Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, Book 2)

Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, Book 2)
Tamsyn Muir, 2020

Premise: Sequel to Gideon the Ninth. Harrow has survived the trials of Cannan House. Sort of. Now she must train to fight a monster that can kill the God-Emperor of the Nine Houses... unless nothing is as it seems.

Man, this book is awesome, but it asks a lot of you. 

The first time I read it, it was like a fantastic psychological horror movie. The book switches back and forth between the present-day Harrow and flashbacks. Only the flashbacks don't match what happened in the previous book. You, the reader, know that something is wrong. Something is askew. Is it in Harrow's mind? What does this mean? What actually happened then? What is happening now?

The answers are wilder and weirder than I initially could have imagined. It's fantastic.

The third time I read this book, it was as an audiobook, which made me slow down and really appreciate all the details and character beats. The emotional payoffs in this one are amazing. 

I'm glad I read it both ways, actually. The print book occasionally has really interesting font choices that give you clues and information, only some of which translate to audio.

And you STILL don't really get explicit answers to the larger questions about the setting I was struggling with in book one until the next book. (Of course, I should have been able to answer some of them already if I'd been thinking and paying attention.)

And that's ok with me. What a ride this series is. I haven't really sunk my teeth into a series like this in a long time. 

5 Stars - An Awesome Book