Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Ninth House

TLDR; 2.25 rating, Bardugo used her Latina character to fulfill racist stereotypes, and I genuinely dislike the use of sexual assault as plot points.
Content warnings at the bottom. :)

I have quite a few gripes with this one. Listen, I love dark academia as much as the next Master’s student, but I don’t like authors writing outside of their lane.

There’s been a ton of (very fair) criticism about Leigh Bardugo, a white person, writing from the perspective of a Latina woman who has the ‘did not earn her place’ stereotype at a prestigious university. There are PLENTY of racists out there who 100% believe that Black, Indigenous, and other people of color don’t earn the spots they have at colleges and universities, and are rather only there because they’re being used to meet a quota, and subsequently taking the spot of some deserving white person, which is entirely FALSE. This is RACIST. And this is

EXACTLY how Bardugo wrote it.

Alex didn’t “earn” her spot, she was given it,

and robbed Darlington of his ability to choose the next Dante.

Also the only Black character is a cop? And don’t get me STARTED on the assault storylines. PLURAL.

This is a huge issue, and one that GREATLY dropped my review of a book I think I otherwise would have enjoyed. Secret societies? Yes, give it to me. Murder? Absolutely. A character that can see ghosts? Hell yeah. But it’s all overshadowed by the fact that Bardugo chose to write a character like Alex.

I’ll probably read the second one, considering I have it already, but I don’t think I’ll be buying the others. If I’m really pressed about the mystery, I’ll just google it.

Rating: 2.25
Would I recommend? No. I refuse to recommend books I disagree with on a morality issue.

Content warnings: Rape (implied, discussed), Sexual Assault (on page), Child Rape (on page), Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Overdose, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder (on page), Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Racism, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, and Gore

Content Warnings

chronicacademia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

I am a wreck. I am devastated. I am almost 100% sure this is my new favorite book ever. I am currently lying on my floor in a puddle of my own tears trying to feel normal again. How am I supposed to move on when this book exists????

Content Warnings

oliviah1111's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

3.75

Content Warnings

gaiadances's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

this book wholeheartedly made me understand all of the insane hype and excitement around dark academia. i enjoyed the subtle thread of romance but i loved the female friendship that powered the whole story. there were some problematic aspects of the writing - all revolving around race and representation but my hopes weren’t very high for a white woman writing a POC character. however the mythology, world building and fantasy elements are so cleverly woven together. the secrecy of ivy leagues and their secret societies almost makes it completely plausible that they are hiding centuries of magic behind glorified boys clubs. the interpolation between white rich men getting away with crimes a young brown girl would have been destroyed for is amazing. i cannot wait to read the next book.

Content Warnings