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rebeccajost's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia
rachelunabridged's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Updated my rating from three to two stars because the more I thought about it, the more frustrated I was about the ending too, lol.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Excrement, Gore, Blood, Cursing, and Gaslighting
workingfortheknife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
there is a brief scene which lasts for about half a page where the main character is sexually assaulted as a child, it's not graphic or goes into any detail and is based on the authors personal experiences.keresian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Ninth House follows Galaxy "Alex" Stern as she adapts to her new life - the Dante of Lethe House, the society in charge of preventing the other big societies of Yale from hurting or killing people. These societies can work true magic - from divination to contract bindings, necromancy to compulsion. These societies - known as the eight houses - are for the rich and talented, and have a tendency to crush the little people to get their way, which is why Lethe exists. Unfortunately for all nine houses, Alex isn't the typical inductee.
Unfortunately for Alex, her mentor - Daniel "Darlington" Arlington - has disappeared, and Alex, along with two of the three other Lethe House members, are trying to find him. This is only one of the plot threads through this book, that makes for an extremely confusing read. We also have a murder that Alex suspects is linked to one of the other houses, some murder attempts, a recurring ghost that wants <i>his</i> whole sitch resolved, a bunch of past scenes that seem to have yet another unsolved mystery (a set of murders this time), and then a whole thing with Alex's roommates. All of these plots tie in together fairly neatly, but this happens in the last 60-or-so pages of the book, which means you have about 390 pages worth of disjointed plots and constantly jumping focuses to get through.
I think that was the hardest bit about this book. Alex's focus changed constantly across all of these things in her life, sometimes there was a past chapter from when Darlington was still training her, sometimes there was a past flash of Alex pre-yale and what happened to her, and it all seemed to bounce around too quickly for me to follow well. I love mysteries, and I love trying to solve things before the book reveals them, but this felt like the author had too many ideas and wanted to get them all into a single "stand alone" book that is actually the first book of a series.
Some of what happened also felt unnecessary, to be honest? I didn't need to know about Alex's CSA experience, I didn't really need to know about how her first boyfriend screwed her, I really, really didn't need the unecessarily graphic depictions of someone digging around in another living human's abdominal cavity (which had zero relation to the plot other than shock value, really).
Then, out of nowhere, right at the end the rules change, and things that weren't mentioned at all suddenly exist to answer at least one question and set up the next book. It didn't feel like there was a lot of cohesion in this, most of the time?
HOWEVER, I love the author's writing style, I love the way her prose flows. I adored the worldbuilding of this - a house that recognises its owners? Portal magic? The Greys? The way magic ebbs and flows through the entirety of New Haven and the way Alex gets caught up in it along with all of the societies? I loved that! Dawes was an actual sweetheart and I'd die for her, I really want to see more of Darlington, and please, can I have the spirit hounds as pets? There is so much in this book to love, but I think a lot of it got bogged down and drowned out by the <i>too much</i> of everything else.
This is somewhere between a 3.75 and a 4.25 but I'm not entirely sure where, so it'll stay as a 4*
Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Drug use, Murder, Excrement, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Death, Classism, and Body horror
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, and Rape
Minor: Gaslighting and Vomit
katiieecat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Vomit, Rape, Drug abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Addiction, Blood, and Cursing
orndal's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The ending came out of nowhere with little to no setup for the reveals. As a mystery novel, this is terrible.
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Rape, Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Medical trauma
Minor: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Cancer, Car accident, Classism, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, and Murder
knorretje's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Stalking
readwithde'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
uranaishi'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
4.75
Graphic: Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gore, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Stalking, Vomit, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, and Gaslighting
Minor: Blood, Infidelity, Police brutality, Car accident, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Racial slurs, and Suicide
mchelle_muses's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Murder
Minor: Bullying