I was sure the books were the opposite of my aesthetic, too! And yet now I am writing sad stories about sad skeletons, so.

Harrow does get A LOT more fun, but the start is just so numbed by grief that I can see how hard it would be to continue reading, especially if you're fresh off Gideon's energy.

its underlying philosophy on the world. Does the author think the world is an endlessly terrible place in which people do nothing except betray and hurt each other? Probably not for me, then. But if there's a sense of - whatever the opposite of grimdark is; it doesn't even have to be optimism, it doesn't need clear good guys or a victory at the end or even anyone surviving at all, it just has to give me the feeling that the author thinks there are such things as courage and decency, and that these are things worth having, even if the world pushes back.
This is so well-put and articulates pretty much how I feel, too. I've always found the opposition of grimdark/hopepunk incredibly facile, but a character like Gideon, who's loyal and caring (and funny as hell) is catnip.