Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

51 reviews

cnjg88's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Murder, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Vomit, Drug use, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Torture, and Toxic relationship

emmiemopho's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I bought the sequel to this book at an airport not knowing it was a sequel until I realized certain terms were not being explained. So I did some digging and borrowed this one from a friend. So glad I did that! This isn’t my normal type of story but it had everything I love. Good adventure, natural mysteries, other worldly experiences, and the best of all? Not a single romance. It had a girl as the main character being a freaking bad ass and not one man came to knock her down or lose her shine with a relationship. It was all about enjoying that mystery murder and the drama of magic. Fun read! Onto the next one! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Blood and Addiction

Minor: Bullying

bristleconebby's review

dark mysterious slow-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

3.25

I don't get the hype around this book - it was pretty slow and the worldbuilding was surprisingly surface-level given her previous work. I wish we got to know the societies more.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual violence, and Self harm

kiwij96'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a fantastic adult debut by Leigh Bardugo, I was genuinely impressed. It was a bit of a rocky start with the time jumps but about 80 pages in it definitely came into its own. Great magic system in the contemporary world, great mysteries surrounding the characters, and the plot twists were brilliant.

The concept for this book is well thought-out: Alex is a young girl plagued by ghosts, both metaphorical and literal, who finds herself with a free pass to one of the most prestigious universities as a result of her gift, and also where finds herself in the midst of at least 3 murder mysteries. However, at times the chapters were too long, paragraphs too clunky or generally too wordy. Her roommate characters were also super forgettable and definitely plot devices.

I would highly recommend checking your trigger warnings for this because there are some heavy topics and triggering scenes in here if you are unprepared.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Drug abuse, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Medical content, Misogyny, and Vomit

paperbacklyds's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Medical trauma, Rape, Murder, Medical content, Drug abuse, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Mental illness

mc_castle's review

adventurous 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

4.25

I don't know if I enjoyed it, but I was GRIPPED. It's was a blend of dark academia, fantasy, a commentary on the upper classes and a murder mystery. Everything bad that could happen to someone happened to the protagonist but with ghosts involved. Also was interesting pacing as it wasn't linear storytelling, especially at the beginning where you're thrown into a weird future telling ritual, where a group of students reach into a man's innards to predict the stock market prices. With NO context. I was very confused at first. Also why do college kids have so much power? Read to find out.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Blood, Classism, Mental illness, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug abuse

rory18's review against another edition

I don't think I can stomach listening to this one. I'll read it later. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Medical content, and Torture

Moderate: Kidnapping

lau4491's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

It starts off SO slow and doesn’t go far enough into the things it should and goes way to far into the things it shouldn’t. I want to read the next one out of sheer curiosity but I’m not sure if I should.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

katschkekat's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Drug use, and Drug abuse

cwallace1005's review

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.

---

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