mc_castle 's review for:

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I don't know if I enjoyed it, but I was GRIPPED. It's was a blend of dark academia, fantasy, a commentary on the upper classes and a murder mystery. Everything bad that could happen to someone happened to the protagonist but with ghosts involved. Also was interesting pacing as it wasn't linear storytelling, especially at the beginning where you're thrown into a weird future telling ritual, where a group of students reach into a man's innards to predict the stock market prices. With NO context. I was very confused at first. Also why do college kids have so much power? Read to find out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Classism