Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

203 reviews

gremlin_98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

Galaxy ‘Alex’ Stern is a woman cloaked in darkness and tragedy. 
It would seem almost as if her life was doomed to end in heartbreak & lonely. 

Learning about the Houses, the magic and Alex made this a fascinating tale. I will not lie though. I do suggest looking up trigger warnings because if you're not in the right headspace I can imagine that some of the topics discussed and scenes that play out could really mess with someone. 
I’ll also point out that the timeline in how the story played out could be confusing, but I was able to just go with it and I didn’t feel too lost as it all came to a close. 

Thank you past me for picking up Hell Bent the same day so I am able to live in this world a little longer. I just hope the story continues in the way I’m hoping & it doesn’t focus on things I rather skip

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

pauline_90's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

jeggert10's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny

chasinggrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.75

“So…who’s ready to go to hell?”

Reread: Oct. 2024

This book is ten times better the second time around. Bardugo is a master at foreshadowing, and once you know how the mystery unravels, it is so fun to follow Alex Stern’s journey. This novel is fast-paced with unrelenting depth. If you didn’t get it the first time, it deserves another try. One of my favorite books of all time.

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If you grabbed a golden cauldron and mixed Babel, Supernatural, Breaking Bad, and the Illuminati together, you’d get Ninth House. Dark academia turned demonic murder mystery, this book was a great surprise. While slow at points, the main character truly drives this story. Her banter, inner thoughts, and quick wit had me snorting. There’s a whole cast of characters that were difficult to follow at points, but this was a very enjoyable read that left me excited for the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, and Classism

abigailswigert's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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 enjoyed that the main character is an imperfect person. Alex is a good person but doesn’t always follow the rules or do what you might expect the “good guy” to do. She fails, she doubts herself, she hurts people who did bad things, and she find love and acceptance from a group of friends who seem to get her. I’m really excited to read the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Rape

r0r0's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Start was really slow and disorganised, should have been edited to be chronological rather than jumping. Ending was really good, saved the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

kileyjojo's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

Content Warning: This book depicts several sexual assault scenes in detail.

This was a fun read. It was a little difficult to get into in the beginning but the middle to end was super suspenseful and interesting. The ending felt like it fumbled the ball just a bit but overall I enjoyed the book. It takes a while to get into it but the payoff is worth it. If you like realistic fantasy and the paranormal, this is the read. 

In terms of the content warning, a lot of the SA scenes feel very rushed and used only for shock value. In the moment, they are relevant but they seem to just disappear and never have any other message behind them when all is said and done. They are all very shocking and it makes it very difficult to want to continue the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

notsohopelessromantic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

I absolutely loved the first book in this trilogy. The writing that Leigh Bardugo uses in Ninth House differs so much, I feel like, from the works of the Grishaverse. This instantly captivated me and I was waiting and waiting for there to be resolution. There was some, but not everything was fixed by the end, so I am very eager to read Hell Bent.

I love Alex, and Dawes, but am craving more Darlington. The world built is truly corrupt, dark, and magical. Not unlike real life, but different enough that it has the ability to transport you into a world you'd be interested in living in. The end did throw me a bit, in a good way, with that twist. I still feel quite bad for poor North, but perhaps he'll feel a bit better in the next one.

There are uncomfortable instances throughout the book that maybe should have been prefaced with a page dedicated to trigger warnings. That is my only complaint; but seeing as I am able to push through those parts quite well, it didn't bother me in a way that would detract from the rest of the book, or my rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Medical content

torts's review

adventurous dark funny sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Excrement, and Vomit

jacksons_books_and_music's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

First of all, I absolutely agree with many others in that there are problems regarding some of the representation that is stereotypical and harmful. Similar with Six of Crows, I don’t think the problematic representation was intended by the author and I know she has shown she’s willing to learn from the criticism she receives. The book definitely needed 1-2 more sensitivity reads, and she and her editors should have thought more deeply about certain topics.

The story itself is masterfully crafted. It’s more ingenious than Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, which I loved. There are amazing, well-developed characters and profound themes. I am excited to dive into the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail