Reviews with content warning for Violence - Ninth House

Ninth House 4/5
I liked this book. The mystery wasn’t the most interesting at first, I preferred the mystery of Alex’s past more. But it does a good job wrapping up and explaining everything, and you can see where most things are coming from after the reveal which is always a key part of any good mystery. One thing did come out of nowhere at the end but it made for an interesting plot point. Overall the book’s plot is interesting, the characters are fleshed out, and the prose is decent. Pretty good! Would definitely recommend for lovers of mystery.

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callmesheets's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

The plot starts out a little slow and it took me about a quarter of the way through to gain an understanding of the world building. However, the pace picks up pretty quickly closer to the halfway point of the book. I found it also takes some time to get to know the main characters and start caring about them but I think the author does a great job of building the suspense and shares easter eggs about the plot and characters throughout.

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pauline_90's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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1.0

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kynajayne's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Alex is the morally grey heroine we all kind of want to be, I think, in a way. I liked the magic system of this book and the ending twist was very out of nowhere, but in the best way.

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sanktjosten's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

this book was absolutely phenomenal. this is definitely one of my favourite leigh bardugo books, the raw realism of it made it bone chilling and an intensely loveable read. im not often a dark academia reader but this might just have to change that. i thought the premise was super fascinating, and the rites that each of the houses perform are super realistic to what would happen if that kind of magic was accessible. following alex, who is very much an outsider to the yale prestige crowd, is an incredible narrative choice to point out the way elitism operates in high level academic institutions. the book makes such a perfect criticism of the lack of moral integrity and dehumanization of the middle class that takes place in wealthy schools. being part of lethe, the ninth house meant to protect the safety of students and outsiders from the occult activities of yale should be a righteous position, but it shows exactly how elitism operates and how wealthy institutions will prioritize profit and their own benefit over the causes they're meant to achieve. i also love the characters! alex, darlington and dawes are all so loveable and i am so excited to see where they go.

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szuum's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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