anitaxlit's reviews
261 reviews

Too much to say, not enough words to say it. This was a lot darker than I expected and I LOVED that.

This was an absolute delight, it made me hope to one day share this with the children in my life. Kristin Atherton's narration was top notch! I loved all the voices she did for the different characters, she brought them to life and I will miss listening to this audiobook.

Reading Harrow the Ninth was a fever dream. This universe of decay, ghosts and death gripped me by the throat and didn't let go until I finished. At night, I slept poorly, plagued by dreams of the story. This might speak more of my tendency toward obsessive thinking BUT hear me out. It was still an incredible experience. A fantastic read. There have been books I enjoyed, characters I loved, stories that stayed with me... But I don't know that I've ever been as invested as I am on this universe. In my review of Gideon the Ninth I mentioned the impressive character work, and this is still true for the sequel. Everyone we knew from the first book gained in depth and new interesting unhinged peeps were introduced (hi Mercymorn I am free to go out this friday; also God????).

The second person narrator makes you feel like you *are* Harrow. Gideon the Ninth was already confusing af, even when the MC felt more or less situated in her world and circumstances. In this book, Harrow is lost and confused herself, she's been thrust into a scary and unfamiliar situation and she cannot find purchase in her surroundings. I won't go into more detail for fear of spoiling things, but with this in mind you will correctly guess that "wtf!?" was my main mood.

STILL. You just have to embrace the confusion. Maybe get a reading buddy to scream at. There will be questions. There will be ~feelings~. And in between it all, you will slowly start to fill in some of the blanks Gideon the Ninth left, and you will end up with a much clearer picture of the Locked Tomb universe. A fuckton of questions too, don't be mistaken, but now I feel I understand the way this world works a lot better, if not some of the particular incidents.

I laughed a lot, bc Tamsyn Muir is a comedy queen. I cried, bc Harrow the Ninth is about grief, for others and for oneself, that rips you apart. I lost sleep, bc the story is addictive and there came a point where I gasped every other page. I said "I'll go to bed when I finish this chapter" and yelled "wtf is going on!!!" more times than I can count. As a language and English geek, I adored the richness of the writing. And as a queer woman I was delighted and felt *seen*. 

Gideon, first flower of my House. Harrow, my umbral sovereign. How to live without you until the publication of Nona the Ninth?