Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

184 reviews

kaylokay_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

The final quarter of the book really saved it for me. I really like Leigh Bardugo’s writing and the premise caught me. However I think that since the bulk of the novel is put together like a crime-thriller story, it didn’t work for me for a while. I did absolutely find myself to drawn to Galaxy and her story, and overall invested in her success. It gave me Legendborn vibes which is a big win in my book. However with that ending I am definitely going to be moving on to Hell Bent in the coming months, I just think I need a little break from the universe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

jelkebooks's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

I have been excited to read this book ever since it first came out. However, I have been putting of reading this book because I was just kind of intimidated by it. For some reason I thought this book would be a bit dense, and far out of my comfort zone. I am very glad I finally pushed through that intimidation though because this book was not that, and in the end I really loved this one.
It did take me a little to get into this book. We just get thrown into this world, and the different societies can be a little confusing to navigate. At the start the overall story of this book is also a bit unclear. However, once that came into focus I could not put this book down. It was just such a compelling read, and I was very curious to see how this mystery would unfold. Ultimately there ended being a couple of things going on, and I honestly thought some of these things might be wider series things. However, the ending of this book brilliantly waved them all together. It just all worked together really well. I predicted some parts of it but the way it all blended together truly blew my mind.
I also absolutely ADORED Alex as a main character. Her backstory was absolutely brutal, but also quite interesting. I feel like it gave her a very unique perspective within this world, and I adore how she fought for what she believed in throughout this book, even when no one else would join her. She's just such a good main character, in my opinion and I loved following her. The side characters aren't as well developed, mainly because they also don't have a lot of page time yet. However, there are some that I feel like are going to play a bigger part in the overall series and I am extremely excited to get to know them better.
The only reason this wasn't a five star for me was because I just still feel like I don't fully get how the magic nor the secret societies work. I feel like we didn't really get enough explenations for that. It still feels so vague to me. We definitely knew enough to be able to follow the main story of this book, but there were still so many aspects to the magic system that I truly do not understand, and therefore I just felt a bit lost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Physical abuse, and Racism

emsavors's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

arrr's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

4.0

Check the content warnings. It's great and also horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

euphvrian's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

was a bit slow getting into it, but once i reached about 3 quarters in, then it really did feel like i was fully engrossed in the story. after finishing, looking at the full story and progression, the world building and character interactions built so much depth and clarity that helped support an amazing finish

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, and Classism

olorin85's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

corrieroe's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.0

Because there is so much magical stuff to unpack, and a world within our own to establish, it takes a little time to get into this book. Once I was in though, I needed to know what was going to happen next. This book is thrilling with twists that were unexpected and gruesome. We love an underdog story especially when she comes out on top. Looking forward to the second book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

meganemarshall's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

Wow! This was amazing. First off, this was such a great concept. Taking the mysterious secret societies of Yale and then adding magic to them hooks you from the start. Then, take a main character who is the complete opposite of what you would find at Yale. Alex Stern is a high school dropout drug addict whose only talent is that she sees ghosts. Which makes her perfect for Lethe, but not for Yale. 

This book is very world building heavy and is a bit of a slow start. But I think it's action-packed once the plot gets rolling. Alex gets involved with three different mysteries that have tons of twists and turns. The last hundred pages was shock after shock after shock. 

I personally really liked the back-and-forth between timelines. It took a while to get into it, but the chapters set in fall introduced Alex and the reader into this world and the mysteries. The past chapters also helped introduce you to Darlington and get you to care for him. The winter and spring chapters were more action oriented.

There are a lot of trigger warnings in this book. It covers very heavy topics such as class disparages sexual assault, murder, shitty rich people, drug abuse, and so much more. 

I 100% recommend this, and I can not wait to pick up Hell Bent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Excrement, and Vomit

kria96's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Classism