Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

La novena casa by Leigh Bardugo

204 reviews

jacksons_books_and_music's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

First of all, I absolutely agree with many others in that there are problems regarding some of the representation that is stereotypical and harmful. Similar with Six of Crows, I don’t think the problematic representation was intended by the author and I know she has shown she’s willing to learn from the criticism she receives. The book definitely needed 1-2 more sensitivity reads, and she and her editors should have thought more deeply about certain topics.

The story itself is masterfully crafted. It’s more ingenious than Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, which I loved. There are amazing, well-developed characters and profound themes. I am excited to dive into the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

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

deanchaudhri's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I have never rly read fantasy before so this was a first and i was really pleasantly surprised - it still had the darkness and grit that I like in thriller/horrors in addition to the magic and world building which was really cool. Also it had one of my fave atmospheres: ‘dark academia university’ vibes which really made it that more immersive & I kept wanting to enter this world. Was slow at first and a little convoluted but the last 1/3 or so was very action packed and thriller-esque with some nice twists. Very unique story and I really was rooting for the characters - they were very well crafted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, and Medical content

itsheyfay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism and Vomit

alyxbeau's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

1.5

I am clearly not the target audience for this book, but I stuck through it anyways even though I should have DNFd this one and almost did on multiple occasions. 

I will put the reamainder of my review in spoiler tags to avoid people glancing at trigger warnings, but it will also contain actual spoilers. 

There was an absolutely massive amount of sexual assult covered in this book, and in graphic detail. There is a minor in an abusive and sexual relationship with an adult, rape, and drugging with substances to allow seeming consensual acts recorded on a phone. There is gory and detailed descriptions of pried open bodies as well. Honestly, those first pages after the initial chapter should have been enough for me to quit then and there, but I didn't. I thought it might get better after about 25 percent of the book, but the sexual descriptions of uncomfortable situations just got more frequent from that point on. 

At first I didn't think sny of it was for the shock factor. It seemed like the experiences our main character went through were described to us to explain her total fear at being touched by a ghost again after being raped as a middle schooler by one. But then her reaction to humans doing the same to her or trying to do the same to her, we're not as intense. They should have been. This is why I think it is all there for the shock factor now, and not included to show why her reaction was intense. Her reaction was intense only once. The trauma forgotten after that first incident at Yale.

This book is not for me. I stayed to solve the mystery of Darlington and got no satisfactory answer. I will not be continuing the series except to read a synopses of books 2 and 3, MAYBE.


 

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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, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kiwij96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

This was a fantastic adult debut by Leigh Bardugo, I was genuinely impressed. It was a bit of a rocky start with the time jumps but about 80 pages in it definitely came into its own. Great magic system in the contemporary world, great mysteries surrounding the characters, and the plot twists were brilliant.

The concept for this book is well thought-out: Alex is a young girl plagued by ghosts, both metaphorical and literal, who finds herself with a free pass to one of the most prestigious universities as a result of her gift, and also where finds herself in the midst of at least 3 murder mysteries. However, at times the chapters were too long, paragraphs too clunky or generally too wordy. Her roommate characters were also super forgettable and definitely plot devices.

I would highly recommend checking your trigger warnings for this because there are some heavy topics and triggering scenes in here if you are unprepared.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

alexijai98's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

Heed trigger warnings! 

Bardugo’s venture into adult fantasy was a good read! Weirdly predictable in the end, but still enjoyable. I’ll be reading Hellbent!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

merylas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I had some trouble getting into the story at first (between the flashbacks, the prompts, the writing style, and the time it took to lay a useful foundation), but once I got about a third in, the plot roots were cemented. 

This story is very twisty in a fun and interesting way. There is a lot of violence and vivid descriptions of assault which is definitely not everyone’s jam. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual assault

Minor: Emotional abuse and Vomit

themdash's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism