Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

181 reviews

kiwij96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

This was a fantastic adult debut by Leigh Bardugo, I was genuinely impressed. It was a bit of a rocky start with the time jumps but about 80 pages in it definitely came into its own. Great magic system in the contemporary world, great mysteries surrounding the characters, and the plot twists were brilliant.

The concept for this book is well thought-out: Alex is a young girl plagued by ghosts, both metaphorical and literal, who finds herself with a free pass to one of the most prestigious universities as a result of her gift, and also where finds herself in the midst of at least 3 murder mysteries. However, at times the chapters were too long, paragraphs too clunky or generally too wordy. Her roommate characters were also super forgettable and definitely plot devices.

I would highly recommend checking your trigger warnings for this because there are some heavy topics and triggering scenes in here if you are unprepared.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Drug abuse, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Medical content, Misogyny, and Vomit

mitzee's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

Schools for magic but based in the real world and specifically Yale and some real consequences. Kind of feels like a bit of Constantine with all of the references of tools of work they do. Has themes of classism, sexual assault, drug abuse, ghosts and magic school rules. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement, Medical trauma, Drug use, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit

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

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

paperbacklyds's review against another edition

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

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Medical trauma, Rape, Murder, Medical content, Drug abuse, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Mental illness

green_amaryllis's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Vomit, Gun violence, Medical content, and Grief

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Drug use, Blood, Medical content, Violence, Death, Sexual violence, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

juliaaayyyy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Medical content, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Violence, and Domestic abuse

frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

This book has everything I love: fully realized characters, dark moments, fantasy, and budding friendship. What it doesn’t have, which is refreshing, is romance. This is what A Discovery of Witches should have been, and could have been, if Matthew was a differently written character.

There are graphic scenes, though, and a couple descriptions left me feeling sick.

I couldn’t give it five stars, because I felt the prologue and first chapter didn’t draw me in, so much as confuse me. However, chapter two helped and I found after that, the timelines were fascinating, not just confusing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Vomit, Blood, Classism, Gore, Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

trippyotter'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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Rape