Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

167 reviews

hnicole01's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5


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cmillerwang's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

Simply, I really liked this book. If you’re looking for a lighthearted page-turner, this is not the one. Read some of Leigh Bardugo’s other writings for that. But I HIGHLY recommend putting in the effort. Get through this one. Every bit you read, you will probably find something amazing. It will slowly attach itself to your heart. Bardugo’s writing has done this to me and I think it has changed my life.
Alex Turner is everything I want in a lead, especially an ‘imperfect’ female lead. She’s angry and powerful, smart but troubled, self conscious but bold, but she’s also human (I think?). Alex has such a dark backstory, but these funny little details sprinkled throughout. I loved hearing about her grandmother and the little adventures with Hellie and the oh, so realistic two-sided nature of her relationship with her mother. Who else can you steal from and abandon and yet they will come running when they think you need them?
In a rather unorganized list, here are a few other things I liked: 
Sephardic Jewish influence. We don’t hear much about Sephardic Jews at all, or the Jews who hid in Latin America, many of whom ended up mixing their faith with a version of Christianity to hide from persecution. As an Ashkenazi Jew, I’m hoping for little bits more in the 2nd book. 
Alex’s flaws. I know she has many. But I like that’s she’s not all-powerful. As a HUGE fan of Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology, this is common for her writing. The characters are so strong, but they are not gods. Alex is vulnerable, whatever happens next in her story. She’s even kind of pathetic and whiny, but not in a way that’s unpleasant for the reader. 
I love that this book has layers of understanding. The more you relate or a concept applies to you, the more meaning you can get out of it. Maybe this is true for all media. I don’t know anything about secret societies, but someone who does will have more insight into those aspects. I got more out of the Hebrew references that some might. A survivor of abuse might struggle more or gain more from Alex’s story. And so on. 
In conclusion, 5/5 stars. I think I’ll love it even more on a reread. This book was slow going for me. I’m usually a speed reader. This one took nearly a month. But every page I read was with love. And with every page I got more and more attached to the characters and story. You can put it down and come back. But don’t give up on it. I’m so, so excited to read Hell Bent next.

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prairieraven's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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lottieingham's review

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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

4.25


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jodar's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

Disappointing. The writing style is pretty banal for a novel that is immersed in a paranormal setting, with secret societies and an MC desperately trying to unravel a deadly mystery. It also comes across as much more YA than I expected at the outset.

I understand the MC had a depressingly bad background, but even so I found her unappealing, foul-mouthed and arrogant. I think the author was aiming at undaunted, go-getting and savvy. Perhaps it is a cultural thing? a generational thing? – but regardless, I have concluded that I am not at all the target audience!

As the CWs indicate, the novel has a lot of nastiness throughout, too. It’s not gratuitous, but be prepared for it if you decide to read it. I felt the novel improved a little from about the two-thirds mark, as some threads fell into place. And the twists within twists towards the end was a pleasant surprise, albeit a final twist unable to be deduced from prior clues by the the reader any more than by the MC until the final reveal.

As an alternative to Ninth House, I recommend Vita Nostra by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko – a truly gripping, disturbing tour de force of this genre. 

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fox_thorne's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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

4.25


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colittle's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Wonderful prose, but the worldbuilding felt rushed at times and dragged at others. The characters were not as three-dimensional as one would expect from a book of this length, though some were likeable enough. At times the dialogue felt as real as an overheard conversation, and other times it was full of snappy, whiplash comebacks that fell utterly short of realism. 

Felt like a YA novel with gore and sexual content thrown in as set dressing; when mature themes were actually discussed, it was brief and without depth. SA used gratuitously and egregiously as a plot device, with a minor character in one instance seeming to forget about it overnight— ick. 

Biggest strength was the use of tension and suspense; while I didn’t always enjoy reading Ninth House, I kept turning the pages all the same. 

A competent book overall, but that should be a given from a bestselling author. 

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imjustmaria's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

5.0


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hyuniecrisp's review against another edition

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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

4.5

I read this book before as a physical copy and definitely struggled with it. Maybe the fantasy elements were just hard for me to digest visually. But this time around I listened to it and LOVED it. So if you're struggling with this one, I recommend giving it another shot in a different medium. 

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thenoodlevore's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think the book tackled some difficult issues well and I could identify with some of the complex feelings of the characters. I appreciated the honesty in it. 

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