Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Das neunte Haus by Leigh Bardugo

45 reviews

emeraldrina's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

Wow this book was so good! Outside the restrictions of YA we really see Bardugo’s full range of skills. The characters, the plot, the mystery, all the incredible details of the world - beautifully mixing truth and fantasy - are perfectly crafted. I loved seeing all the little true facts and places of New Haven and Yale and the various societies. And they were seamlessly woven into the story so that it never felt like we were getting info dumps or extraneous detail. At first Alex annoyed me, but the more I learned about her past and motivations the more I loved her. So many of her snarky quips are stuck in my head now and I can’t get enough! I can’t wait to read the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Drug use, Vomit, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Excrement, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Murder, Rape, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug abuse, Abandonment, and Blood

Minor: Cancer

whiterabbit_metta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This is a fantastic book. While it is often heavy and hard topics, it is well done. I'm glad I read it and will read the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Blood, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Minor: Abandonment

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 ‼️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Suicide, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Gore, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Murder, Abandonment, and Death

patienceholmes's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

Want to make it very explicit that the SA referenced in the content warnings in one instance refers to a minor/p*dophilia. The scene is very graphic. Be safe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment, Gore, Grief, Sexism, Torture, Racism, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cancer, Classism, Cursing, and Gaslighting

faduma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Misogyny, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Violence

msradiosilence's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

2.25

TLDR; 2.25 rating, Bardugo used her Latina character to fulfill racist stereotypes, and I genuinely dislike the use of sexual assault as plot points.
Content warnings at the bottom. :)

I have quite a few gripes with this one. Listen, I love dark academia as much as the next Master’s student, but I don’t like authors writing outside of their lane.

There’s been a ton of (very fair) criticism about Leigh Bardugo, a white person, writing from the perspective of a Latina woman who has the ‘did not earn her place’ stereotype at a prestigious university. There are PLENTY of racists out there who 100% believe that Black, Indigenous, and other people of color don’t earn the spots they have at colleges and universities, and are rather only there because they’re being used to meet a quota, and subsequently taking the spot of some deserving white person, which is entirely FALSE. This is RACIST. And this is

EXACTLY how Bardugo wrote it.

Alex didn’t “earn” her spot, she was given it,

and robbed Darlington of his ability to choose the next Dante.

Also the only Black character is a cop? And don’t get me STARTED on the assault storylines. PLURAL.

This is a huge issue, and one that GREATLY dropped my review of a book I think I otherwise would have enjoyed. Secret societies? Yes, give it to me. Murder? Absolutely. A character that can see ghosts? Hell yeah. But it’s all overshadowed by the fact that Bardugo chose to write a character like Alex. 

I’ll probably read the second one, considering I have it already, but I don’t think I’ll be buying the others. If I’m really pressed about the mystery, I’ll just google it.

Rating: 2.25
Would I recommend? No. I refuse to recommend books I disagree with on a morality issue. 

Content warnings: Rape (implied, discussed), Sexual Assault (on page), Child Rape (on page), Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Overdose, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder (on page), Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Racism, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, and Gore

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Violence, Body horror, Drug use, Racism, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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 am a wreck. I am devastated. I am almost 100% sure this is my new favorite book ever. I am currently lying on my floor in a puddle of my own tears trying to feel normal again. How am I supposed to move on when this book exists???? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Vomit, Body horror, Drug use, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Death, Abandonment, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Minor: Cancer

jcavey's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Addiction

kassidyreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Murder, Addiction, Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship

bffbookclubbritt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I. Love. This. Book.

Alex Stern has something the secret societies at Yale want - she can see ghosts. Despite her troubled past, she gets a full ride to the prestigious school where she is mentored by the pretentious Darlington. After a murder close to campus brings Alex and Darlington on the brink of something off about the societies, Darlington goes missing and it’s up to Alex to find him.

This book is so unique and soooooo dark. I love Bardugo’s take on the ability to see ghosts and the way she builds this magic system very slowly. Alex is so cool and rough around the edges, which makes her perfect for a strong character arc.

Never have I ever had a book boyfriend who has shown up less in a novel. How is Darlington the best character and he’s in the novel the least? That’s good writing, my friends.

My only beef with the novel is that the beginning was sooooo confusing. I’m glad I pushed through though and when I re-read the beginning I was like “oh yes I know what this all means now,” ha!

5/5 ghostie stars!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Drug abuse, Death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Abandonment and Adult/minor relationship