Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

187 reviews

alexijai98's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

Heed trigger warnings! 

Bardugo’s venture into adult fantasy was a good read! Weirdly predictable in the end, but still enjoyable. I’ll be reading Hellbent!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Excrement, Rape, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Murder

merylas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

I had some trouble getting into the story at first (between the flashbacks, the prompts, the writing style, and the time it took to lay a useful foundation), but once I got about a third in, the plot roots were cemented. 

This story is very twisty in a fun and interesting way. There is a lot of violence and vivid descriptions of assault which is definitely not everyone’s jam. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Drug abuse

Minor: Emotional abuse and Vomit

themdash's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Murder, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Self harm, Stalking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexual assault, Classism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

zoesreads_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Drug use, and Death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

sree_ramani's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

Re-read. Its much better the second time. Can draw more out of the book if read in doses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Drug use, Blood, Medical content, Violence, Death, Sexual violence, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This book has everything I love: fully realized characters, dark moments, fantasy, and budding friendship. What it doesn’t have, which is refreshing, is romance. This is what A Discovery of Witches should have been, and could have been, if Matthew was a differently written character.

There are graphic scenes, though, and a couple descriptions left me feeling sick.

I couldn’t give it five stars, because I felt the prologue and first chapter didn’t draw me in, so much as confuse me. However, chapter two helped and I found after that, the timelines were fascinating, not just confusing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Vomit, Blood, Classism, Gore, Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

abbeyyyrosee's review against another edition

dark 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

Daaarrrk academia. Wonderfully written, compelling plot, complex characters, and a few curveball plot points - not entirely unpredictable, but there were some surprises. Beginning of the book bounces back and forth in POV and point in time; a little confusing initially since you're still learning the world, but you figure it out. You'll know within a few chapters if this book is for you - see trigger warnings below. 

Trigger warnings: rape, gore, violence, death, microaggressions, racism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, Gore, Addiction, Blood, and Rape

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

fionamclary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

4.0

The premise and plot of this book were excellently executed. Alex was a great main character, and I loved how she had a strong moral compass that still lead her to do grotesque things.

A couple minor but significant complaints:

The way Alex reacted to Darlington's behavior at the Manuscript party seemed odd considering she is a survivor of SA. While you could argue that she is sympathetic and understanding that the drug he got was a form of SA as well, considering how it affected him, that still doesn't make it reasonable that she'd just be fine with everything. This was jarring amidst Bardugo's otherwise decently sensitive and realistic portrayal of Alex as a SA survivor.

I found that Dawes was autism-coded, and that the way Alex describes her initially indicated that Alex dislikes her for her autistic traits. She seems annoyed by her adherence to rules, alienated by her single-minded focus, put off by her ever-present headphones and favoring the same comfortable clothes.

When Alex does finally get closer to Dawes, it's due to shared trauma, not because she sees that there's nothing wrong with the aspects of her that she was initially put off by.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Gore, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Murder, Drug abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Terminal illness and Cancer

sgtz00's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis