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risaleel's review against another edition
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Drug use, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Addiction, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Racism, Suicide, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Cursing
Minor: Bullying, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
praptireads's review against another edition
5.0
im a firm believer of the fact that if magic was to exist and if ghosts were real, they would function the way leigh bardugo wrote them in this book.
im going to just say this rn but i liked this as much as i liked six of crows. which is saying a lot. for entirely different reasons tho. this was a paranormal fantasy heavily entwined with the real world and also very much an adult novel. it was dark and sinister and honestly spooked me too much sometimes but i absolutely cannot and will not complain, because as always leigh bardugo served. the plot, the characters, the twists, the heart wrenching backstories, this had it all.
the concept itself had me hooked from the beginning. i loved alex, the mc, so so much. she's deeply flawed and messed up but has become one of my favourite protagonists. i also loved darlington because he is literally everything tbh. he's literally described as the golden boy. he's incredibly smart, charismatic and inquisitive, and above all, a gentleman.
tl ; dr, it's LEIGH BARDUGO, just read it. deserves as much hype as the grishaverse. ‼️make sure to check trigger warnings ‼️
im going to just say this rn but i liked this as much as i liked six of crows. which is saying a lot. for entirely different reasons tho. this was a paranormal fantasy heavily entwined with the real world and also very much an adult novel. it was dark and sinister and honestly spooked me too much sometimes but i absolutely cannot and will not complain, because as always leigh bardugo served. the plot, the characters, the twists, the heart wrenching backstories, this had it all.
the concept itself had me hooked from the beginning. i loved alex, the mc, so so much. she's deeply flawed and messed up but has become one of my favourite protagonists. i also loved darlington because he is literally everything tbh. he's literally described as the golden boy. he's incredibly smart, charismatic and inquisitive, and above all, a gentleman.
tl ; dr, it's LEIGH BARDUGO, just read it. deserves as much hype as the grishaverse. ‼️make sure to check trigger warnings ‼️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement, Suicide, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Gore, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Murder, Abandonment, and Death
talia03's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence
daisy2050's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Murder, Death, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Self harm
Minor: Blood, Suicide, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Medical content, Addiction, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
theheartisanarrow's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
i've been meaning to read this one for years, i'm telling you, it's been collecting dust on my shelf since 2020, for the sole reason that i wasn't ready for some of its contents/themes, and thankfully trigger warnings exist so i knew to stay away for a bit longer.
now i kinda picked the best and worst time to read, worst bc i'm so busy and i wish i could've read the book in fewer sittings and given it more of my focus bc it deserves all of it, best bc i LOVED it, was able to dodge the mean cliffhangers and move swiftly on to the sequel <3
side note: even though i was okay with the triggers and shit, it still didn't leave me unfazed, so please check the trigger warnings before reading! this book is quite dark overall and among other subjects deals quite a bit with sexual assault/rape culture, so be safe x
now i kinda picked the best and worst time to read, worst bc i'm so busy and i wish i could've read the book in fewer sittings and given it more of my focus bc it deserves all of it, best bc i LOVED it, was able to dodge the mean cliffhangers and move swiftly on to the sequel <3
side note: even though i was okay with the triggers and shit, it still didn't leave me unfazed, so please check the trigger warnings before reading! this book is quite dark overall and among other subjects deals quite a bit with sexual assault/rape culture, so be safe x
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Excrement, and Vomit
alisonkolonick's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Drug abuse, Addiction, Gore, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Drug use, Violence, and Grief
art_books_chemistry's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
I was a little worried starting this because my entire bookclub built it up as the best book they read in 2020 before I joined. However, even with amazing expectations, I absolutely loved this book!
Firstly, I loved the setting. Is New Haven a crime ridden city and not as nice as Yale-ites would like to pretend? Totally. But they get locked into their campus and can ignore it and the rest of us just avoid The Green and stick to the main bar area at night. I went to school at the other college in the Havens area and then stayed and worked for an extra year. I really loved the reference to the body found under the giant old tree after Hurricane Sandy since I was around when it happened. It's the little touches like that that help me immerse into a story when I know the setting.
This is peak Dark Academia. Secret Societies have always been shrouded in mystery and the potential of magic. The way Leigh Bardugo went about explaining it in this novel felt incredibly realistic from an outside perspective which allows you to get drawn into the story. I will say that there are a lot of moving pieces that could become confusing. I'm glad I read this on kindle instead of listening to it since I could flip around and make sure I was remembering names and associations correctly, especially since there were time jumps periodically.
I found the plot engrossing, the magic intriguing, and the mystery riveting. As far as characters go, I won't say they are lovable because they have many flaws, some of which are distasteful. This does, however, make them very real which is far more important than a lovable character that is too perfect for the plot to make sense. Plot and character development is top notch though.
TL;DR Amazing urban fantasy, I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW.
Firstly, I loved the setting. Is New Haven a crime ridden city and not as nice as Yale-ites would like to pretend? Totally. But they get locked into their campus and can ignore it and the rest of us just avoid The Green and stick to the main bar area at night. I went to school at the other college in the Havens area and then stayed and worked for an extra year. I really loved the reference to the body found under the giant old tree after Hurricane Sandy since I was around when it happened. It's the little touches like that that help me immerse into a story when I know the setting.
This is peak Dark Academia. Secret Societies have always been shrouded in mystery and the potential of magic. The way Leigh Bardugo went about explaining it in this novel felt incredibly realistic from an outside perspective which allows you to get drawn into the story. I will say that there are a lot of moving pieces that could become confusing. I'm glad I read this on kindle instead of listening to it since I could flip around and make sure I was remembering names and associations correctly, especially since there were time jumps periodically.
I found the plot engrossing, the magic intriguing, and the mystery riveting. As far as characters go, I won't say they are lovable because they have many flaws, some of which are distasteful. This does, however, make them very real which is far more important than a lovable character that is too perfect for the plot to make sense. Plot and character development is top notch though.
TL;DR Amazing urban fantasy, I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Murder, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Excrement, Alcohol, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
sunriseat0519's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.75
At first it was kinda hard to get into the but but after the first 50 pages, when I developed a general understanding of the way this society world thingy worked, the story got interesting. I still didn't think it would catch me as much as the Grishaverse-books from Bardugo would but then THE ENDING.
I was screaming. Amazing! Never would have guessed that twist!
I was screaming. Amazing! Never would have guessed that twist!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Gore, and Murder
riss__reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
"𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒆. 𝑻𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒆.
𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒔."
Alex "Galaxy" Stern is tormented by both the ghosts of the dead and of her past (sometimes they're one and the same) navigating a double life of supervising secret societies and being a Yale student.
Alex isn't there because she's a straight A student though, in fact that couldn't be further from the truth. A drop out, recovering addict, and ab*se survivor, Alex was head hunted by the big wigs at Yale due to her paranormal abilities and the fact she has nothing to lose.
Her mentor, Darlington, however, is missing and he's somewhere Alex can't find him. When a de*d girl is found on campus, Alex is against the clock to figure out what happened and find her lost mentor.
--☆--
I'd heard so many stellar reviews going into Ninth House that I was a bit skeptical it'd live up to all the buzz. But by now, I really should've learned not to doubt Leigh Bardugo.
Ninth House utterly blew me away. I'm not sure I've read something before which so deftly, and powerfully, walks the line between fantasy and reality in both of their most beautiful and brutal aspects.
At its most gritty, it's like a car crash that you just can't tear your eyes away from even though you know what you see is going to be a gut punch.
Alex "Galaxy" Stern is the epitome of a tortured soul. Learning about her past as her inner narrative fights at keeping it out of mind is at once a sob and a sour taste in your mouth. Alex is a survivor, in all senses of the word, and in discovering what she survived and seeing her edge closer towards trust and progress only to fall back into old habits makes her one of the most human and endearing characters I've possibly ever read.
Set amongst the dark drama of secret societies, the mysterious murders and disappearances Alex is set to uncover are counter balanced with relatable struggles of every college student alongside social commentary on class struggles, sexism and assault, and growing up an outsider. And it does so beautifully, jarring in just the right way to leave an impact without taking away from the central plotline.
In short, Ninth House had me glued to the page, anxious to uncover the mysteries as they unfolded, and on an emotional roller coaster as I learned about Alex's past.
This book is astounding and I cannot wait for the sequel to be released!
𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒔."
Alex "Galaxy" Stern is tormented by both the ghosts of the dead and of her past (sometimes they're one and the same) navigating a double life of supervising secret societies and being a Yale student.
Alex isn't there because she's a straight A student though, in fact that couldn't be further from the truth. A drop out, recovering addict, and ab*se survivor, Alex was head hunted by the big wigs at Yale due to her paranormal abilities and the fact she has nothing to lose.
Her mentor, Darlington, however, is missing and he's somewhere Alex can't find him. When a de*d girl is found on campus, Alex is against the clock to figure out what happened and find her lost mentor.
--☆--
I'd heard so many stellar reviews going into Ninth House that I was a bit skeptical it'd live up to all the buzz. But by now, I really should've learned not to doubt Leigh Bardugo.
Ninth House utterly blew me away. I'm not sure I've read something before which so deftly, and powerfully, walks the line between fantasy and reality in both of their most beautiful and brutal aspects.
At its most gritty, it's like a car crash that you just can't tear your eyes away from even though you know what you see is going to be a gut punch.
Alex "Galaxy" Stern is the epitome of a tortured soul. Learning about her past as her inner narrative fights at keeping it out of mind is at once a sob and a sour taste in your mouth. Alex is a survivor, in all senses of the word, and in discovering what she survived and seeing her edge closer towards trust and progress only to fall back into old habits makes her one of the most human and endearing characters I've possibly ever read.
Set amongst the dark drama of secret societies, the mysterious murders and disappearances Alex is set to uncover are counter balanced with relatable struggles of every college student alongside social commentary on class struggles, sexism and assault, and growing up an outsider. And it does so beautifully, jarring in just the right way to leave an impact without taking away from the central plotline.
In short, Ninth House had me glued to the page, anxious to uncover the mysteries as they unfolded, and on an emotional roller coaster as I learned about Alex's past.
This book is astounding and I cannot wait for the sequel to be released!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Suicide, Self harm, Abandonment, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
gretchini's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
SPOILERS
Being generous by giving it 3 stars, but I've never been a harsh critic.
The best way for me to review this book is to share some of the thoughts I was having 3/4ths of the way through to the end.
(strong language used)
I am so confused.
Maybe it's just cause I'm dumb, but I don't understand how any of this magic secret society works.
There are only 2 people (Dante and Virgil) there to deal with and basically police all 8/9 societies' powerful magic and shit? I guess it's 4 if you count Oculus and Centurion, 5 with the dean. Wtf? That makes no sense; like it took 15 people just to make a club at my college?!?
And all the old Virgil just go off and live their own lives knowing all this magic, like it's an internship?
I still have no clue what all the houses are or what they actually do. Like I feel like we need a more in-depth explanation.
I don't mind being thrown in the dark at the start of the novel, but I'm still in the dark at the end.
The one time we started to get some actual explanation was at the end when detective Turner was asking questions.
There is so much unexplained that I don't even want to read the sequel.
Like you made up this world of magic and then said there were rules but never told us what they were?
And I thought we would be going along with Alex figuring out the rules. But then you get halfway through the book and realize that Alex knows so much more than you the reader does.
What the fuck is up with the hellbeast sitch? They're all like ope I guess it was a hellbeast that ate him, welp goodnight guys, good try. ??? Are they not concerned there's a hellbeast at the school? Is it normal for hellbeasts to just be lurking in dark corners? Can't this one come back and eat someone else? Is it even gone?
Oh so it's just magic used for corruption/ capitalism. But like did it start out that way? Where do all these magic people come from? They are all just chosen? And they're college students? Who the fuck would put college students in charge of this shit? And what do these students get out of it? Just a free ride to Yale? When you have to do triple the work as normal college students? And if someone decides they wanna duck out, do they just kill them? Again where do all these magicians go after college; do they all just roam free?
I love Dawes. And her growth and friendship with Alex. But who is she? Wtf is the oculus position and like why is one person in charge of literally being a nurse/ researcher/ chef/ housekeeper????? I didn't even realize she was human. I swear when she was first introduced she was like a friendly ghost. She never leaves Darlington's house? Like does she even go to classes as a grad student? Does she seriously have zero friends?
And nothing came from North and Alex's bond/ deal? Like wtf was the point?
At the very end, North is trying to send a message. It just seems like there is something much more evil at work and no one seems to care/ notice? I know Alex is focusing on surviving but is she not curious for her own life/ attachment to ghosts that there is more going on?
Okay guys. If you make it to the last 50 pages, things actually happen.
The big reveals at the end were a little late, and not very surprising (except for one), but were at least interesting. The founding of the societies' magic source is explained, so there's that. Still very confused about how magic works in this world.
The ending sort of saved this book. Absolutely love an unhinged girlboss.
But still won't be reading the sequel.
Shit, Darlington is gonna come back. If I break my own promise of not reading the second book, you can't blame me.
Being generous by giving it 3 stars, but I've never been a harsh critic.
The best way for me to review this book is to share some of the thoughts I was having 3/4ths of the way through to the end.
(strong language used)
I am so confused.
Maybe it's just cause I'm dumb, but I don't understand how any of this magic secret society works.
There are only 2 people (Dante and Virgil) there to deal with and basically police all 8/9 societies' powerful magic and shit? I guess it's 4 if you count Oculus and Centurion, 5 with the dean. Wtf? That makes no sense; like it took 15 people just to make a club at my college?!?
And all the old Virgil just go off and live their own lives knowing all this magic, like it's an internship?
I still have no clue what all the houses are or what they actually do. Like I feel like we need a more in-depth explanation.
I don't mind being thrown in the dark at the start of the novel, but I'm still in the dark at the end.
The one time we started to get some actual explanation was at the end when detective Turner was asking questions.
There is so much unexplained that I don't even want to read the sequel.
Like you made up this world of magic and then said there were rules but never told us what they were?
And I thought we would be going along with Alex figuring out the rules. But then you get halfway through the book and realize that Alex knows so much more than you the reader does.
What the fuck is up with the hellbeast sitch? They're all like ope I guess it was a hellbeast that ate him, welp goodnight guys, good try. ??? Are they not concerned there's a hellbeast at the school? Is it normal for hellbeasts to just be lurking in dark corners? Can't this one come back and eat someone else? Is it even gone?
Oh so it's just magic used for corruption/ capitalism. But like did it start out that way? Where do all these magic people come from? They are all just chosen? And they're college students? Who the fuck would put college students in charge of this shit? And what do these students get out of it? Just a free ride to Yale? When you have to do triple the work as normal college students? And if someone decides they wanna duck out, do they just kill them? Again where do all these magicians go after college; do they all just roam free?
I love Dawes. And her growth and friendship with Alex. But who is she? Wtf is the oculus position and like why is one person in charge of literally being a nurse/ researcher/ chef/ housekeeper????? I didn't even realize she was human. I swear when she was first introduced she was like a friendly ghost. She never leaves Darlington's house? Like does she even go to classes as a grad student? Does she seriously have zero friends?
And nothing came from North and Alex's bond/ deal? Like wtf was the point?
At the very end, North is trying to send a message. It just seems like there is something much more evil at work and no one seems to care/ notice? I know Alex is focusing on surviving but is she not curious for her own life/ attachment to ghosts that there is more going on?
Okay guys. If you make it to the last 50 pages, things actually happen.
The big reveals at the end were a little late, and not very surprising (except for one), but were at least interesting. The founding of the societies' magic source is explained, so there's that. Still very confused about how magic works in this world.
The ending sort of saved this book. Absolutely love an unhinged girlboss.
But still won't be reading the sequel.
Shit, Darlington is gonna come back. If I break my own promise of not reading the second book, you can't blame me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, Gore, and Drug abuse