Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

9 reviews

hagwife's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

What I love most about this book is that it is incredibly ambitious narratively, and Muir absolutely delivers on that ambition. The plotting of the narrative alone is so much fun and is designed to support the mystery but leave enough handholds for the reader to get a grasp of what's going on.

The different narrative voices and the switches back and forth from "present" to "before" but all of it leading up to the Emperor's supposed murder is quite something, and while I guessed that Gideon had to be narrating the portions in second-person, I did not guess that Harrow's overwritten memories were actually playing out in "real time" as she slept. I knew they were overwritten but thought they were truly just memories.

I also think the balance of shown and withheld information is much better than the first book. There are plot aspects that you can guess as the reader and have confirmed –

for me these were that the Body is an attempt of Harrow's brain to overwrite Gideon in her memories not of Canaan House, that Gideon is narrating the second person portions, that Ortus the First = Gideon the First, and that *someone* is piloting Cyth but had no clue as to who

– and plenty that whollop you with a good dose of surprise when dropped. I don't think too much is purposefully withheld though I do think the Emperor Undying and OG Lyctor subplot is almost impossible to disentangle before the reveal. We simply just don't have enough information about their history to muddle through their cryptic and melodramatic bullshit (affectionate).

I also think that the snapshot instances of Harrow's brain trying to rewrite more fantastic scenarios in her River construct with Abigail's ghost interrupting them was perhaps unnecessary giving that those interruptions aren't what wake up Harrow.

Possibly my only real gripe about withheld information is

the narrative voice for the parts that Gideon is narrating. I completely understand that using Gideon's normal voice would have undone much of the mystery and completely changed the tone of the book, but Gideon doesn't sound like Gideon for almost 3/4 of the book, and I can't really see a good reason for that within the story.

So its weird in that it has to be purposefully hidden for the reveal and for the overall plotting, but beside meta-knowledge of the way the novel works, there's no reason in-story for this to be that case, and that's a little frustrating.

Perhaps the funniest thing about reading this was that initially I didn't believe the note on the back cover that says "The Necromancers are back are gayer than ever". Not that Lesbianism isn't strong but it didn't feel "gayer than ever". And then the other shoe dropped about 350 pages in and suddenly we were right in the middle of some serious pining and classic Lesbian panic, and I absolutely adore every second of it. I was alternately crying and cackling.

My last note is unfortunately too steeped in spoilers to leave any of it out of the tags.

I am so here for the depth and intensity of Gideon and Harrow's relationship. It's not traditional on the necromancer / cavalier side nor does it fit at either end of the platonic / romantic spectrum. I freaking adore stories that give space and time to relationships where the characters love each other unyieldingly and that love doesn't fit into a nice box. It's also really nice to see the trust and belief of Cam and Pal continue. Cam doesn't need anyone else to understand why she carries part of Pal's skull around; Pal told her that he can be brought back and that's exactly what she's going to do.

Edit: After reading Nona, I realized that I was slightly wrong about the Body. Spoilers upcoming are for both Harrow and Nona. 

The Body is not Harrow's attempt to overwrite Gideon; since God didn't know about Gideon, he didn't know that Harrow could have any of his genetic material, and therefore break the blood ward. So Harrow was being haunted by Alecto which is how we get the exact soul swappage of Gideon back in Gideon, Alecto in Harrow as Nona, and Harrow in Alecto's body talking to God in a bubble on the River. <\spoiler>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Dysphoria

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

I'm still not really sure how to add warnings well, but this had things a little more compartmentalized so I tried. Overall, most of these boil down to the fact that you're reading a book where most of the characters have a supernatural control over everything from their blood to their soul so shit is going to get weird in the physical sense.

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

Don't let the amount of time it took me to get through this book fool you. I really enjoyed it. The thing about this book though, is it can be really difficult to read because of what the main character (Harrow) is going through for the vast majority of the book. 

This book takes place after Gideon, but it's told in two timelines (second person and third person). Harrow has just become a Lyctor and is adjusting to and learning all about the inner workings of what that means all the while she's struggling to adjust to that. It's hard to say more than that due to spoilers, but let's just say, it's a wild ride and it's best read right after Gideon (trust me on this). It's a fantastic book and very well written and done in a very unusual style (two timelines isn't unusual, but out of order, fragmented, multiple voices like this is - if you've read it, you know what I mean). The character relationships are complex and messy and so good. One thing I will say is the vast majority of the time I forget we're in space and on a ship. It just doesn't feel like it and when I'm reminded of that fact it takes me a minute to re-calibrate my thoughts (I felt the same way about the first book). All in all a fantastic book, albeit a rough one to read at times (please heed the content warnings). 

I can't wait to read "Nona" and continue with the series!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

winged's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• 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, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ladythana's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense slow-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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, Medical content, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

Minor: Body shaming and Colonisation

species10026's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

azureandroid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.5

Really good but it is from a second person perspective on the beginning which can be HARD to get a grip on

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Eating disorder, Gore, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Dysphoria

Harrow is traumatised, she is really her own warning at this point

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

possibilityleft's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.25

Necromages are fighting to save the universe from world-eating monsters, and that's not the weird bit. This is a labyrinthine ride through visceral fight scenes (with ... lots of viscera, and bones and connective tissues.. elaborate in the details thereof), half remembered memories or dubious reliability, weird hallucinations that often make almost sense, tea and gingernuts, backstory overheard in snippets lacking context, ribald humour, assassins, and spooky weird ghosty stuff.

There are times where I wish I was capable of reading proper, honest to goodness, paperback books, but seeing as I'm bound to Audiobooks due to my infirmities, all I can say is OUCH.
Tamsyn Muir writes with a sensual love of words, that does not make the content of her prose accessible to most people. To say it plainly - she uses big words, and weird words. a lot. I am well at home in anatomical and psychological textbooks, and literary critique; one  of my friends suggested that in conversation with me it would be easiest to carry a notebook to write down all the odd words I use  to look up later...  and even _I_ needed to read this with a dictionary nearby. It seems quite clear that the author was mauled or possibly traumatically wounded by a feral thesaurus as a child.

I'm sorry, Moira Quirk. Your work on this audio narration was ok,  but you fail to catch the Kiwi parlance. It sounds SO weird to hear kiwi idioms in your accent (we don't pronounce a$$ like that) and your attempt at te reo Māori words was wince-inducing. Thankfully that was only one line.

I'm doubling down on my comparison from the first book. This is definitely like an anime. Great chunks of this book feel a bit like watching Neon Genesis: Evangelion. A good proportion of the narrative is in second person perspective, which definitely leans hard into the claustrophobic and unhinged aesthetic. You spend the first half of the book trying to figure out why things in this book don't tally with the happenings in the previous book. That was kind of cool and didn't leave me feeling anywhere near as confused as I thought I would. There were enough breadcrumbs to keep me from feeling too lost in the woods.

Upside of the audiobook was the similarity I was amused by in the fast travel; I was reminded of Douglas Adams's, Hitchhiker's Guide, specifically his description of hyperspace, and the Infinite Improbability drive. "The River" having weird brain melting effects on a backdrop of a woman's voice calling out time-stamps felt so much like HHGTG with Trillian  in the Heart of Gold.

Many twists and turns, the reappearance (in various forms) of characters who were bumped off in the last book, the list at the front of the book of the dramatis personae (alive and dead) being actually useful, and a sense that you still don't know quite wtf is going on.. all leads me to think that the third book could go either way in my estimation. I'll have to see what it's like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Toxic friendship

Minor: Miscarriage