Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

La nona casa by Leigh Bardugo

165 reviews

robles2yggdrasil's review against another edition

Alright, I didn't finish the book because I was uncomfortable with the sexual assault and rape that happened in the book. Given I only made it to Chapter 17 (pg. 266), I loved the story and the universe and everything with the occult was great. However, the visualization of the sexual trauma was too much for me.

I added a toned-down, but inclusive overview of what transpired.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Child abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Addiction, Drug abuse, Excrement, and Cursing

Spoilers (Sexual Content and Rape): p. 122-123

This is a flashback to the main character's youth (12~13). She is sexually assaulted and raped by a ghost. While it doesn't go into every single detail, the actions are depicted and enough given to form a vivid image. Main insight: The main character learns that the ghosts, "Grays", can physically interact with and harm her.

p. 249-250, 259-260

This relates to a present roommate of the main character. Said roommate is drugged and raped during a party. A video is used to blackmail her. The main character goes to stop the blackmailing and finds additional videos of other girls. Uses slang for genital and degrading/pornographic language and imagery. Main result: We find out that the murdered victim, Tara, was making the purple drug with her boyfriend.

grisha's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Death

neetarattan'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 • 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢 •  ⁣𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 
𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 • 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 • 𝘋𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘖𝘝

I am so glad that Leigh Bardugo took the risk to do something 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 different, yet still epic fantasy - showcasing her incredible skill at creating complex worlds and magical systems, blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality. The magic was deeply layered making it fun to learn about each secret society -  all of which are actual real structures on Yale's campus! [side note: I have never wanted to go on a guided tour of New Haven until now.] The paranormal aspects were haunting, contributing to the overall dark academia vibes.

Ninth House is less accessible than her prior series like Shadow & Bone or Six of Crows (Grishaverse). Let me explain why: the first half of the book is spent world building, creating a fully immersive environment for the reader. There is a lot to take in between characters, their pseudonyms, dates & places, and timeline flashbacks, not to mention the houses themselves and what type of magic each uses. Then there is the main plot: an unsolved murder. I loved watching the case unfold alongside Galaxy "Alex" Stern, aka Dante. 

But you get my point: a lot of readers want fast action & not have to do a lot of thinking. This is a much slower build, but if you are willing to wait for it, you will see the brilliance of the writer at the end. I loved Centurion, Darlington, Dawes, and North. Simply amazing.

This is truly a dark fantasy, lots of trigger warnings: Rape, Sexual Violence, Death, Murder, Classism, Violence, Gore, Drug Use, Drug Abuse, Misogyny, Addiction, Blood, Body Shaming, Toxic Relationship, Adult/Minor Relationship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Violence

danidea_'s review against another edition

Not only were the first 100 pages (plus more) was confusing, dense and hard to get through the excessive, graphic and unnecessary SA sealed the deal for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Child abuse

trickz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Addiction, and Suicide

Minor: Abandonment, Self harm, Murder, and Child abuse

thelexy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Absolutely addictive. Entrancing characters. Great supernatural mystery that felt balanced and grounded in the world she built. 
But heads up about the content warnings. If you have any triggers they are probably in here. It didn't read to me as violence porn, as in shallowly gratuitous just for the sake of getting a cheap reaction. Maybe because the main character feels so real? 
If I had known about the content warnings I probably wouldn't have read it but once I started I couldn't stop just because I loved all the main characters so much and needed to know what happened.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Violence

crpettit's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Trafficking, Violence, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

jbonello's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

laraloops's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

One of the best urban fantasy books I've had the pleasure of reading. It's a very very dark book - I would highly recommend looking up trigger warnings for the book if you are not prepared for some very dark content. The prose is beautifully written and the main character is tough but not in a grating way. I felt she and other characters were very realistic and I got attached to them very quickly. 

You can tell the author really wanted to bring Yale to life in this book - the setting is very detailed and is a character in itself. 

Pacing wise it was slow at the beginning but I found myself grateful for that as I had a hard time keeping track of the houses and code names. By the time you get a third of the way into the book the plot really starts picking up and it's a wild ride to the end. It was rough to get through at times, Alex (the main character) has had a depressingly sad life but I found the portrayals of the abuse she suffered felt realistic rather than gratuitous.  

By the end I was immediately ready for the next book - a five star read that I would recommend to anyone who can stomach dark content and wants a well written urban fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

tomasalbanez's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

5.0

MEU DEUS. QUE LIVRO BOM! A história te prende enquanto o mundo de Alex desabrocha na sua frente. A mudança de perspectivas é perfeita! No final eu mudei umas 5 vezes entre "como ela vai conseguir terminar a história nesse livro" e "como vai ter mais coisa pra ser contada no livro seguinte". Um começo maravilhoso, um meio intrigante e um final extremamente satisfatório. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gore, Blood, Sexism, Rape, Excrement, Violence, Murder, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Classism, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cancer, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts