Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

160 reviews

alexstartsthings's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Rape, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Excrement, Addiction, Classism, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

_madelinemarie's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

READ THE TW FOR THIS BOOK!


This book was so slow at the beginning, and there is so much world building that I felt like I never had any idea what was going on. However, in true Bardugo fashion, once things started moving they did not stop! She does a great job of laying down the groundwork which makes it feel super slow, and then running on those rails at lightning speed.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the “gotcha!” villain switcheroo at the end (and honestly, all of the  Darlington bits about looking into the deaths of these girls could and in my opinion should have been stretched into its own novel, but we might get more of that in the second book so I’m not too hasty in my judgments) and I do think that’s a little bit overdone but there is nothing quite as beautifully written as the way she writes, and her growth is remarkable.

Alex is to me if you were to have the cunning-ness and tenacity of Kaz, but the kindness and humor of Nina. Darlington it so perfectly counterweighted to Alex that the story never seems uninteresting!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Medical content, Body horror, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, and Drug use

Moderate: Rape

aisling214's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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: Addiction, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Classism, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Gaslighting, Sexism, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Body horror, and Mental illness

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

sashdb's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

a gruesome peek behind the veils of classism, prestige, and power. imagry was violent and vivid. the  twists and turns of a magical whodunnit kept me guessing til the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Gore, Rape, Violence, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Classism

itsheyfay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Minor: Vomit and Racism

stephliljazz's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad 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

4.75

This is a great book. I feel like the first chapter starts off a little slow but still good and then it just keeps picking up from there. Inside this world of dark magic controlled by students a lot can and will go sideways quick. The characters are built up perfectly and the plot was twisty just how I like it. To wrap up im really glad this is a series. Now on to book two!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

orlafitz14's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Really enjoyable, dark academia meets ghosts, kind of scary but I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Bullying, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Grief, Rape, Vomit, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Classism, Gore, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Miscarriage, Murder, and Sexual violence

alyxbeau's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

1.5

I am clearly not the target audience for this book, but I stuck through it anyways even though I should have DNFd this one and almost did on multiple occasions. 

I will put the reamainder of my review in spoiler tags to avoid people glancing at trigger warnings, but it will also contain actual spoilers. 

There was an absolutely massive amount of sexual assult covered in this book, and in graphic detail. There is a minor in an abusive and sexual relationship with an adult, rape, and drugging with substances to allow seeming consensual acts recorded on a phone. There is gory and detailed descriptions of pried open bodies as well. Honestly, those first pages after the initial chapter should have been enough for me to quit then and there, but I didn't. I thought it might get better after about 25 percent of the book, but the sexual descriptions of uncomfortable situations just got more frequent from that point on. 

At first I didn't think sny of it was for the shock factor. It seemed like the experiences our main character went through were described to us to explain her total fear at being touched by a ghost again after being raped as a middle schooler by one. But then her reaction to humans doing the same to her or trying to do the same to her, we're not as intense. They should have been. This is why I think it is all there for the shock factor now, and not included to show why her reaction was intense. Her reaction was intense only once. The trauma forgotten after that first incident at Yale.

This book is not for me. I stayed to solve the mystery of Darlington and got no satisfactory answer. I will not be continuing the series except to read a synopses of books 2 and 3, MAYBE.


 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Excrement, Addiction, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Classism, Drug use, Murder, Blood, Sexual harassment, Rape, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Medical content

panic_at_the_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

I highly enjoyed the take on ghosts and the afterlife in this book. It's a take I haven't seen that much. I also love how the tension was slowly build up and how in the end loose stories merged together into one. The very ending of the book even made me want to pick up the next book. 

The characters felt realistic for they weren't described as the perfect heroes we often see in books. The mystery was revealed slow enough, meaning I was kept on edge throughout the whole story. 

Some things did feel a bit too convenient for the story. For example;

the mom buying the main chraracter a dress while this character never wears a dress and then a little bit later she needs to wear a dress so she can filter into an event...

I do think the plot twists were well found. Some truly came as a surprise which is really nice when reading a mystery. Not the biggest fan of mysteries where you know from the first few chapters what's up... Which was not the case in Ninth House. 

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of darker mysteries in an academical setting with paranormal touches. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Drug abuse, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Medical content, Violence, and Gun violence