Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - La Neuvième Maison

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La Neuvième Maison by Leigh Bardugo

18 reviews

j_the_human's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK Y’ALL.

Obviously this is Leigh Bardugo so I knew it was going to cook but I did not expect exactly HOW MUCH.

Pros:
- dark. Really dark. This is the dark in dark academia I’ve been looking for.
- secret societies! Horrible unethical rituals!! A very traumatized girl not really given a choice but to get in the middle of it!!
- complex, imperfect characters who you root for anyways because goddamn do they just deserve something good for once
- REVENGE
- 0 shying away from hard topics. Bardugo did not come to play (and please do check the trigger warnings)

Cons:
- I think there were a few points that information was repeated almost verbatim and that was a teeny tiny bit annoying, but also most people probably didn’t read this in all of 2 days like I did.
- I’m gonna reiterate that this is dark because if you’re not in the place for it, it could be REALLY bad

Overall:
I’ve not given a dark academia book more than a 3 star before but this gave me all that elitism, all that “the rich get away with it”, the “if you have what they want you can get in but never be one of them” vibe that is quintessential to dark academia, but in a way that engaged with the themes and how otherwise good people could fall foul of them, not just making everyone into cartoonishly evil people, because that’s not how the world works! This was dark and gritty and punch you in the teeth with violence and gore and horror, but kept from despair by genuine human connection and that sometimes, even on the worst days, eating junk food with a friend is enough to keep you hanging on.

Content Warnings

emperor_aj's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

stephliljazz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad 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

4.75

This is a great book. I feel like the first chapter starts off a little slow but still good and then it just keeps picking up from there. Inside this world of dark magic controlled by students a lot can and will go sideways quick. The characters are built up perfectly and the plot was twisty just how I like it. To wrap up im really glad this is a series. Now on to book two!

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emmirosereads's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings