight. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, and Grief

Minor: Self harm and Suicide

kys_chai_and_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

This book, on the re-read, is one of my favorites to date. It's challenging and heartbreaking and tense, and frankly confusing as hell the first time you read it. But it's worth it for the experience of fuguring out the layered mysteries at the end-- and seeing the threads on the reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Abandonment

Second book in the Locked Tomb series

cuteasamuntin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Medical content