Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Das neunte Haus by Leigh Bardugo

110 reviews

loudonuts's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

opening with several tedious chapters of Yale circlejerking was already a huge turn off. i expected to eventually like the main character- the author desperately wants you to- but i never came around on her. the institutionalisation of the magic was the most interesting part, but there was not enough substance to it. i can see that the author wanted to tell a story about the consequences of privilege and power in NINTH HOUSE, but for me, nothing truly satisfying was done with that premise. it is mostly a basic whodunnit with a main character that is handed answers rather than the reader being able to piece it together. a generous 2 stars from me, but only because of the hints of an interesting magic system.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

21jaeharlan's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

spiresalex06's review against another edition

Dark in a way that is not interesting or new, just depressing and disturbing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Classism

callmesheets's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

The plot starts out a little slow and it took me about a quarter of the way through to gain an understanding of the world building. However, the pace picks up pretty quickly closer to the halfway point of the book. I found it also takes some time to get to know the main characters and start caring about them but I think the author does a great job of building the suspense and shares easter eggs about the plot and characters throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

cre8withcait's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

cnjg88's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual harassment

aisling214's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

icepoppy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Death, Excrement, and Vomit

emmirosereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This book was alot to say the least. It's not my usual read but Leigh Bardugo is my favorite author and I wanted to give a try to her books outside of the Grishaverse. I knew this was dark going in, which was why I put it off for so long. I was afraid it was going to be too much for me and it might have been a little but I'm honestly hooked and definitely planning on reading the sequel. 

I will be honest and say I don't think I would have gotten through this book, let alone so quickly, if I hadn't listened to the audiobook. The audiobook narrator does a really good job and makes the experience really enjoyable. I love the dark and gritty world Leigh Bardugo builds for us in our world today. I think the way she writes and tells this story is unique in how she flip-flops between timelines, giving us little bits of information to trail us to the big finish. That being said there is a lot of world lore that gets thrown at us at once which can be a lot to take in. 
I love Alex Stern as our main character. She's tough and gritty and I love seeing how she fights to overcome and conquer everything in her life, despite everything going against her. I loved seeing how Leigh Bardugo deals with the themes throughout the book, of race and class. Of an underdog getting a second chance at life, but at what cost? Just seeing how she writes and deals with Alex Stern's moral grayness throughout this book. 

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart and is not a book for everyone but I'm glad I at least gave it a chance. I'm having mixed feelings about the ending but I'm interested to see what the sequel brings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury

metaphorical_disaster's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? Yes

2.5

I don’t even know how to feel after finishing this book. 
I definitely liked it. The story itself was unique and could be interpreted many ways to reflect the world today. The characters (most of them, anyway) had been pretty fleshed out and easy to understand their choices and actions. 
My only gripe is that the first bit of the book was so very confusing. I had to reread the first 5 chapters twice because it felt like I was losing my mind. 
The story does pick up and, while there are still very confusing bits in the middle, it’s beautiful and clever and dark and hopeful all at once. 
This is DEFINITELY one of those books I would have to give a second read through to fully appreciate the story. Until I give it another go, I’m leaving it at a 3⭐️ because it’s still worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis