Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

646 reviews

cosmicwillow's review against another edition

2.0

this review mentions sexual violence.

this book had so much potential. the premise is interesting but god it is suffered by poor pacing, boring characters, and abhorrent depictions of sexual violence. 

my biggest gripe is with the sexual violence. obviously, everyone experiences it differently, from during the harm to after. but my god, this book deals with it in such a dismissive and harmful way that pissed me off so much. completely poorly written. you can write about sexual violence without reinforcing negative stereotypes and misconceptions, but i guess bardugo and every single person involved in getting this published have no idea how to do that.

also, a lot of this felt like it was dark for the sake of being dark, like it was a competition for “how edgy can we get here?”. it was annoying.

seriously disappointed by this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug abuse, Murder, Addiction, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Excrement

pikkumarja's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

Hieman hitaan ja vaikean alun jälkeen kirja todellakin yllätti - ja vei myös mennessään! Jotenkin akatemian ja fantasian yhdistelmä on lähes aina onnistunut. Maaginen realismi synkillä sävyillä yhdistettynä pitkän historian omaavaan yliopistokaupunkiin luo hyvin spesifin tunnelman, johon on helppo upota.

Odotan toista osaa innolla, koska tarina jäi todella kiinnostavaan vaiheeseen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Vomit, and Drug use

gothic_moss's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I honestly don't have the words to describe how much I enjoyed this book. The plot twists had me spinning, and the atmosphere was so perfectly dark. I loved Alex's character and the messages in this book. I can't wait to read the sequel!
(If you want to read this book, do check the TW)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit and Sexual assault

emilywemily6's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I’ve never read a book like this before, and it’s so refreshingly different than Bardugo’s YA novels (which I also loved!). I loved the sinister magic/dark academia vibes and how the multiple storylines unfold throughout the book. Lots of great plot twists I didn’t see coming and made me gasp out loud. I wish I understood more about the history of the houses/general world-building, but I think the book is written intentionally vague with a trickle of information as you are thrust into this world within our world, which adds to the mysterious, sinister feel. It kept me hooked and I can’t wait to read the next book. Apparently, lots of this book (not the magic lol) is true too, and now I want to go to New Haven.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Classism, Terminal illness, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Gore, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Grief, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Racism, Addiction, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual violence, and Stalking

lotusmoon's review against another edition

challenging 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Violence, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, and Domestic abuse

angela005'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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Addiction, Drug use, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

deanchaudhri's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I have never rly read fantasy before so this was a first and i was really pleasantly surprised - it still had the darkness and grit that I like in thriller/horrors in addition to the magic and world building which was really cool. Also it had one of my fave atmospheres: ‘dark academia university’ vibes which really made it that more immersive & I kept wanting to enter this world. Was slow at first and a little convoluted but the last 1/3 or so was very action packed and thriller-esque with some nice twists. Very unique story and I really was rooting for the characters - they were very well crafted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Medical content, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, and Emotional abuse

heidi_grey's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Wow. This was my first Leigh Bardugo book but if it‘s anything to go by it will not be my last. 

The writing reminded me a lot of a TV show because there were so many crazy twists and reveals, and that just kept me glued to the pages. I thought the different timelines worked so well to reveal more and more information. Also: what a fantastic first sentence. 

I loved flawed, strong, sharp Alex as the FMC and her journey. I expected the book to be a bit more dark academia but really enjoyed the magical murder mystery (gotta love good alliterations) focus of it. Highly recommend, just check TW beforehand 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Gore

coffeeaddictedgremlin'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Blood, and Murder

lillybrooke22's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body horror, Drug abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Gore, and Violence