Reviews with content warning for Death - Ninth House

There’s lots to like here. Interesting concept and magic system, atypical protagonist, and it is dark, moody, and atmospheric.
The pacing is a bit muddled, the book drags unnecessarily at times but doesn’t bring as much character development in those periods as you might hope. Frequently I would find myself losing interest, but there would usually be a short infusion of action every now and then that kept me going. The last few chapters were jam-packed.

I enjoy Alex and Darlington as characters, however the use of flashbacks to flesh them out didn’t always work. I spent a lot of time with more questions about each of them and their relationship to one another than the book could answer. Darlington’s disappearance felt skimmed over to say that the nature of it is such a revelation later in the book. I think a little less time could have been devoted to Alex’s flashbacks and spent fleshing out the current timelines characters and events.

All in all I would recommend, it is an enjoyable book and I will pick up the next in the series. FYI this book has a myriad of dark topics so definitely look up the trigger warnings before you dive in.

Content Warnings

misamille's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

kylajaynebooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

scholastic_squid's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

Leary of how this would turn out since the beginning was slow but once I hit 1/3rd of the way — look out! Periodically, I would return to the prologue and re-read it and I would get a better understanding of what was happening to Alex. I loved how the timelines merged and then the punches kept coming.
Galaxy “Alex” Stern ended up in the last place she ever thought she’d be - Yale - with a free ride without having applied for college. All Alex wanted to do was get high and avoid seeing all the ghosts that crowded her life every day. Especially after the experience she had with a ghost assaulting her, ghosts shouldn’t be able to touch her or anyone for that matter but they are and the only thing that keeps them at bay is when she’s high.
After waking in a hospital to find her best friend and an entire apartment of people brutally murdered, she’s offered a trip to Yale for her special abilities as long as she starts training to monitor the eight houses - skulls and bones, book and snake, wolf’s head, manuscript, scrolls and key, Aurelian, st Elmo, and Berzelius. The houses are practicing occult magics and need to be monitored so that they do not open any doors they cannot close.

Content Warnings