Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

16 reviews

dumaurier's review

adventurous dark slow-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

3.75

Overlong and winding in places, but I loved these characters and the mystery tied up nicely despite the final cliffhanger. My biggest issue with the book:

the sexual assault of a child by a ghost?? was incredibly unnecessary and i nearly stopped reading at that point.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Sexual assault, Murder, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Drug abuse

Minor: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

orndal's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.5

Could have been real great with a better story structure and more world building. Linear storytelling would have helped with upping the stakes.

The ending came out of nowhere with little to no setup for the reveals. As a mystery novel, this is terrible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Rape, Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Medical trauma

Minor: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Cancer, Car accident, Classism, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, and Murder

scarlettskyes's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Torture, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

claudiamacpherson's review

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

3.0

Beneath the polished veneer of old money and colonial brick and academic success at Yale lies something much darker. Eight secret societies harness different branches of magic to further their own interests: social and political success, monetary gain, and anything else they can think of. The Ninth, called Lethe House, was created to oversee and prevent the others from going too far. Enter Galaxy “Alex” Stern, dropout and troubled kid, given the chance to go to Yale because of her rare ability to see ghosts, or grays. Lethe’s golden boy, Darlington, begins training her in the rites and procedures of the Ninth House...until his mysterious disappearance. Then a dead body turns up, and Alex must figure out what to do without Darlington’s mentorship. 

<i>Ninth House</i> was totally unlike any other Bardugo books I’ve read, and not entirely in a good way. While I am okay with some violence, the gore in this book was too much for me, not to mention sexual assault (definitely check out the trigger warnings before you pick this up!). I’m also generally not a big fan of heavy themes of drugs and addiction. But there were some good points, namely, the main characters. Darlington, Dawes, Turner and even Alex made me love them despite their (many) flaws. I also liked that it was continually pointed out that no one should have the kind of power that exists in this world, especially not a bunch of college students. Most YA/NA brushes over that, but it felt especially necessary to acknowledge here. I like a lot of the magical systems Bardugo created: the rites and rules for ghosts were super interesting.

I didn’t think that the explanation for the nexuses—created when a wheelwalker consumes another soul (I think? Honestly, the explanation was unclear to me)—made much sense, though.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):

Like...sort of happy? I guess? Probably as close as it was going to get, minus one loose thread that will (presumably) be tied up in the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

Minor: Stalking and Suicidal thoughts

linesiunderline's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Where to begin with this polarizing read…

Perhaps I’ll start by saying that it’s the book I almost gave away multiple times since I bought it a couple of years back. “Why did I buy this? This is not my kind of book?” But… I would turn to the first page and read the opening lines and think, “Hmm… I like her writing,” and skip it back on the shelf. And so it went, for over a year.

What finally pulled me in? A great review from a reader I trust, and the audiobook. The narration is amazing.

What you might like about this one:
• atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere
• world building that creates an alternative Yale universe that is pretty accessible to someone who doesn’t typically read this genre
• vivid characterization - smart memorable cast of characters 
• spookiness that can turn to for real scariness on a dime
• sharp writing, and even some humour

What might put you off:
• ALL the trigger warnings, like pretty much every trigger warning you can think of - it’s one dark book
• there were some moments where I got a little lost, but that could’ve been the shifting timelines on audio
• Alex is super damaged (understandably so) and as a result she makes decisions at times that make her difficult to like - so if you need to like a MC, this might be a hard read for you

All this to say, I was entirely wrapped up in this book and it was a perfect October read for me. It transported me and creeped me out and has strong writing and stellar atmosphere. And if there was a second one in the series I’d already be reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Rape

brigiddolan's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence