hnicole01's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Addiction, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexism, and Sexual violence
avereads12's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
prairieraven's review
- 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
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Violence
annarak's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Excrement, Drug abuse, and Death
jodar's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Death, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Drug use, and Vomit
carmencolette's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Murder, Drug use, and Adult/minor relationship
memoriesthatremain's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Addiction, Death, Drug use, and Sexual assault
justineaxelle's review
- 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
3.25
First of all, that book needs a trigger warning list! I was wholly unprepared for some scenes and it didn’t sit well with me.
Secondly, the first 60% of the book was boring and the alternating chapters on different timelines were really confusing to start with and gave the book a weird pace. Then it got really interesting but it also gave me whiplash with the number of plot twists Leigh threw in there.
Finally, I only liked Alex in that second half of the book. I wished we’d had more actual interactions with Darlington because otherwise it felt like a pretty lonely book. I enjoyed the begrudging alliance/friendship between Turner, Dawes and Alex but that’s a flimsy cast of main characters. I needed more character interactions/development and less confusing storyline. I was too focused on trying to understand what was happening and did not get attached to the characters because of that.
However, those last few chapters were intriguing enough to make me want to read Hell Bent.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Body horror, Rape, Murder, and Physical abuse
emily_zylstra02's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Animal death, Gun violence, and Blood
peaceloveandmeow's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Vomit, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse