Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Das neunte Haus by Leigh Bardugo

99 reviews

fionaross's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

So cool. Excellent twists that make sense in a well-established world. Loved it!

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jacksons_books_and_music's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

First of all, I absolutely agree with many others in that there are problems regarding some of the representation that is stereotypical and harmful. Similar with Six of Crows, I don’t think the problematic representation was intended by the author and I know she has shown she’s willing to learn from the criticism she receives. The book definitely needed 1-2 more sensitivity reads, and she and her editors should have thought more deeply about certain topics.

The story itself is masterfully crafted. It’s more ingenious than Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, which I loved. There are amazing, well-developed characters and profound themes. I am excited to dive into the sequel. 

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

I’ve never read a book like this before, and it’s so refreshingly different than Bardugo’s YA novels (which I also loved!). I loved the sinister magic/dark academia vibes and how the multiple storylines unfold throughout the book. Lots of great plot twists I didn’t see coming and made me gasp out loud. I wish I understood more about the history of the houses/general world-building, but I think the book is written intentionally vague with a trickle of information as you are thrust into this world within our world, which adds to the mysterious, sinister feel. It kept me hooked and I can’t wait to read the next book. Apparently, lots of this book (not the magic lol) is true too, and now I want to go to New Haven.

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itsheyfay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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themdash's review against another edition

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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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subtlyfurious's review against another edition

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  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

Never before have I read a book that so utterly fails to live up to its spectacular beginning. 

The first few chapters are excellent (and the only reason I’m giving this book any stars). Bardugo weaves the character’s personalities and worldviews and backgrounds into the action flawlessly while also setting up a number of compelling topical themes. 

It’s all downhill from there. 

To me this feels like a YA book made “adult” by throwing in a bunch of disturbing content in for shock value alone. At first, I tried to give Bardugo the benefit of the doubt, believing she’d be able to give us a reason for why things weren’t just graphic, but borderline (or maybe fully) pornographic. But no. She fails to explore anything on a  deeper level, speaking about complex issues such as classism, racism, and sexism without doing any work to ever dip below the surface. In fact, her ability to swerve away from actually choosing a side and stating an opinion is almost impressive. 

Still, I pressed on thinking “surely Bardugo will find a way to wrap this up in a somewhat satisfying way.”

No.

The last 15% is a slog and (spoilers) the who that dunnit turn out to be both the most boring who-you-expect and the most throwaway character. 

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megbar15's review against another edition

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Graphic sexual violence. 

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mylazybones's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Leigh Bardugo has a way of spinning a mystery that makes me forget i’m turning pages and has me trying to resist the urge to let my eyes skip around the page to see what happens next. The beginning is rough, she throws a lot of names at you, but the web of misdirection she weaves is unmatched

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abbeyyyrosee's review against another edition

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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

5.0

Daaarrrk academia. Wonderfully written, compelling plot, complex characters, and a few curveball plot points - not entirely unpredictable, but there were some surprises. Beginning of the book bounces back and forth in POV and point in time; a little confusing initially since you're still learning the world, but you figure it out. You'll know within a few chapters if this book is for you - see trigger warnings below. 

Trigger warnings: rape, gore, violence, death, microaggressions, racism.

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hwildy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

After being in a reading slump this was exactly what I needed, even though it was dark this book was painfully funny. Alex was a wonderful protagonist in the way that she was heavily flawed and often times very lost in what was happening. She was sharp witted and cruel when needed but being slowly given her story we were able to love her before we even knew her, much like Dawes or Darlington. As someone who has struggled with addiction the recurring mention, though often times being off handed or part of a bigger picture, resonated with the way my own life often revolved around those actions. Her mother was a distant character in the book and we get the sense that Alex had to distance them to not hurt her mother any more. Dawes is my favorite character in the book, I don’t care if she wasn’t that large a role, she was funny in the same way as Alex and in my opinion she is meant to be what Alex could have been. From the beginning I hated the Dean ,mostly because he was an old man but that doesn’t matter, he was a very well hidden character and I felt he served his purpose. The minor role of Mercy and her other roommate felt like another metaphor for addiction, the magic in her life is something she has to hide from her friends to protect herself and then. In many ways magic is another addiction as it does take a toll on the body but when practicing it is something of great relief and pain. I hope Darlington comes back because even though he was annoying there are clearly layers to his character. North was great, he reminds me of an older sibling and his an Alex’s constant power struggle was hilarious in the face of the ‘no interaction’ and ‘no making deals’ rules of the Lethe. The writing style was very addictive and the perfect balance between description and action. The dialogue was fantastic, mostly Alex’s. Alex’s final act in this major plot point was reclaiming her name Galaxy which she had once traded for Alex and the normality it brought. 

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