I do acknowledge that I didn’t write much last week. It was a week where I was tired and I hadn’t really read a lot, so I decided to take a small week off of writing to give myself some time to recuperate and make sure I was still enjoying what I am doing. And I am, don’t worry, just needed a week to rest and calm down.
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
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*Published August 4, 2020*
This was such a good book!!!! I was so confused and into the story and it just made me want to scream!!! Then I get to towards the end and it made so much sense!! I really need to reread this book and most likely listen to it because I need to know what Harrow’s voice sounds like!

Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to the sensational, USA Today best-selling novel Gideon the Ninth, turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor’s haunted space station.
She answered the Emperor’s call.
She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.
In victory, her world has turned to ash.
After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman’s shoulders.
Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath — but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.
Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor’s Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?
This book was so good! I will admit, I was confused for the majority of the book, but I wasn’t so confused as to not continue reading. I knew there was something hinky going on, but the hinky didn’t make sense until about 3/4 of the way through and once I got there, I screamed! It all made sense! And I started to connect all the dots, all the things previously started to make sense! I won’t tell you what’s going on because spoilers, but seriously, if you’re going to read Harrow the Ninth, you won’t forgive me for posting spoilers.
One thing that made this book confusing is that the narration switches between second person and third person and the timeline is all over the place. It switches between Harrow being on God’s ship as they start to work on destroying the dying planets, and Harrow being back at Canaan House where she was summoned to figure out how to become a Lyctor. As we bounce between these two timelines, you start to figure out that there seems to be a difference between what we read in Gideon the Ninth and what we’re reading now in Harrow the Ninth. This discrepancy is there, but you can tell that there is something interesting going on so you keep reading. You can’t not keep reading if just so you know why there was a discrepancy, why there is confusion, and WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!
For me, once I got to the reason for the discrepancy, to why there was weirdness, it was the best part of the whole book! I loved that part of the book and it made the beginning of the book make sense and I enjoyed the book 1000% more! I was starting to laugh out loud at certain points and if anything, knowing the reason of the discrepancy made the book so much better! I really need to own this book series now because space lesbians and laughter. Now I need to get my hands on Alecto the Ninth but that’s not coming out till 2022 at the very earliest!
Are there ever good twists in books? Do you enjoy twists in books, or do you think they are just to “subvert expectations?” Comment below and let me know what you think about twists and expectations.