The Locked Tomb Trilogy

[lunabee34]

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is splendid and glorious, and I loved every single second of it.

I can't really talk about how much I adore this book without spoilers, so I will say only that I am very happy with where the story goes in this second book and really looking forward to what might happen in the third.



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I love this book so much. I knew Gideon wasn't dead! Hurrah!

I also really, really love getting to see all the characters from the first book again. Abigail Pent is a marvel.

I'm not quite sure I understand exactly what's going on. I think I understand what's made up and what's not, but I'm unsure about the Harrow is insane part. I get that most of that stems from her tinkering with her brain to erase Gideon. But I'm unclear. Is the whole Harrow hallucinates and hears things and whatever a thing that actually happens back to her childhood or a manifestation of her brain surgery? And what about The Body? Has Harrow been seeing her all along, or does The Body just manifest after she does the brain surgery?

I guess The Body is Alecto. I'm not sure what to think about her since Augustine and Mercy think she's evil.

I'm also guessing that what is going to happen is that Harrow has somehow woken up in a new body and that Gideon will get to keep hers. Or wait. The first book said that Gideon's body was missing, so maybe it's been preserved and everyone will get back into their right suits eventually.

I hate that Mercy and Augustine die. :(

Totally not surprised that God is a bad guy.

Really, really looking forward to the conclusion.

Comments

[kore]

I LOVED THIS BOOK, SFM. I loved Gideon, but mainly for Gideon, but this book was so meta and talk about unreliable narrators and it really is a long exploration of grief and trauma and memory, with none left beef. I adored it.

Is the whole Harrow hallucinates and hears things and whatever a thing that actually happens back to her childhood or a manifestation of her brain surgery? And what about The Body? Has Harrow been seeing her all along, or does The Body just manifest after she does the brain surgery?

I had to look up some wikis when I first read it, lol, but I think when Harrow opened the tomb of the Body/Undying One (where God's death is?), she could do it because she had fought with Gideon, and had God's DNA under her nails. That is why he was so certain she couldn't open it. Then The Body literally haunts her for the rest of her life, which is why Gideon tells Ianthe they have no chance with her (sob). I don't think Harrow hallucinates other than that.

[lunabee34]

Oh, oh, oh!!!!!! I get it now based on this comment and the one you made upthread. You are so right about why she was able to open the tomb. And I bet that not long after seeing Gideon's eyes, those wheel are going to start turning in God's eyes as well.

Yeah, I think I'm going to take all the parts where she has Ortus confirm things for her and thinks she hears voices as a child and etc as part of the brain surgery making a ruse for her to cover Gideon, but I'm going to take the part about her hallucinating the body as real from the time she broke in the tomb.

[kore]

I think I'm going to take all the parts where she has Ortus confirm things for her and thinks she hears voices as a child and etc as part of the brain surgery making a ruse for her to cover Gideon

I think that's right! And when she sees Gideon the First her brain keeps shorting that out, too. I really liked that, it was a nice clue.

but I'm going to take the part about her hallucinating the body as real from the time she broke in the tomb.

Which means poor Harrow has been living with The Body since she was a TINY CHILD. OMFG poor Harrow. (I over-identify with Harrow so much, lol.) And I think the Sleeper is also in her head? The whole thing with the sword, and then when the sword goes into Cytherea the First's body that's how Sleeper/Wake gets out. Plus Gideon in her head. Harrow is super-haunted.

[lunabee34]

I think you're right.

Poor Harrow.

*pets her*

[gloss]

I think Wake/The Sleeper is in the sword, thus haunting Harrow. (Maybe that's what you meant; now I'm suddenly doubting myself, sorry.)

[lunabee34]

Yeah, I think that must be it. She's in the sword, and that's why it feels so hateful to Harrow. But then she gets out of the sword and possesses Cytherea's body.