Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

615 reviews

deanchaudhri's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I have never rly read fantasy before so this was a first and i was really pleasantly surprised - it still had the darkness and grit that I like in thriller/horrors in addition to the magic and world building which was really cool. Also it had one of my fave atmospheres: ‘dark academia university’ vibes which really made it that more immersive & I kept wanting to enter this world. Was slow at first and a little convoluted but the last 1/3 or so was very action packed and thriller-esque with some nice twists. Very unique story and I really was rooting for the characters - they were very well crafted. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Medical content, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, and Emotional abuse

sashdb's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

a gruesome peek behind the veils of classism, prestige, and power. imagry was violent and vivid. the  twists and turns of a magical whodunnit kept me guessing til the end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Gore, Rape, Violence, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Classism

heidi_grey's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Wow. This was my first Leigh Bardugo book but if it‘s anything to go by it will not be my last. 

The writing reminded me a lot of a TV show because there were so many crazy twists and reveals, and that just kept me glued to the pages. I thought the different timelines worked so well to reveal more and more information. Also: what a fantastic first sentence. 

I loved flawed, strong, sharp Alex as the FMC and her journey. I expected the book to be a bit more dark academia but really enjoyed the magical murder mystery (gotta love good alliterations) focus of it. Highly recommend, just check TW beforehand 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Gore

skydeer's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Sexual assault

lillybrooke22's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

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

itsheyfay's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Minor: Vomit and Racism

orlafitz14's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

Really enjoyable, dark academia meets ghosts, kind of scary but I loved it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Bullying, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Grief, Rape, Vomit, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Classism, Gore, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Miscarriage, Murder, and Sexual violence

peachyybooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Gore, and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction and Blood

intentionalreadinglife's review against another edition

It was just way too gory and weirdly dark for me. I couldn't get past the gore.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

alyxbeau's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.5

I am clearly not the target audience for this book, but I stuck through it anyways even though I should have DNFd this one and almost did on multiple occasions. 

I will put the reamainder of my review in spoiler tags to avoid people glancing at trigger warnings, but it will also contain actual spoilers. 

There was an absolutely massive amount of sexual assult covered in this book, and in graphic detail. There is a minor in an abusive and sexual relationship with an adult, rape, and drugging with substances to allow seeming consensual acts recorded on a phone. There is gory and detailed descriptions of pried open bodies as well. Honestly, those first pages after the initial chapter should have been enough for me to quit then and there, but I didn't. I thought it might get better after about 25 percent of the book, but the sexual descriptions of uncomfortable situations just got more frequent from that point on. 

At first I didn't think sny of it was for the shock factor. It seemed like the experiences our main character went through were described to us to explain her total fear at being touched by a ghost again after being raped as a middle schooler by one. But then her reaction to humans doing the same to her or trying to do the same to her, we're not as intense. They should have been. This is why I think it is all there for the shock factor now, and not included to show why her reaction was intense. Her reaction was intense only once. The trauma forgotten after that first incident at Yale.

This book is not for me. I stayed to solve the mystery of Darlington and got no satisfactory answer. I will not be continuing the series except to read a synopses of books 2 and 3, MAYBE.


 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Excrement, Addiction, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Classism, Drug use, Murder, Blood, Sexual harassment, Rape, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Medical content