Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Ninth House

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

316 reviews

praptireads's review against another edition

5.0

im a firm believer of the fact that if magic was to exist and if ghosts were real, they would function the way leigh bardugo wrote them in this book.

im going to just say this rn but i liked this as much as i liked six of crows. which is saying a lot. for entirely different reasons tho. this was a paranormal fantasy heavily entwined with the real world and also very much an adult novel. it was dark and sinister and honestly spooked me too much sometimes but i absolutely cannot and will not complain, because as always leigh bardugo served. the plot, the characters, the twists, the heart wrenching backstories, this had it all.

the concept itself had me hooked from the beginning. i loved alex, the mc, so so much. she's deeply flawed and messed up but has become one of my favourite protagonists. i also loved darlington because he is literally everything tbh. he's literally described as the golden boy. he's incredibly smart, charismatic and inquisitive, and above all, a gentleman.

tl ; dr, it's LEIGH BARDUGO, just read it. deserves as much hype as the grishaverse. ‼️make sure to check trigger warnings ‼️

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pixellatxd's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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kbeucler's review against another edition

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4.75

I reread Ninth House in preparation for Hellbent, the sequel, which I am very excited about. Ninth House is a dark academia fantasy featuring Alex Stern, a girl who can see ghosts and is part of Lethe, an oversight body for the secret societies of Yale, tasked with making sure the societies don’t harm students of the town with their magic. After a suspicious murder, Alex must find out if the societies had anything to do with it. I listened to the audiobook this time and Lauren Fortgang does a superb job.

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etdancer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Dark, mysterious, detailed in the worst way and so frustratingly vague at the same time, I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened next and miraculously? I wasn’t disappointed. With a healthy pool of suspects and so many motives, it was hard to guess exactly where the book was going, and I loved it.

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bethsreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

I will start with some of my favourite things about this book. The best part, in my opinion, is the main character Alex. She is complex, quick witted, and takes no prisoners. The most fun part to read was how Alex refused social norms and protocols to figure things out her own way, which usually meant fuck1ng sh1t up — and I loved it! The story/mystery was fun, with lots of twists and turns. Dark magic secret societies at Yale is such a great idea from Bardugo, mixing up a classic dark academia cocktail of politics, pride, and corruption. I appreciated the ways in which Darlington fit into but also broke the ‘nice rich boy’ trope and his complexity was very welcomed.

Now onto the ways in which this book was not perfect for me. From the get go, the book really just throws you head first into the deep end. It was just a bit too much too soon with info dumping without enough explanation and left the start of the book to be confusing. I also felt like the pacing was off, it really went 100mph and while it was a fun ride, it was also a bit exhausting having Alex in near death experience after near death experience without many breaks in between. I know the book is considered on the longer side already, but Leigh Bardugo is established enough that her editor could’ve given her an extra 50-100 pages of leeway so Alex could have some down time. I really wanted to see more of her with her friends, studying, researching etc. so the dramatic scenes packed a bit more of a punch and the pacing calmed a little. Finally, the book had multiple depictions of SA, and I felt these were very important to include because the reality is that within the setting of a rich college where privileged kids have access to power they really don’t know how to handle properly, of course such magic would be abused in these ways. However, while I do believe Bardugo was careful and respectful of the severity of the topic, it is always my personal opinion that details of SA are never necessary. As the audience we are smart enough to know the weight something like that holds, without needing details to ‘show it’. But once again, that is just my person opinion on broaching such a topic.

Overall, the book really pulled me in and took me on a wild ride. I will definitely be picking up the next book soon!

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desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.25

Once again, Leigh Bardugo proves to be amazing. No honestly, this book was very exciting. Ghosts and demons and death and mystery, all wrapped with an academia bow. I'm in!
Really excited for the next one.

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ladylothlorien's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.0

Oh my I really enjoyed this book. Just exactly my cup of tea. So many trigger/content warnings are needed and I am very glad I got one of them before getting to that part of the book so look them up if you are at all sensitive. I really enjoyed the way my theories and ideas kept being subverted without it being unearned. Things that seemed out of place did turn out to be relevant even if not in the ways I thought. It’s also clear how much research the author did about Yale and the societies (although she did go to Yale so maybe she has more firsthand experience than she is letting on 😁) but I have to admit the details about where things are and the architecture were somewhat lost on me. I’ve been avoiding the author a bit because sometimes very popular authors are not my cup of tea but I’m sold on her. I am definitely going to be reading everything by her now.

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