Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

318 reviews

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

lex_is_bookish's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

required reread for fall season, one of my favorite books

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

janchamp'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, and Excrement

meankristine's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

spworley's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Excrement

emily_therese_4's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

If I could rate this book 6 stars I would. I love this book with all my heart, it made me feel all the emotions and I’m so so excited to read book 2

Update: reread October 2024

This is and will always be my comfort book. These characters feeling like family to me and this world feels like finally coming home after a long day. It’s like my own fucked up culty version of Harry Potter and I eat it up EVERY DANG TIME.

PLEASE check the triggers before reading this. It is full of trauma and heartbreak, but also really cool shit and an incredible setting.

This book has all of the things I love in it. Dark academia, murder mystery, complex characters, a unique world and plot. Brilliant banter. 

If I wasn’t crying I was laughing. My heart breaks for Alex and all the things she is put through during this book and her life. I can relate to her. She’s a freaking badass who’s been dealt a shit hand but STILL never ceases to stand up for the people she cares about. She is an incredible character and her tenacity is enviable. 

Also the way I feel so immersed in this book is like no other. The deeper meanings, the descriptive language, the utter perfection that is this fucking plot. I will never stop loving it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

Yum yum yum I love how polarizing this book is. For me, 4.75 stars rounded up. I had a lot of fun. 

Starting with cons: Due to the setting at Yale, this book runs the high risk of making its readers feel dumb sometimes. Leigh Bardugo went to Yale for undergrad, was in Wolf's Head, and also researched the h e l l out of Yale's history to make a cohesive, believable backstory. The depth of information fell flat to me as someone who doesn't care about the architecture and alumni of Ivy Leagues. It was a good plot device to show Darlington's intelligence, but occasionally read as, "Look at how much I thought this out and how smart I am!" She toes the line between knowing how grating academics can be and becoming an insufferable know-it-all herself (I understand this bc I am a huge nerd, currently in grad school, and can be academically insufferable). There are probably a ton of references I didn't understand (I'm sure some of it was written for English buffs and Yale students). This makes the book a bit too long, imo. Also, the chapters skip around in time and I don't think that was necessary, though it wasn't too hard to follow. 

To be fair, Bardugo's world building ability is unbelievable, and I thought all of her main characters were unique, real, and multifaceted. 

Pros: Pretty much everything else. Fun magic system, spooky dark academia, ghosts, sentient houses, whodunit, powerful misfits, revenge, a bi (?) female lead, extremely developed world, and a twisty-turny plot. 

Important to note - this book is DARK. Like, graphically dark, and sometimes very gross, and often sad. Check the TWs/CWs. 

Leigh Bardugo is an excellent writer and I highly recommend this if you like second chances, dark academia, and magical murder mysteries. It feels like this book was set up to knock the next one out of the park - I can't wait to start the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Xenophobia

ta2dlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Mysterious. Magical. All- consuming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use and Rape

blue_skye's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

agedmordorblue's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Fun read! I've not read much occult/magic realism before, but I quite liked this excursion into the genre. It took me a while to truly get hooked, but once the story got me, I found it hard to put down.  The prologue felt a bit cheap and didn't necessarily add much tension to the story and it takes nearly until the end for the story to catch up. Overall it seems like a fairly straightforward whodunnit, but it remains enjoyable throughout.

The book throws graphic descriptions of stuff like rape and abuse at you kinda out of nowhere, so maybe don't pick this book if you're looking for something light.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting