Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

199 reviews

colittle's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Wonderful prose, but the worldbuilding felt rushed at times and dragged at others. The characters were not as three-dimensional as one would expect from a book of this length, though some were likeable enough. At times the dialogue felt as real as an overheard conversation, and other times it was full of snappy, whiplash comebacks that fell utterly short of realism. 

Felt like a YA novel with gore and sexual content thrown in as set dressing; when mature themes were actually discussed, it was brief and without depth. SA used gratuitously and egregiously as a plot device, with a minor character in one instance seeming to forget about it overnight— ick. 

Biggest strength was the use of tension and suspense; while I didn’t always enjoy reading Ninth House, I kept turning the pages all the same. 

A competent book overall, but that should be a given from a bestselling author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual assault

imjustmaria's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual harassment, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Classism, and Emotional abuse

hyuniecrisp'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

4.5

I read this book before as a physical copy and definitely struggled with it. Maybe the fantasy elements were just hard for me to digest visually. But this time around I listened to it and LOVED it. So if you're struggling with this one, I recommend giving it another shot in a different medium. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Rape, Vomit, and Cursing

thenoodlevore's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think the book tackled some difficult issues well and I could identify with some of the complex feelings of the characters. I appreciated the honesty in it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Classism, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Body horror, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Gore, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Excrement, Gun violence, Bullying, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Body shaming, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Car accident, Death, and Terminal illness

estefizaga's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

If I could, I would give this book more that 5 stars 😩🤌🙌🏻🖤

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Excrement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Grief, Murder, and Drug abuse

cwallace1005's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Ninth House not only gives a dark and fascinating mystery to unravel, but it also takes on issues of class, race, and gender without being overly heavy-handed. Alex was a really interesting main character thrown into a world she feels like she doesn't belong in for many reasons. This was like a grown-up Great and Terrible Beauty and I loved every minute.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Self harm, Blood, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Gore, Death, Cursing, Torture, and Rape

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, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Death, Gore, and Sexual violence

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

valjeanval's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this more than I expected. I’m so tired of magic schools, and I think that the responsibility heaped on college freshmen is probably the weakest part of the book, but the characters and mystery manage to carry the story anyway. It’s much more horror than I was expecting, so be wary of that if you are easily creeped out, but overall a good book. I’m not sure I liked it enough to read the sequel, but I mostly enjoyed this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Rape, Blood, Grief, Excrement, Sexual assault, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Mental illness, Vomit, Cursing, Drug abuse, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Murder, Gun violence, Death, and Sexual violence

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

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

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

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

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