Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

La nona casa by Leigh Bardugo

106 reviews

naliscribbles's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kaycie51782's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This books needs some content warnings. There's domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual humiliation.

This book wasn't at all what I was expecting, but that wasn't a bad thing. It's about secret societies at Yale. The story is well written. The jumps between timelines are well done, though there were a few times I got lost and had to back up to figure out what happened.

The story was very interesting: what if you could see ghosts and no one believed you, so it ruins your life... Until it gets you a free ride to a premier Ivy League University.

The plot moves along at a good pace. I never really felt like it was dragging, but it also wasn't action all the time. There's magic, ghosts, intrigue, humans being humans (for good and bad), college parties, murder investigations. It's a fascinating story.

And the ending? Perfect. I went to the library the minute it opened the next day to get the sequel! 

It's a good read, but heed the content warnings. They are in context with the story. They aren't necessary (and I'm increasingly annoyed that they are used as plot devices) but they don't stick out as egregious either.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, and Sexual harassment

readrabbitwrite's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was SO SLOW. The amount of world building was important but it could probably have been done in 1/3 of the length. The story dragged and dragged and dragged. It finally got really good in the last 15% or so and now I'm rather annoyed to find that I'm invested and need to finish the series. I hope the rest of the books move a little faster.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

hellofromdylan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Sexual violence, Blood, and Classism

christina95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

The overall story of the book is really interesting and written very well, but there are of few scenes - mainly the 12 year old Alex butterfly sequence which I felt was really not needed in the book and spoiled my enjoyment of the novel. I would highly suggest checking the trigger warning for the book, as there is plenty of them.

Putting that to the side the murder mystery story was really intriguing and the magic system (for lack of a better word) was really cool too! The jumping timeline was a little hard to grasp at first but helped keep the story moving. The twists and turns at the end of the novel gives the book a great ending and an eagerness to read the next in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

eilif_has_no_gender's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I don't remember much of the book due to reading it two or three years ago.

What I do remember is that I heavily suggest is CHECK THE CONTENT WARNINGS!!! It is really dark. It was also confusing when I first read it but probably because it was above my reading level at the time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying and Pedophilia

masajankovic's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Excrement, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, and Medical trauma

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

Writing: 5⭐️/5 

The writing in this novel is stunning. Bardugo moves easily from highly controlled and crafted prose to snippy, sassy quips with ease. Part of the reason it took me a few hours longer to read than I would have guessed is because I spent so much time writing brilliant, eloquent quotes into my notes app. Absolutely stunning writing. 

Characters: 5⭐️/5

The characters felt real and fully developed. I enjoyed how much time was spent seeing characters from other character’s perspective, giving us insight into how each character presents themselves, as well as their internal bias and judgement they push onto others. Certain characters that, at the beginning felt fairly flat, were given time and space to showcase their personalities later, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also thoroughly enjoyed the way the female relationships were explored in this novel. The care in which these relationships were engaged made me very happy both as a reader and a woman.

Plot: 4.5⭐️/5 

**Spoilers below**

I took one issue with the plot, which was the employment of a rape scene. Personally, I felt this scene was unnecessary both to the development of our main character, as well as the progression of the plot. This particular scene didn’t really fit for me and could have been written in a different way to give the same effect. My main takeaway from the scene was that it mostly read as an easy way to give our MC “trauma,” which could have been done in a number of more interesting and less triggering ways.

Otherwise, the overarching plot was entirely enjoyable to read and kept me thoroughly engaged until the end. 

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Lovers of dark academia, fantasy and/or magical murder mystery novels
• Those who want an adult fantasy read with a spark of romance and little to no spice
• Readers wanting an engaging world and well-established magic system
• Someone looking for a strong fantasy read with strong female relationships 

Content Warnings? 

• Rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual content, gore, blood, vomit, medical trauma, death, abandonment, drug use, alcohol use, excrement, injury, pedophilia, 

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5

I was engaged until the final page. Excited for the sequel. 

Final Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Classism

motylovesbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

This was a reread for me in preparation for the second book in the series. Im glad I decided to read this one again before jumping into the second one there were many details that I had forgotten about the plot. I enjoyed hanging out with this characters again and loved Darlington all over again haha can't wait to see more of him in the second book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship