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ainekate1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
It had an interesting premise with magical societies at Yale (think fraternities/sororities), but poorly executed.
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
gasleen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Vomit, and Abandonment
thegabscast's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment
himpersonal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
1) She casually drops that Alex was a good fighter because she was once a stripper. It was just one line in the middle of the book. It was a throwaway line that was completely unnecessary to building Alex's character. We already knew she could fight for life at this point because she'd done it before. Anytime a writer throws in a salacious tidbit like that in the guise of building character indicates to me: A) the author lacks confidence in their writing abilities, or B) the editor missed. Either way, it really turned me off even more than I already was.
2) She says Edmund Spencer's The Fairie Queen was a bore. I strongly disagree. I am not the biggest Arthurian fan, but I did really love this epic poem. It's possibly one of the longest books I've read, but it was worth every word. This is clearly a disagreement of opinions, so ok, but I still take exception.
These two points aside, like The Familiar, I really disliked the writing. I was bored all the way through. I have no desire to continue with this series, and I must remember to stop trying to read Bardugo's books!
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ladybug12793's review
- 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? No
4.0
Ton of triggers in this book.
Most notable TWs: multiple detailed (g)rapes of FMC and others (violent and statutory, druggings), gaslighting following sexual assaults and murder attempts, adult-minor relationships, drug abuse.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood
Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, and Abandonment
i_m_sane's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Abandonment
corrieroe's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
j_the_human's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Obviously this is Leigh Bardugo so I knew it was going to cook but I did not expect exactly HOW MUCH.
Pros:
- dark. Really dark. This is the dark in dark academia I’ve been looking for.
- secret societies! Horrible unethical rituals!! A very traumatized girl not really given a choice but to get in the middle of it!!
- complex, imperfect characters who you root for anyways because goddamn do they just deserve something good for once
- REVENGE
- 0 shying away from hard topics. Bardugo did not come to play (and please do check the trigger warnings)
Cons:
- I think there were a few points that information was repeated almost verbatim and that was a teeny tiny bit annoying, but also most people probably didn’t read this in all of 2 days like I did.
- I’m gonna reiterate that this is dark because if you’re not in the place for it, it could be REALLY bad
Overall:
I’ve not given a dark academia book more than a 3 star before but this gave me all that elitism, all that “the rich get away with it”, the “if you have what they want you can get in but never be one of them” vibe that is quintessential to dark academia, but in a way that engaged with the themes and how otherwise good people could fall foul of them, not just making everyone into cartoonishly evil people, because that’s not how the world works! This was dark and gritty and punch you in the teeth with violence and gore and horror, but kept from despair by genuine human connection and that sometimes, even on the worst days, eating junk food with a friend is enough to keep you hanging on.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury
sarahcelia's review against another edition
1.0
Leigh Bardugo is an excellent writer. Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom are new favorites from my reading list this year. But Ninth House was absolutely not for me.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism