Reviews tagging 'Classism'

La Neuvième Maison by Leigh Bardugo

177 reviews

serena_hien's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault

overbookedmama's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 Alex is a 20-year-old HS dropout who gets plucked from her hospital bed as the sole survivor of a vicious murder to become a member of Lethe, a prestigious watchdog organization set up to keep Yale’s eight secret societies (houses of The Veil) in line. Most students at Yale are selected for their academic achievements. Alex can see ghosts (Grays) and the higher-ups have decided this particular gift is useful to exploit. If you strip back the dark academia setting, secret societies, occult, and paranormal, Ninth House is a murder mystery at its core. If you get wrapped up in conspiracy theories, you could have a lot of fun with this book. Or it might keep you up reading all night trying to put the pieces together and guess who’s to blame. It took me the first four chapters to figure out the structure of the novel but once I got used to the world-building and flashbacks, I found a good rhythm with the book. I don’t think it’s for everyone, though. Alex is an outsider and she’s the real highlight of the story. Her grit made so many aspects of the story feel raw. The entire story is dark and unsettling but in a way that you just can’t look away. You’ll be fighting for a resolution alongside the whole cast of characters. I did not see the twist at the end coming. I never do. I’m eager to pick up Hell Bent next! Psst… Check the content warnings and be wary of any scene with a bathroom. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mylazybones's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Leigh Bardugo has a way of spinning a mystery that makes me forget i’m turning pages and has me trying to resist the urge to let my eyes skip around the page to see what happens next. The beginning is rough, she throws a lot of names at you, but the web of misdirection she weaves is unmatched

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Bullying and Murder

Minor: Racism and Classism

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

At first, I really wasn’t sure I would like this book. The start was rather slow - I respect these types of books have to “set the stage” for what is to come, but it can still be a bit of a slog to get through, and I was having a hard time getting through certain chapters and not knowing what details were “important” to remember. Once I hit about 30% of the way through, though, it was really off to the races! Similarly, the time jumps threw me off at the beginning and I had a tough time calibrating where I was in the story, but this becomes much easier as the book goes on. I ended up really appreciating the back and forth nature and how it set the stage for the grand finale/reveal towards the end. 
This book leans hard into dark magic, occult, rituals, and sacrifices, which I originally wasn’t a fan of, but I got absolutely hooked.
I really love how the author explored the concept of power and class throughout this book. It’s a major theme done in explicit ways, but was also sprinkled throughout in small ways. It did a beautiful job of examining how power is gained, maintained, and expanded amongst those at the top, and the little, if any, repercussions they face for heinous crimes - especially if committed amongst those who are seen as the bottom rungs of society.
I even found myself super intrigued by the occult and dark magic by the end and appreciate this book for opening me up to new genres and types of books.
I am really excited to read “Hell Bent” now!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Cancer and Gun violence

While this book isn’t really horror, I would say it’s horror adjacent in many ways, so folks should know that going in!

circe813's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mc_castle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I don't know if I enjoyed it, but I was GRIPPED. It's was a blend of dark academia, fantasy, a commentary on the upper classes and a murder mystery. Everything bad that could happen to someone happened to the protagonist but with ghosts involved. Also was interesting pacing as it wasn't linear storytelling, especially at the beginning where you're thrown into a weird future telling ritual, where a group of students reach into a man's innards to predict the stock market prices. With NO context. I was very confused at first. Also why do college kids have so much power? Read to find out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

marg0tte1109's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism

frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book has everything I love: fully realized characters, dark moments, fantasy, and budding friendship. What it doesn’t have, which is refreshing, is romance. This is what A Discovery of Witches should have been, and could have been, if Matthew was a differently written character.

There are graphic scenes, though, and a couple descriptions left me feeling sick.

I couldn’t give it five stars, because I felt the prologue and first chapter didn’t draw me in, so much as confuse me. However, chapter two helped and I found after that, the timelines were fascinating, not just confusing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

fionamclary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The premise and plot of this book were excellently executed. Alex was a great main character, and I loved how she had a strong moral compass that still lead her to do grotesque things.

A couple minor but significant complaints:

The way Alex reacted to Darlington's behavior at the Manuscript party seemed odd considering she is a survivor of SA. While you could argue that she is sympathetic and understanding that the drug he got was a form of SA as well, considering how it affected him, that still doesn't make it reasonable that she'd just be fine with everything. This was jarring amidst Bardugo's otherwise decently sensitive and realistic portrayal of Alex as a SA survivor.

I found that Dawes was autism-coded, and that the way Alex describes her initially indicated that Alex dislikes her for her autistic traits. She seems annoyed by her adherence to rules, alienated by her single-minded focus, put off by her ever-present headphones and favoring the same comfortable clothes.

When Alex does finally get closer to Dawes, it's due to shared trauma, not because she sees that there's nothing wrong with the aspects of her that she was initially put off by.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness

oleaceae_18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

I thought the premise of the book was really interesting with secret societies and ghosts and things. I found it really hard to get into though, I thought the beginning was hard to follow and a lot of information overload. I honestly might read this a second time now that I've finished it and I think I'll probably like it a lot more because I'll know what's going on. The beginning switches between two POVs, but I feel like it was done in a way that was just more confusing than really adding to the storytelling, I actually liked the book way more after it just became Alex's POV.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail