Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Ninth House

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

292 reviews

isabellemay14's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

This book was such a fun mix of fantasy (dark academia and supernatural vibes) and murder mystery (multiple). There were various major plots unfolding from various perspectives/timepoints in a way that kept you so engaged and wanting to keep unfolding the secrets hidden in plain sight at Yale University. The obvious research and planning that went into fleshing out the Ancient Eight Houses of the Veil created such an immersive reading experience. Such a well written and enjoyable read!

Content Warnings

erupoo's review against another edition

Go to review page

Got over half way through (10h12min, 7h51min left) and had to stop. Explicit and detailed descriptions of r*pe and SA, including with a child. Was very disappointed bc love Leigh Bardugo's other work but this ruined the book for me and prevented me finishing it. Would have been a great book otherwise. It was so unnecessary to include these.

Content Warnings

koyali's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

The book was honestly pretty good. I enjoyed the premise, but the characters were difficult to get attached to. Alex was a good main character, I loved her gray morals. Her backstory was very tragic, a little difficult to get through(I didn't read the trigger warnings so it was unexpected, but the author handled the topic very well), and it was a fun spin on the whole 'seeing ghosts' trope. Though I wish we would've gotten more information related to Dawes and Turner, I assume that it'll come in the next book.

However, the relationships between the characters were quite...muddy. I liked their dynamics a lot, but I didn't feel any attachment to them. They were just very ok in general. If I were to choose a favorite character, it would definitely be North. By far the most entertaining to read about, but a close second would be Turner and maybe Darlington and Dawes? All of them were just incredibly okay...

As a person on the asexual spectrum, I didn't find the sexual content to be that bad. There's one or two instances of detailed sex and a lot of mentions of it throughout the book(I stress that you read the trigger warnings if you are uncomfortable with sexual content).

The plot twists were quite interesting as well, though I wish this would have been marketed as a mystery series instead of a fantasy. Of course, the fantasy elements were all over, but I was more interested in how the plot unraveled rather than any of the occult.

Overall, 3.5/5. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a funky occult mystery with some dark elements and funny banter.

Content Warnings