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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
Dannnnngggg. Everyone told me this was good, and they weren’t wrong. Loved the protagonist, with all her rough edges. Great premise. Totally movie worthy. Like Indiana Jones but with ghosts and spoiled frat boys (and girls, to be fair). Fast, fun and ultimately really enjoyable read. I’ll likely pick up the sequel.
adventurous
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
Leigh Bardugo is rapidly becoming a favourite author of mine. I love her writing and the unique stories she is telling.
I loved Alex as a character (though I hated her name), how she was not perfect (she struggled, messed up, and wasn’t always positive about what her next steps would be), but she had a drive and confidence that kept her going. I also loved Darlington, though he wasn’t part of the main story and more just a world building device, but he still felt like a compelling, interesting character. When I learned he may be gone for good, I was genuinely affected by it.
I figured out some of the reveals fairly early on, and knew that the ‘ending’ was not actually true , but I did not see the final twists coming. Also, the ride this book took was enjoyable enough that even though I knew what might happen, I was still intrigued to see how they would come about.
Can’t wait for the rest of the series!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I really did enjoy this book; it's a fun, easy read with lots of interesting fantasy elements and an intriguing mystery at its core. I don't think it's a book you NEED to read, but it's a nice book to pass the time. I also think that despite it supposedly being adult fiction, it's written in quite a Y/A style (some of the dialogue I rolled my eyes at) which is not surprising since Bardugo is a Y/A author. The only thing that, in my mind, keeps it under the adult label is the graphic/ inappropriate content. This is not necessarily a problem though, I think it just depends on taste. If you like Bardugo's other work I'd give it a go.
I will say that so much happened in the last 100 pages that I felt like I had whiplash. There were so many things being thrown at me, many that sort of came out of nowhere, but to a point that I didn't really care because we would uncover something and then either a few pages later it's revealed "actually, thats NOT what happened" and we uncover the REAL truth, or it would all be solved super fast. For example, I found it hard to care about Belbalm being Daisy all along because I hadn't really cared that much about where or who Daisy was and as soon as she became interesting Alex quickly defeated her because of course she has the power to defeat everyone. Sometimes less is more and I just don't really think that needed to be a plot point. Maybe that is nit-picky, but whatever, I still enjoyed the book and will read the next one, but that is still a criticism I have.
In general I thought it deserved a good 3.75, not life-changing but still a fun read.
In general I thought it deserved a good 3.75, not life-changing but still a fun read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
adventurous
dark
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:
No
Bardugo amazes me again with her incredible writing and characters in Ninth House. It surprises me that other readers rate this book so low, but I think it's because Ninth House is a very different read from Bardugo's other beloved series. Ninth House is dark and takes on adult themes that give the characters a lot of depth and complexity. The attention to the details and history of Yale make Ninth House such a wonderful read, but also makes the beginning of the book very slow. As a reader, you have to stick through the long bit of setting building early on before you are rewarded with more action. Regardless, I highly recommend this book for those who love "dark academia" and complex main characters.
