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A review by peeled_grape
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
2.0
I often feel like a writer has to earn their content to write about it meaningfully, and I don’t think much of this was quite earned, so it was a little disappointing and surface-level. It’s a little hard to tell with YA, but also there’s better commentary of believing women and violence toward women that feels more round, so I know this story is capable of that.
There are also times when I thought it was trying too hard to be dark and edgy. There is more violence and gore than is necessary or effective, and it honestly just gets kind of boring. There are a lot of holes and inconsistencies—places where lines or scenes happen for flashiness over depth or reason. There’s a ton of boring info in the beginning, and at the end, a lot of half-logic that spontaneously allows Alex to do random stuff.
I had high hopes because I loved “Six of Crows,” but this was just meh. The one great thing this did for me, having spent a lot of time reading short story collections, was remind me how much I love novels, and how fantastic something with length is.
There are also times when I thought it was trying too hard to be dark and edgy. There is more violence and gore than is necessary or effective, and it honestly just gets kind of boring. There are a lot of holes and inconsistencies—places where lines or scenes happen for flashiness over depth or reason. There’s a ton of boring info in the beginning, and at the end, a lot of half-logic that spontaneously allows Alex to do random stuff.
I had high hopes because I loved “Six of Crows,” but this was just meh. The one great thing this did for me, having spent a lot of time reading short story collections, was remind me how much I love novels, and how fantastic something with length is.