Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

204 reviews

rainyghost's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Death, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Stalking, Gaslighting, Excrement, Emotional abuse, and Bullying

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

arimcmi's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

kez_rose's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

4.5

A fantastic read, highly dark and thrilling take on dark academia with the fantasy element woven in beautifully although with that being said the critique of academia was better explored through class and privilege rather than it was through how race would play a part in that.

the bathroom scene and depictions of SA seemed out of no where and felt there more for the shock factor

on the whole a 4.5 star read and can’t wait to read Hellbent 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Gore, Violence, Rape, and Drug use

alexijai98's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Heed trigger warnings! 

Bardugo’s venture into adult fantasy was a good read! Weirdly predictable in the end, but still enjoyable. I’ll be reading Hellbent!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Excrement, Rape, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Murder

themdash'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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Murder, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Self harm, Stalking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexual assault, Classism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

starfroot's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Violence

sree_ramani's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

Re-read. Its much better the second time. Can draw more out of the book if read in doses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence

gabijc'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Murder, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Addiction, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

At first, I really wasn’t sure I would like this book. The start was rather slow - I respect these types of books have to “set the stage” for what is to come, but it can still be a bit of a slog to get through, and I was having a hard time getting through certain chapters and not knowing what details were “important” to remember. Once I hit about 30% of the way through, though, it was really off to the races! Similarly, the time jumps threw me off at the beginning and I had a tough time calibrating where I was in the story, but this becomes much easier as the book goes on. I ended up really appreciating the back and forth nature and how it set the stage for the grand finale/reveal towards the end. 
This book leans hard into dark magic, occult, rituals, and sacrifices, which I originally wasn’t a fan of, but I got absolutely hooked.
I really love how the author explored the concept of power and class throughout this book. It’s a major theme done in explicit ways, but was also sprinkled throughout in small ways. It did a beautiful job of examining how power is gained, maintained, and expanded amongst those at the top, and the little, if any, repercussions they face for heinous crimes - especially if committed amongst those who are seen as the bottom rungs of society.
I even found myself super intrigued by the occult and dark magic by the end and appreciate this book for opening me up to new genres and types of books.
I am really excited to read “Hell Bent” now!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Drug use, Drug abuse, Rape, Gore, Death, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Excrement, Addiction, Classism, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer and Gun violence

While this book isn’t really horror, I would say it’s horror adjacent in many ways, so folks should know that going in!