Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

202 reviews

samreadssometimes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i really enjoyed this book, and the worldbuliding was impeccable. the only thing i would say is that the last couple of chapters and 'the big reveal' seemed to come out of nowhere, but i did like it. i can't wait to read hell bent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Drug use, Grief, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Excrement, Gore, 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: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Murder, Addiction, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, and Excrement

dokushoka's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Sexual violence

Minor: Blood, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Death, and Adult/minor relationship

megannoelle'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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Vomit, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction and Alcohol

cady_sass'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? Yes

4.25

This was so completely not what I expected. I prefer to go into every book as blind as I can, I knew this was dark academia with some magical realism and that it was set at Yale. That’s it. In the first few chapters I was so confused and backward that I started over to make sure I didn’t miss something important, but it’s purposefully confusing for the beginning which can be hard to get through. It’s shocking to me that this came from the same mind that wrote Shadow & Bone, in a good way. The RANGE! This is one of those books with a premise so unique and a world built so deeply that you can’t begin to wrap your mind around how the author did it. I’m extremely impressed. Each character was so well crafted and explored EXCEPT for Darlington, which is what keeps this from being 5 stars for me. For being such a key player in the plot, we don’t see nearly enough of him or learn enough about him. The end feels less believable because we saw from his perspective and yet never had a single thought about this subplot, which would’ve been a huge, life altering factor for him. Either way, really enjoyed and will pick up the new sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, and Vomit

zoiej88's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Addiction, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Vomit

Moderate: Body horror and Emotional abuse

Minor: Cursing, Misogyny, and Mental illness

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

isabelleroyall'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Blood, Gun violence, Medical content, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Vomit, and Alcohol

jnichols's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Violence, Death, Child abuse, Drug use, Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Addiction, Rape, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence