Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

76 reviews

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gaslighting

slowry44's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

I really like the characters, the writing and the world building, but this book would not let up on the abuse, SA, and constant bleak/grim violence against its characters. The tone is occasionally unbearable to the point of sometimes skipping large chunks of text that are just the author describing the particular manner in which a character is being brutalized this chapter. The magic system is really cool and the creativity in the world design is spectacular. I am glad I got through it cause I quite liked the ending and the answers it brought, but fuck was it a dark and dreary trudge to get there.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

peace_love_on_planet_earth's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

If this had been a dark romance there would have been an abundance of content warnings. No it’s not a romance BUT it needed content warnings. I don’t appreciate having the detailed depiction of an SA of a minor come out of no where in a flashback. Warning for others before going into this, this book contains: the SA of a minor (graphic), sexual coercion of a minor, a minor in an abusive “romantic” relationship (graphic), domestic violence involving a minor, a minor abusing drugs and alcohol. When I say minor, I mean a child age 12-15. This had so many triggers for me and I would’ve liked to have been warned. I kept reading because I wanted Alex to receive some kind of validation for what happened to her but it never came. Bardugo also wrote something questionable about survivors which if you’re reading and haven’t healed or something just happened to you then I would find it extremely damaging. I would’ve liked for her friendship with Dawes to develop more but it also didn’t, perhaps in the next one. It was also slow af at the start. This isn’t fiction for some people and it can be extremely damaging. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aimeemg155's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

emperor_aj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Cursing, Racism, Sexism, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

chamaeleontis's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

Pretty slow start, but when it gets going, it gets GOING.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lenz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Rape and Forced institutionalization

aisling214's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emilywemily6's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

5.0

I’ve never read a book like this before, and it’s so refreshingly different than Bardugo’s YA novels (which I also loved!). I loved the sinister magic/dark academia vibes and how the multiple storylines unfold throughout the book. Lots of great plot twists I didn’t see coming and made me gasp out loud. I wish I understood more about the history of the houses/general world-building, but I think the book is written intentionally vague with a trickle of information as you are thrust into this world within our world, which adds to the mysterious, sinister feel. It kept me hooked and I can’t wait to read the next book. Apparently, lots of this book (not the magic lol) is true too, and now I want to go to New Haven.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Police brutality, and Stalking