Harrow the Ninth follows Harrowhark Nonagesimus as she has a psychotic episode on the worlds worst space station filled with old people who hate her and an ugly white woman who won't leave her alone. She asked god: Can you bring my dead butch back? And God said, "I am not enough LMFAO" and the rest was history.

But seriously though, i think this is the best book in the series so far. Hands down. I know it's reputation is pretty mixed because it is quite the confusing read on first pass but I feel like the sheer amount of layers this novel has combined with its beautiful prose and heart wrenching scenes more than makes up for it. Harrowhark is a character who if you did not like in the last book you will at least come out of this one sympathetic if not filled with complete grief on behalf of. Thankfully for me, she was my favorite character in Gideon the Ninth and i went into the series knowing i would adore her lol. Her struggles in HtN are devastating. seeing her so vulnerable after being witness to the sheer amount of power she had prior is just ughhhh. ugh. dude. I think this is the book where Tamsyn Muirs skills as a writer really shine as well. Like, love her or hate her you have to admit that she does some Extremely Cool Narrative Tricks. Maybe so cool that she's even allowed to make unfunny tumblr references in the text. But also maybe not

And there are also just so many good lines HtN. Honestly i think its funnier than Gideon the Ninth? If just for the fact that considering how heavy the tone is throughout all of it, when there is humor it hits so hard. Especially so with Ianthe whose dynamic with Harrow makes for sooo many memorable moments whether funny or a little nauseating. I also enjoy how HtN expands on characters in the prior book who may not have gotten a lot of time to shine, I'm really hoping we see them in Alecto. Below are some chickenscratch annotations. Just taking note of my thoughts during moments and such

I also own the illumicrate special edition of Harrow the Ninth! Heres a quick pic + the art inside the reversible dustjacket by Naomistares.