Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

La nona casa by Leigh Bardugo

148 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

I’ve never read a book like this before, and it’s so refreshingly different than Bardugo’s YA novels (which I also loved!). I loved the sinister magic/dark academia vibes and how the multiple storylines unfold throughout the book. Lots of great plot twists I didn’t see coming and made me gasp out loud. I wish I understood more about the history of the houses/general world-building, but I think the book is written intentionally vague with a trickle of information as you are thrust into this world within our world, which adds to the mysterious, sinister feel. It kept me hooked and I can’t wait to read the next book. Apparently, lots of this book (not the magic lol) is true too, and now I want to go to New Haven.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Police brutality, and Stalking

emmirosereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This book was alot to say the least. It's not my usual read but Leigh Bardugo is my favorite author and I wanted to give a try to her books outside of the Grishaverse. I knew this was dark going in, which was why I put it off for so long. I was afraid it was going to be too much for me and it might have been a little but I'm honestly hooked and definitely planning on reading the sequel. 

I will be honest and say I don't think I would have gotten through this book, let alone so quickly, if I hadn't listened to the audiobook. The audiobook narrator does a really good job and makes the experience really enjoyable. I love the dark and gritty world Leigh Bardugo builds for us in our world today. I think the way she writes and tells this story is unique in how she flip-flops between timelines, giving us little bits of information to trail us to the big finish. That being said there is a lot of world lore that gets thrown at us at once which can be a lot to take in. 
I love Alex Stern as our main character. She's tough and gritty and I love seeing how she fights to overcome and conquer everything in her life, despite everything going against her. I loved seeing how Leigh Bardugo deals with the themes throughout the book, of race and class. Of an underdog getting a second chance at life, but at what cost? Just seeing how she writes and deals with Alex Stern's moral grayness throughout this book. 

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart and is not a book for everyone but I'm glad I at least gave it a chance. I'm having mixed feelings about the ending but I'm interested to see what the sequel brings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury

kiwij96'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a fantastic adult debut by Leigh Bardugo, I was genuinely impressed. It was a bit of a rocky start with the time jumps but about 80 pages in it definitely came into its own. Great magic system in the contemporary world, great mysteries surrounding the characters, and the plot twists were brilliant.

The concept for this book is well thought-out: Alex is a young girl plagued by ghosts, both metaphorical and literal, who finds herself with a free pass to one of the most prestigious universities as a result of her gift, and also where finds herself in the midst of at least 3 murder mysteries. However, at times the chapters were too long, paragraphs too clunky or generally too wordy. Her roommate characters were also super forgettable and definitely plot devices.

I would highly recommend checking your trigger warnings for this because there are some heavy topics and triggering scenes in here if you are unprepared.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

themdash's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

erupoo's review against another edition

Got over half way through (10h12min, 7h51min left) and had to stop. Explicit and detailed descriptions of r*pe and SA, including with a child. Was very disappointed bc love Leigh Bardugo's other work but this ruined the book for me and prevented me finishing it. Would have been a great book otherwise. It was so unnecessary to include these.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Abandonment

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

brewdy_reader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 • 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢 •  ⁣𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 
𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 • 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 • 𝘋𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘖𝘝

I am so glad that Leigh Bardugo took the risk to do something 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 different, yet still epic fantasy - showcasing her incredible skill at creating complex worlds and magical systems, blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality. The magic was deeply layered making it fun to learn about each secret society -  all of which are actual real structures on Yale's campus! [side note: I have never wanted to go on a guided tour of New Haven until now.] The paranormal aspects were haunting, contributing to the overall dark academia vibes.

Ninth House is less accessible than her prior series like Shadow & Bone or Six of Crows (Grishaverse). Let me explain why: the first half of the book is spent world building, creating a fully immersive environment for the reader. There is a lot to take in between characters, their pseudonyms, dates & places, and timeline flashbacks, not to mention the houses themselves and what type of magic each uses. Then there is the main plot: an unsolved murder. I loved watching the case unfold alongside Galaxy "Alex" Stern, aka Dante. 

But you get my point: a lot of readers want fast action & not have to do a lot of thinking. This is a much slower build, but if you are willing to wait for it, you will see the brilliance of the writer at the end. I loved Centurion, Darlington, Dawes, and North. Simply amazing.

This is truly a dark fantasy, lots of trigger warnings: Rape, Sexual Violence, Death, Murder, Classism, Violence, Gore, Drug Use, Drug Abuse, Misogyny, Addiction, Blood, Body Shaming, Toxic Relationship, Adult/Minor Relationship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

joensign's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Racial slurs and Antisemitism

thalia16'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, and Excrement

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

tomasalbanez'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

MEU DEUS. QUE LIVRO BOM! A história te prende enquanto o mundo de Alex desabrocha na sua frente. A mudança de perspectivas é perfeita! No final eu mudei umas 5 vezes entre "como ela vai conseguir terminar a história nesse livro" e "como vai ter mais coisa pra ser contada no livro seguinte". Um começo maravilhoso, um meio intrigante e um final extremamente satisfatório. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts