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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.
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.
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
aotales's review against another edition
3.0
(3.5 stars) This is going to be one of those annoying reviews to write because, after giving it a couple of days, I still don’t fully know where I stand on Ninth House. I’m torn between loving it, wanting to love it more, and being annoyed.
I love it because: fully realized, fantastic, morally gray characters, true Leigh Bardugo genius world development, and a novel that lands smack dab in one of my favourite literary sub genres: Dark Academia.
I want to love it more: because Bardugo is one of my favourite writers and I feel like this should have been a slam dunk five star read but I’m surprisingly waffling between 3 & 4 stars because …
I was annoyed. I was annoyed by how the plot often took a back seat to the overly descriptive monologues on Yale and New Haven geography. There is no need to grab either a Yale or New Haven directory after reading Ninth House, as the amount of history of the buildings, roads, doorhandles, stonework, and who sat on what with whom during what major such and such in history is so thoroughly detailed, there’s simply no need. She just kept banging on and on about all her knowledge of Yale. Not to mention the constant references to obscure, niche literature … unfortunately all of it came across very pretentious.
I wanted more of the characters, I wanted more of this dark world she created, but as the novel dragged on and on under the weight of the unnecessary geography lessons I grew rather tired with its tediousness. Also, while I understand that this was a novel with a strong subtopic of campus rape and the culture of sexual harassment in higher learning, did it cross the line into overdone and therefore drowned out the whole? Maybe. I felt there was a lot of singular preoccupation on this topic and the high number of sexual assault scenes started to take away from the message. For me, the parts that I loved were few and the parts I could’ve done without were numerous, on the whole leaving me with an unbalanced story that really could’ve been a favourite if those ratios had been reversed. Unfortunate.
Book Blog: https://aotales.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.o.tales/
I love it because: fully realized, fantastic, morally gray characters, true Leigh Bardugo genius world development, and a novel that lands smack dab in one of my favourite literary sub genres: Dark Academia.
I want to love it more: because Bardugo is one of my favourite writers and I feel like this should have been a slam dunk five star read but I’m surprisingly waffling between 3 & 4 stars because …
I was annoyed. I was annoyed by how the plot often took a back seat to the overly descriptive monologues on Yale and New Haven geography. There is no need to grab either a Yale or New Haven directory after reading Ninth House, as the amount of history of the buildings, roads, doorhandles, stonework, and who sat on what with whom during what major such and such in history is so thoroughly detailed, there’s simply no need. She just kept banging on and on about all her knowledge of Yale. Not to mention the constant references to obscure, niche literature … unfortunately all of it came across very pretentious.
I wanted more of the characters, I wanted more of this dark world she created, but as the novel dragged on and on under the weight of the unnecessary geography lessons I grew rather tired with its tediousness. Also, while I understand that this was a novel with a strong subtopic of campus rape and the culture of sexual harassment in higher learning, did it cross the line into overdone and therefore drowned out the whole? Maybe. I felt there was a lot of singular preoccupation on this topic and the high number of sexual assault scenes started to take away from the message. For me, the parts that I loved were few and the parts I could’ve done without were numerous, on the whole leaving me with an unbalanced story that really could’ve been a favourite if those ratios had been reversed. Unfortunate.
Book Blog: https://aotales.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.o.tales/
sschmalz's review against another edition
dark
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
4.0
pearlmijohns's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Rape
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Classism
charlotteaimee14's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Blood
nicola_2310's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jenpaul13's review against another edition
4.0
College is undoubtedly a unique time in life for many but when tasked with the oversight of secret societies it's bound to become even stranger and more extraordinary, as in Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Having already endured a multitude of massive, and tragic, life experiences by the age of twenty, Galaxy, a.k.a. Alex, Stern is given an opportunity to enter a world that might have otherwise been unattainable to her: getting an education at Yale, though her collegiate experience does come with a catch of monitoring the magical endeavors of secret societies housed in New Haven. Gifted with a particular skill to see ghosts, known as Grays, without the aid of elixir that others require, Alex can prevent Grays from attacking society rituals, but a string of odd events, including a vicious murder, catches her attention as rather abnormal. Determined to unravel the truth behind what's been going on, Alex discovers the activity is darker than she could have imagined, but she's stubborn enough to tackle it anyway, regardless of the danger.
The atmosphere of the novel is enticingly dark and bleak, matching the attitude that Alex is portrayed to possess and her tragic background. The depiction and discussion surrounding entitlement and the privilege and power associated with it within this book is well done, honest, and powerful. It took a while to get immersed in the story and world, with the establishment of the characters and magical elements taking a while to become more fully developed. For the length of this book, not a lot actually happens; the story was pieced together from bits of the past, both more and less recent, and the present, crafting the basis and context for what could come next for these characters, though the majority of the novel reads as rather expository with the action and intrigue picking up in the latter portion of the story, leaving the novel as a whole a bit unbalanced.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Having already endured a multitude of massive, and tragic, life experiences by the age of twenty, Galaxy, a.k.a. Alex, Stern is given an opportunity to enter a world that might have otherwise been unattainable to her: getting an education at Yale, though her collegiate experience does come with a catch of monitoring the magical endeavors of secret societies housed in New Haven. Gifted with a particular skill to see ghosts, known as Grays, without the aid of elixir that others require, Alex can prevent Grays from attacking society rituals, but a string of odd events, including a vicious murder, catches her attention as rather abnormal. Determined to unravel the truth behind what's been going on, Alex discovers the activity is darker than she could have imagined, but she's stubborn enough to tackle it anyway, regardless of the danger.
The atmosphere of the novel is enticingly dark and bleak, matching the attitude that Alex is portrayed to possess and her tragic background. The depiction and discussion surrounding entitlement and the privilege and power associated with it within this book is well done, honest, and powerful. It took a while to get immersed in the story and world, with the establishment of the characters and magical elements taking a while to become more fully developed. For the length of this book, not a lot actually happens; the story was pieced together from bits of the past, both more and less recent, and the present, crafting the basis and context for what could come next for these characters, though the majority of the novel reads as rather expository with the action and intrigue picking up in the latter portion of the story, leaving the novel as a whole a bit unbalanced.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
gjac_'s review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.75
This was a re-read of this novel and the world created by Bardugo was just as thrilling!! Very excited to read the next book!!
laurapacker's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0