Reddit Post by u/butchfeminist on June 13th 2022

Hot Tomb Summer is starting to boil over, heretics and nunlets! This week we’re about snacks, a hot bath, paranoia, and several kinds of awful violence.

Chapter 21

After completing the avulsion trial and returning to their rooms, Gideon wakes to another set of passive aggressive post-its from Harrow. Camilla (the cav of the Sixth) checks up on Gideon (at Harrow’s request—which tells Gideon something about the seriousness of her concern). Contrary to expectations, though, Cam’s convinced that Gideon is fine. When they go to get some food, they find Coronabeth asking Teacher for her own hatch key. No dice: only one key is given to each House’s cav. Ahem. Of course Corona’s pissed—she wants to be the cav!! We learn that there’s only one copy of each trial/study key, and that Magnus’s keyring is missing. Palamedes performs psychometry, I think trying to discern more about the keyring from things it touched on Magnus’s body (wedding band, pocket lining), and he reveals that among Magnus and Abigail’s injuries were fragments of exogenous bone.

Chapter 22

While Harrow’s out, presumably still investigating the study from the avulsion trial, Gideon takes a bath. Ahh! It kind of freaks her out though, and also her hair dries stood up on end. (Butch hair problems solidarity!) When Harrow comes back to their quarters to crash, Gideon decides to go out on her own, only to be accosted by Isaac (the Fourth House necromancer)—they collect Coronabeth from the skeleton-refurbished saltwater swimming pool and head to the incinerator. Jeannemary (Fourth House cav) announces they’ve found human remains in the incinerator, and things start to unravel. Naberius is a skeptical little snot about it, but Coronabeth curbs him: “Babs, shut your mouth and fix your hair.” Love it whenever Naberius gets taken down a notch. The crowd breaks up because it’s time for the Seventh House (Protesilaus) to duel the Eighth (Colum). Camilla comes to collect Gideon after Pro fails to show, and they discover that Dulcinea has slipped and fallen, alone, in the rain-leaking conservatory.

Chapter 23

Dulcinea is set up for recovery in a room with the priests. Everyone else reconvenes at the incinerator, and all the necromancers inspect the ashes, since the missing Seventh House cav has elicited serious concern. Ianthe assesses that there are not one but two bodies in the incinerator, and that their deaths predate the arrival of the House pairs at Canaan House. Are you ready for shit to go sideways? Silas has apparently convinced Dulcinea to let him "hold" her keys for her. The Second House, driven by an apparent desire for order, makes the huge mistake of trying to pick on the little guy: they challenge the Sixth House to duel for their keys. Coronabeth tries to intervene, but Ianthe, who is horrible, prevents her. The duel between Marta and Camilla is absolutely exhilarating: we already know from Gideon's initial meeting that Camilla is a serious threat, but everyone else seems to wildly underestimate her. Palamedes tells her how to play it: "Go loud." She slices, bashes, kicks the Second House cav in the knee, then yanks her arm right out of its socket. Judith yields, and gets a furious scolding from Palamedes, who demands she hand over the Second's single key. And just when you think you can relax now it's over: freaking Naberius challenges the Sixth again.

Chapter 24

Coronabeth once again objects, but caves to Ianthe, who supports Naberius's challenge. Gideon won't stand for it, though. She straps on her knuckle knives, and Harrow finally seems to share her wavelength, announcing that the Ninth House will represent the Sixth. In a surprisingly unselfish statement of principle, Harrow pronounces: "Death first to vultures and scavengers." When Naberius balks as the Fourth House also lines up to defend the Sixth--"I should've stayed home and gotten married"--Ianthe clobbers him with "As though anyone was even offering." Lol. As the party breaks up, the Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Houses talk keys, trials, studies, and the inference that the whole thing should result in a Lyctoral “megatheorem.” Palamedes vests his trust in the Ninth House, and (but?) the first words Gideon speaks in front of the Fourth House teens are to nickname Palamedes Sextus “Sex Pal.” Cue the horror movie music, because the gang decides they should split up: Harrow, Palamedes, and Camilla will go guard Dulcinea while Gideon and the teens search the hatch for Pro.

Chapter 25

Ugh.

If you like tension, paranoia, sweat, darkness, threatening messages written in blood on the walls, and horrific violence, here’s your chapter. In the basement, despite Isaac’s wards, Gideon and the teens encounter a massive, heinous bone construct. Isaac, perhaps suspecting that this is the thing that killed Magnus and Abigail, stands and fights. But not for very long. He’s skewered. Gideon has to drag Jeannemary away from her murdered necromancer, and looking for a safe place to hide, takes her to the avulsion trial’s study. The door’s hidden, and Gideon’s got the only key. But when Gideon, briefly, dozes, she jolts awake to find Jeannemary’s been horrifically murdered, too.

Thoughts/Takeaways/Discussion Starters

I accidentally spoiled myself on my first readthrough by opening to the wrong chapter, yet I was (and am) still absolutely shattered by the death of the Fourth House teens. Reading usually isn’t triggering for me in the way visual depictions of violence can be, but this hits different. It’s a good time to remind everyone to take care of yourselves. Language that can touch and move us can also wound us.

The duel is a huge turning point in the story. For one thing, it demonstrates that Cam is perhaps the baddest ass in all of Canaan House. It also condenses the atmosphere at Canaan House into one of suspicion, withholding, and betrayal--but against this, trust between Harrow and Gideon actually seems to be growing.

Any first-time readers out there? How's everyone keeping up with the reading schedule? (Anyone unearthing this thread a myriad after original posting?? Say hi!)

SPOILERS BELIOW

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Re-read Discussion Thoughts

• Why are there no rules to this game?? I want to hear from the Teacher conspiracists. What does God really want by sending all these people to Canaan House with basically no instructions? Does he actually even want new Lyctors?
• Are Cytherea’s plans evolving? If she killed the Fifth House to stop them from discovering her identity, does she kill the Fourth House to stop them from investigating the incinerator? Kinda late tbh. But it certainly sews chaos and distrust.
• Does Cytherea like... put Gideon to sleep? At first I thought maybe she spared Gideon (because.... gay crush??), but after reading HtN, post-avulsion trial, does Cyth doubt that Gideon can die? And if so, why try to kill her later--at the end of GtN?

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END OF SPOILERS

Link to full discussion on Reddit with Comments