Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

316 reviews

imaginaryalchemist's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

I went into this book blind, only having heard from others that I was good. I was immediately intrigued by this world of secret societies and dark rituals. The mystery aspects were very enjoyable as well, and I loved how they weaved into the main story. 

I also enjoyed how the answers were revealed over time, and the full picture had to be pieced together. I was constantly wondering about what  happened in Alex's past and what had happened to Darlington, and everything was answered in a satisfying way. 

I loved Alex as a protagonist. She's rough around the edges and such a smart ass, which made her interactions with the other characters entertaining. 

I bought and started the sequel immediately after finishing it, and am looking forward to the next installment!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit

crotchoxide's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Alcohol

as610's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body horror and Death

Minor: Drug abuse and Murder

quinnpjd930'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

mooxine's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit

andermar6's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder

katemarie99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

2024 UPDATE: 
Bumping up from 3.75 stars to a nice even 5. Loved this so much more the second time around. So much complexity, so many layers. The themes really came through and I will be thinking about this book for a long time. Trigger warnings: sexual assault, rape, gore. 

Kinda gave me Addie LaRue vibes, but this succeeded where that one fell flat for me. I'd like a sequel, please. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

mollyelyn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Brilliantly executed, wonderfully dark. Starts slow, but oh my gosh the twists had me reeling. Those last 100 pages or so were so captivating, i couldn’t put it down! I grew to love the characters and deeply feel for them. Leigh Bardugo has an excellent way of crafting complex, twisted protagonists who are certainly not good people (in any sense of the word) but are just so very human

(except when they’re not)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Excrement, and Vomit

madinhoa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

vainnerj'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? Yes

4.0

I’ll admit I was skeptical at first but the story slowly drew me in. It wasn’t until I got to the usually cliche murder mystery plot device that the plot had started to roll and kept gathering steam. Fell in love with the characters and grew to enjoy the magic system. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, and Vomit