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merbears's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use and Sexual assault
Minor: Excrement, Rape, Vomit, Addiction, and Racism
bellascheider's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I absolutely loved Alex, which I know is an unpopular opinion, but I tend to fall in love with morally grey bad assess with dark pasts. I loved Darlington, which, considering we didn’t see much of him, means the author did a fantastic job conveying her characters.
Now the bad: I literally had to read the first 40 pages twice. Reading the back of the book, I assumed we were going to start with Alex’s journey in CA and follow her to Yale. Instead, we were tossed right into the story. Not just the story, the END of the story. There was so much new terminology that the main character already knew and I obviously didn’t. Usually we learn with the character but the audience doesn’t get that luxury and has to piece it together themselves. Now that the book is over, I do appreciate the extra mystery of having to put the timeline together, and figure out the way the societies operate. However, I know that to some people it could be too frustrating to finish.
In addition to it being confusing in the beginning, the story unfolded pretty slowly until a little after half way. But, considering the author intended for the series to be a long one, it makes sense why she took a lot of time to build the world.
I loved the concept of Ninth House, and it really scratched the itch of needing a thriller/dark fiction/horror novel. However, the speed and confusion took it down a couple notches. I’m excited to start Hellbent, and now that I know what’s going on, it’ll be much easier to follow. I got high hopes!
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence
Minor: Vomit
jeggert10's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Gore, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Vomit, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Misogyny
chamaeleontis's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Child death, Cursing, Sexism, Violence, Rape, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Excrement, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
gabbyj's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Murder, and Excrement
mercurysflame's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Gore, and Sexism
Moderate: Vomit, Trafficking, and Pedophilia
chasinggrace's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Violence
hippievamp's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Addiction, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Misogyny, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Antisemitism, and Addiction
folkofthebook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Mors irrumat omnia. Death fucks us all.
i INHALED this book, omg. this was a VAST change of pace from shadow & bone and i much preferred it. it was very reminiscent to vicious but more complicated with it's worldbuilding and lore and a stronger theme of sexism and corruption in academia and society.
“I let you die. To save myself, I let you die.
That is the danger in keeping company with survivors.”
i LOVE alex, she's a fighter, a survivor. she is grit and teeth and isn't afraid to bite. it was really cool to see sephardic jewish rep and seeing ladino used in magic. darlington is naively pretentious but unavoidably loveable. this is yet another case of i don't know who i want to be or be with more lol. let the bi panic ensue.
“All you children playing with fire, looking surprised when the house burns down”
i would say the first maybe 10-20% or so was slow for me. not bad but i didn't feel driven until a certain point was hit - and then it took off from there. bardugo's creativity in constructing the houses of lethe and crafting how certain magics fit in with them, intermingled with an undercurrent of demonology and other deathlore, and the weaving of race/class/gender politics within a town and society that is very much built for a specific demographic to come out on top was masterful. i also, despite the sometimes grim scenarios, found myself still huffing in a laugh at the dry humor that tended to come from alex.
“I want to survive this world that keeps trying to destroy me.”
i'm excited to jump into book 2 asap!
Time to go to hell
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Addiction, Classism, Drug use, and Grief
Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
akirma's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Body horror, and Classism
Minor: Vomit