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clovetra'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
5.0
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
aurabora's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
confuzzledsheep'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
I recommend this to people who can handle gore, general nastiness, and women with complex motivations and vengeance. If you are a fantasy fan who doesn't know much about sci-fi, don't be afraid- this is far more fantasy than Scifi. If you study any form of biology you may also get a bit more out of this experience, as the fleshy, bloody, and boney details become more interesting and enthralling. I didn't think this would be a 5* reread, but here we are.
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Terminal illness
bwoo's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror and Suicide
Minor: Cancer
ketreads's review against another edition
5.0
BOY, do I love this on a reread. Somehow, knowing the twists and turns (and often forgetting the majority of them) let me truly enjoy the work Muir has put into this book. Rewatching Gideons and Harrows relationship develops, the world being slowly built up while still having an air of mystery to it, the magic system being barely explained yet still somehow working for me this time around.
The setting of Canaan House, an old decrepit mansion filled with locked rooms and mysterious staff who inhabit it, made for a fantastic introduction to the series. The confusion of settings, keys, murders (?!), big scary ghosts (???!!!), and whether or not Gideon can truly talk to the others made for endless entertainment.
I mostly reread this as I'm starting on book 2, but I'm more than glad I did. I pretty much regret donating my original paperback copy and may have to go out and buy a new one now that I love it. DAMN IT!!
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, and Murder
spacey_gracie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
ruthjenkins's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Gore, Terminal illness, and Blood
toastyghosty13's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
- 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
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.
Graphic: Cursing, Infertility, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
keiwald's review against another edition
- 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
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.