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scarlettskyes's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Torture, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny
findmeinunderland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
First of all the cover is just so aesthetically pleasing, even more so after actually falling in love with the characters…
I kind of equate it to being about Alex’s tattoos. Alex’s most prominent tattoos are the snakes that wrap around her collar bones, and I feel like they would be the epitome of her shame when it comes to her tattoos, it’s the most blatant in the macabre nature of the art on her body, spider webs are a more common choice, other things could be given an alternative explanation of importance, but not many people, especially those within the stereotypes of ivy league alumnus, have two huge black snakes curling around their shoulders. I love the symbolism of it being on the cover of the book because Alex used the stereotypes of her outward appearance to avoid attachment, when given the opportunity to flee her environment she covers them as a way of separating herself from the memories she had of being ostracized. Her tattoos later become a different kind of cover, an armor.
I even saw some people say Bardugo tried to hard to be dark in her content by making Alex’s trauma explicit but failed to give the character any justice, but my response is that the entire present day timeline is Alex’s justice…. Alex was abused and violated by something the most privileged people she knew saw as a gift. It is a widely known horrible part of our reality that the world doesn’t believe or protect victims, it doesn’t protect women. The fact that so many people saw her trauma even if she didn’t want them to and completely wrote her off so they didn’t have to deal with what it meant, is the most realistic part of her character. She was poor, a woman of color, homeless at more than one point in her life…I can think of nothing more realistic that her not getting feasible, malleable justice. But to say she got none at all would be wrong, Alex’s justice was cosmic and metaphorically and more meaningful than some get in the real world, she gained a different sense of self worth imprinting herself onto Tara’s circumstances, fighting to find out what happened to tara meant acknowledging that she and Alex were one in the same— at least in The sense that the world values them the same, she became attached to Tara because she saw herself in a dead body that no one else seemed to care about and couldn’t help but imprint on that experience. Alex knew the world valued her and Tara the same, she saw the parallels between Tara and herself and yet she still came to the conclusion that Tara deserved better than what she got in death, and in life. Those thoughts are more kind than Alex was to herself on a normal basis, and maybe they wouldn’t have meant anything if Alex wasn’t the narrator but she was, she was the one aligning their value, and ultimately accepting that she deserved better than what she got out of life…Alex’s justice was aligning her value with every victim belbam took and saying that they all deserved better.
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Murder, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Abandonment, Animal death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
makahlo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction
jacintha_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Drug use
Moderate: Gaslighting
egurgens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I definitely recommend reading this book, but be warned there are several difficult topics. Drug use, sexual assault, graphic death, bullying, and more. However, the cast of characters is pretty diverse; not perfect, but definitely better than other books I have read. The magic is pretty realistic, as its use is modern, and takes place in the modern world. No hidden world, just a secret society of magic users, that can use it for good or bad.
So many plot twists, you end up hanging onto every word. Friends are enemies, enemies are your greatest allies. No one is who you think they are. Bardugo does POV and time changes well, as each is labelled at the beginning of the chapter. Highly recommend reading this book. Realistic fantasy, secret societies, magic, ghosts, monsters, just so many good things.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, and Vomit
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
<i>Ninth House</i> was totally unlike any other Bardugo books I’ve read, and not entirely in a good way. While I am okay with some violence, the gore in this book was too much for me, not to mention sexual assault (definitely check out the trigger warnings before you pick this up!). I’m also generally not a big fan of heavy themes of drugs and addiction. But there were some good points, namely, the main characters. Darlington, Dawes, Turner and even Alex made me love them despite their (many) flaws. I also liked that it was continually pointed out that no one should have the kind of power that exists in this world, especially not a bunch of college students. Most YA/NA brushes over that, but it felt especially necessary to acknowledge here. I like a lot of the magical systems Bardugo created: the rites and rules for ghosts were super interesting.
Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
Minor: Stalking and Suicidal thoughts
brookeasmith17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Alcohol, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
llsugarspicell's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction
Moderate: Sexual content and Gaslighting
Minor: Racism
linesiunderline's review against another edition
- 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
Perhaps I’ll start by saying that it’s the book I almost gave away multiple times since I bought it a couple of years back. “Why did I buy this? This is not my kind of book?” But… I would turn to the first page and read the opening lines and think, “Hmm… I like her writing,” and skip it back on the shelf. And so it went, for over a year.
What finally pulled me in? A great review from a reader I trust, and the audiobook. The narration is amazing.
What you might like about this one:
• atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere
• world building that creates an alternative Yale universe that is pretty accessible to someone who doesn’t typically read this genre
• vivid characterization - smart memorable cast of characters
• spookiness that can turn to for real scariness on a dime
• sharp writing, and even some humour
What might put you off:
• ALL the trigger warnings, like pretty much every trigger warning you can think of - it’s one dark book
• there were some moments where I got a little lost, but that could’ve been the shifting timelines on audio
• Alex is super damaged (understandably so) and as a result she makes decisions at times that make her difficult to like - so if you need to like a MC, this might be a hard read for you
All this to say, I was entirely wrapped up in this book and it was a perfect October read for me. It transported me and creeped me out and has strong writing and stellar atmosphere. And if there was a second one in the series I’d already be reading it.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Rape
foxgloveinspace's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit