Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Das neunte Haus by Leigh Bardugo

39 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Leigh Bardugo is another writer I have to remember that I don't really like. This book was marginally better than The Familiar for me. There were a couple of things that stood out as especially odious to me:

1) She casually drops that Alex was a good fighter because she was once a stripper It was just one line in the middle of the book. It was a throwaway line that was completely unnecessary to building Alex's character. We already knew she could fight for life at this point because she'd done it before. Anytime a writer throws in a salacious tidbit like that in the guise of building character indicates to me: A) the author lacks confidence in their writing abilities, or B) the editor missed. Either way, it really turned me off even more than I already was.

2) She says Edmund Spencer's The Fairie Queen was a bore. I strongly disagree. I am not the biggest Arthurian fan, but I did really love this epic poem. It's possibly one of the longest books I've read, but it was worth every word. This is clearly a disagreement of opinions, so ok, but I still take exception.

These two points aside, like The Familiar, I really disliked the writing. I was bored all the way through. I have no desire to continue with this series, and I must remember to stop trying to read her books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

_meganrose's review against another edition

challenging 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

A slow start, but I enjoyed this. Thought I was going to be able to predict the ending and I was wrong. Good read for spooky season.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

eviethebookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Gore, and Vomit

Minor: Medical trauma and Classism

blckandread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer

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

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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

lizzie24601's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

2.5

Leigh Bardugo's writing chops are as strong as ever - strong enough to keep me going even amid unbuilt characters and a few too many sexual assault cases that were never remarked upon again afterward. The intended audience might just be Yale alums like Bardugo herself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Cancer

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.

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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

ceruleanshelves's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative 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? It's complicated

4.25

Mors irrumat omnia. Death fucks us all.

i INHALED this book, omg. this was a VAST change of pace from shadow & bone and i much preferred it. it was very reminiscent to vicious but more complicated with it's worldbuilding and lore and a stronger theme of sexism and corruption in academia and society.

“I let you die. To save myself, I let you die.
That is the danger in keeping company with survivors.”

i LOVE alex, she's a fighter, a survivor. she is grit and teeth and isn't afraid to bite. it was really cool to see sephardic jewish rep and seeing ladino used in magic. darlington is naively pretentious but unavoidably loveable. this is yet another case of i don't know who i want to be or be with more lol. let the bi panic ensue.

“All you children playing with fire, looking surprised when the house burns down”

i would say the first maybe 10-20% or so was slow for me. not bad but i didn't feel driven until a certain point was hit - and then it took off from there. bardugo's creativity in constructing the houses of lethe and crafting how certain magics fit in with them, intermingled with an undercurrent of demonology and other deathlore, and the weaving of race/class/gender politics within a town and society that is very much built for a specific demographic to come out on top was masterful. i also, despite the sometimes grim scenarios, found myself still huffing in a laugh at the dry humor that tended to come from alex.

“I want to survive this world that keeps trying to destroy me.”

i'm excited to jump into book 2 asap! 

Time to go to hell

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

At first, I really wasn’t sure I would like this book. The start was rather slow - I respect these types of books have to “set the stage” for what is to come, but it can still be a bit of a slog to get through, and I was having a hard time getting through certain chapters and not knowing what details were “important” to remember. Once I hit about 30% of the way through, though, it was really off to the races! Similarly, the time jumps threw me off at the beginning and I had a tough time calibrating where I was in the story, but this becomes much easier as the book goes on. I ended up really appreciating the back and forth nature and how it set the stage for the grand finale/reveal towards the end. 
This book leans hard into dark magic, occult, rituals, and sacrifices, which I originally wasn’t a fan of, but I got absolutely hooked.
I really love how the author explored the concept of power and class throughout this book. It’s a major theme done in explicit ways, but was also sprinkled throughout in small ways. It did a beautiful job of examining how power is gained, maintained, and expanded amongst those at the top, and the little, if any, repercussions they face for heinous crimes - especially if committed amongst those who are seen as the bottom rungs of society.
I even found myself super intrigued by the occult and dark magic by the end and appreciate this book for opening me up to new genres and types of books.
I am really excited to read “Hell Bent” now!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Cancer and Gun violence

While this book isn’t really horror, I would say it’s horror adjacent in many ways, so folks should know that going in!

fionamclary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

The premise and plot of this book were excellently executed. Alex was a great main character, and I loved how she had a strong moral compass that still lead her to do grotesque things.

A couple minor but significant complaints:

The way Alex reacted to Darlington's behavior at the Manuscript party seemed odd considering she is a survivor of SA. While you could argue that she is sympathetic and understanding that the drug he got was a form of SA as well, considering how it affected him, that still doesn't make it reasonable that she'd just be fine with everything. This was jarring amidst Bardugo's otherwise decently sensitive and realistic portrayal of Alex as a SA survivor.

I found that Dawes was autism-coded, and that the way Alex describes her initially indicated that Alex dislikes her for her autistic traits. She seems annoyed by her adherence to rules, alienated by her single-minded focus, put off by her ever-present headphones and favoring the same comfortable clothes.

When Alex does finally get closer to Dawes, it's due to shared trauma, not because she sees that there's nothing wrong with the aspects of her that she was initially put off by.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness