Well, here we are. This is a review that’s been a long time coming, insofar as this book was originally recommended to me five years ago as being up my alley because of the sense of humor as well as the sapphic romance of it all. On both those counts, it delivered somewhat, the first more so than the second. Gideon’s sense of humor worked for me—it’s irreverent, it’s sharp, it’s snarky—and I never got bored of that. I also enjoyed the subplots that were sapphic romance edged, both via Gideon/Dulcinea and Gideon/Harrow. The latter pairing’s relationship at the beginning, their initial fight in particular, captivated me, and for a while sustained my interest.

However, what I wish someone—anyone—had told me before I went in is really simple: this is a vibes book. Yes, it’s about Gideon and Harrow, yes it’s a locked room mystery, and yes it’s about the quest to become a Lyctor, but expecting to close this book with a thorough understanding of the world is a mistake, one that I walked into by virtue of the book length.

Unfortunately, because of my lack of understanding, I found myself really frustrated about 60% of the way into the book because I felt like I should understand the universe better and I absolutely thought I should have a better grasp on the cast. But at that point, I was listening via audiobook, which I unfortunately cannot recommend, not because the audiobook is bad—it’s great, the sass level via audio is fantastic—but because there’s no way to go back and refer to the cast list unless one goes out of their way to obtain it elsewhere. This is made a much bigger problem by Muir’s insistence on having MULTIPLE ways to refer to every character. Gideon alone is referenced as “Gideon, Nav, Ninth, The Ninth Cavalier, Griddle (a nickname I still don’t understand the source of, which kind of galls me, not going to lie)” plus others/variants I’m sure I’m forgetting and a variety of abusive terms from Harrow for a good portion of the book.

Ultimately, I read the last 40% or so in one sitting via a physical copy, mostly because I just wanted to get it over with. It makes me sad that my experience above (and my brain doing the thing it does where I inevitably struggle with very/over hyped things if I’m not enjoying them to my max ability/to the level I think I should be) made finishing feel almost like a chore or a slog, BUT I actually do think this last chunk did redeem itself somewhat.

For one, I did find it much easier to get through. In part, this was because I’d had a few conversations about my frustration with people who had finished and was basically told, “being confused is part of the ride, just enjoy the vibes” which made it easier. Another good portion of that ease, was because I had the cast list in front of me and kept flipping back to it every time a character was mentioned to be sure I knew EXACTLY who they were/which house they were from and whether they were the adept or the cavalier, so I will give credit where it was due; having the cast list is helpful. That said, given that this is a several hundred page book and the cast hits its largest point relatively early on before gradually starting to shrink, I don’t really think this is good worldbuilding or good story writing. Again, see my gripe about way too many names for the same character.

For two, I appreciated the fact that there were answers. Not enough to truly satisfy me, like it galls me that I listened to/read several hundred pages worth of words and still have very little understanding of the nine houses or how to distinguish them, but the locked room mystery of it all was somewhat solved, which, you know, was gratifying, so it could be worse, I guess.

Ultimately, before I understood that this is a vibes book, I was going to give this two stars; I was NOT having a good time. But accepting that this is not a book where you’re meant to walk out feeling immersed in the world and satisfied with your understanding helped me let go of that and make my peace with this book. I had an okay time. I would have had a better one if I’d known this was something other than I expected it to be going in.

I’d like to think that maybe things will become clearer in Harrow the Ninth, but I’m skeptical that the ‘handwave, it’s vibes’ aspect of this will be any different (please someone tell me if I’m wrong, I’d love to know if I should walk in expecting another vibes read!). Either way I will probably pick up the next installment in the series, though I’m certainly not rushing to do so RIGHT NOW (though I also don’t think I’ll have to wait another five years to finally be in the mood to engage with this world again). I also might consider rereading this again when it’s a little less fresh with the understanding I now have and see if that improves the experience. Either way, I’m happy to take this off my TBR.