2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Tell us what you thought of the book! You can leave your review here. Even if you read the book outside of the group, please feel free to let us know what you thought of it.

Please make sure to mark your spoilers by typing [spoiler] at the start and [/spoiler] at the end but replacing the [] with <>.

Not taking part in this group read but here are my thoughts about this book from when I read it in 2021.

Considering this won a Goodreads Choice Award, I'm not sure I get the hype. I was reassured that I'm not in the minority because some of my GR friends thought the same.
The premise sounded so great: secret societies, magic, ghosts, twisted darkness, and mystery. But, I don't know... The flashbacks and time jumps didn't really work for me. It was long and a bit info-dumpy so it bored me at times. I think this quote from the book (view spoiler)[ (end of chapter 5) perfectly describes my feelings:
You start out excited, and by page 2 you realise it's all a lot of words and not much drama. (hide spoiler)]
An underwhelming 3 stars. I won't be continuing the series.

I read (toggled between the physical/ebook) this past October and I was soo excited at the beginning because it sounded like it was right up my alley and exactly what my mood called for. Boy was I let down -_-
I was bored to death!! It should have been oozing with atmosphere and spookiness but for me it didn't deliver.
I have no plans to continue the series and I'm only mildly interested in reading more Bardugo though I do have an unread copy of King of Scars on my shelf.

I actually JUST read this!

My review:

4 stars.

I finally finished! I feel like I've been reading this for a month but it's only been a week. This is completely out of my comfort zone as far as reads go, but I liked it!

It took me a while to figure out how this fantasy world worked so the first 200 pages or so were kind of slow for me. Once things started picking up, I remained interested in the story. I liked the ending...I know sometimes when a book is part of a trilogy or duology the ending is not satisfying but this one wasn't bad.

I'm a little sad Darlington was not in the book more, and I'm hoping at some point there is a prequel or something that focuses more on him. Or maybe the sequel will have more on him. I'm sure I will read Hell Bent at some point, but it may be a while.

Just finished!

Here's my ★★★★✩ review:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Here is my review!

I've read this twice. The second time was after finishing the sequel Hell Bent.


My Review of Ninth House --

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Here's some thoughts and my review link

I have read nothing by Bardugo so didn't have any expectations except that I knew she wrote YA fantasy novels. I picked my copy of the book for free at one of those "Little Free Libraries" that you see around in residential neighborhoods. I started reading it on the return cross-country airplane flight to visit my daughter at college in early March, and it caught my attention and was easy enough to read so I stuck with it. While the setup seemed a little contrived, and the characters for the most part weren't more than stock archetypes, I did find myself drawn in along the way, legitimately wanting to know what was going to happen next. I credit that to Bardugo's skill at creating suspense by doling out plot twists and revelations at a measured pace. I wasn't too surprised by the reveal and I had actually suspected the parties involved midway through the book. There was some silliness at times, including at the end, that made me roll my eyes but it was no worse than I expected from a book that I suspect was carefully crafted for mass-market appeal. Nothing wrong with that - the world needs Best-Sellers too. A set-up for a sequel (which there is one with probably more on the way) was expected, and I wasn't let down. Final verdict - not bad for brain candy.


Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...