Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - La Neuvième Maison

Daaarrrk academia. Wonderfully written, compelling plot, complex characters, and a few curveball plot points - not entirely unpredictable, but there were some surprises. Beginning of the book bounces back and forth in POV and point in time; a little confusing initially since you're still learning the world, but you figure it out. You'll know within a few chapters if this book is for you - see trigger warnings below.

Trigger warnings: rape, gore, violence, death, microaggressions, racism.

Content Warnings

fionamclary's review against another edition

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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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robles2yggdrasil's review against another edition

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Alright, I didn't finish the book because I was uncomfortable with the sexual assault and rape that happened in the book. Given I only made it to Chapter 17 (pg. 266), I loved the story and the universe and everything with the occult was great. However, the visualization of the sexual trauma was too much for me.

I added a toned-down, but inclusive overview of what transpired.

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daralexandria's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

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hwildy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

4.75

After being in a reading slump this was exactly what I needed, even though it was dark this book was painfully funny. Alex was a wonderful protagonist in the way that she was heavily flawed and often times very lost in what was happening. She was sharp witted and cruel when needed but being slowly given her story we were able to love her before we even knew her, much like Dawes or Darlington. As someone who has struggled with addiction the recurring mention, though often times being off handed or part of a bigger picture, resonated with the way my own life often revolved around those actions. Her mother was a distant character in the book and we get the sense that Alex had to distance them to not hurt her mother any more. Dawes is my favorite character in the book, I don’t care if she wasn’t that large a role, she was funny in the same way as Alex and in my opinion she is meant to be what Alex could have been. From the beginning I hated the Dean ,mostly because he was an old man but that doesn’t matter, he was a very well hidden character and I felt he served his purpose. The minor role of Mercy and her other roommate felt like another metaphor for addiction, the magic in her life is something she has to hide from her friends to protect herself and then. In many ways magic is another addiction as it does take a toll on the body but when practicing it is something of great relief and pain. I hope Darlington comes back because even though he was annoying there are clearly layers to his character. North was great, he reminds me of an older sibling and his an Alex’s constant power struggle was hilarious in the face of the ‘no interaction’ and ‘no making deals’ rules of the Lethe. The writing style was very addictive and the perfect balance between description and action. The dialogue was fantastic, mostly Alex’s. Alex’s final act in this major plot point was reclaiming her name Galaxy which she had once traded for Alex and the normality it brought.

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