A LOCUS AWARD FINALIST! The mesmerizing adult debut from Leigh Bardugo, a tale of power, privilege, dark magic, and murder set among the Ivy League elite Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much … boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.
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A wonderful romp of a book and a delicious treat. I am leaving to go out of the country next week, but Ninth House became available at the library. I picked it up and couldn’t put it down. Four days of reading and not getting much done later, I finished it and was only sorry to see it go. It has college students wielding magic with Yale University and North Haven in the background, monsters, ghosts, departmental politics and a magical, Los Angeles-born, drug-using, drop-out as the kick-ass heroine at the center of the story.
Bardugo is a great story teller. She makes you really like (or dislike) her characters, keeps the pace of the book flying, withholds certain things until just the right moment, and writes a terrific ending. Her take on the Secret Societies at Yale is fascinating, as is her research into the history of New Haven. I loved it; I hope you do, too.
This book had triggers I wish it had disclosed at the begining. If sexual assault is a trigger for you beware.
This is one of my new favorite books. I’m usually good at guessing plot lines and seeing things before they happen but this was one of the few books that had me blind and in the dark almost the entire time. The characters were wonderfully developed and while it took a while to get into, the second half of the book proved to be a page turner and I couldn’t put it down.
Excellent book. The structure of multiple timelines ensured that there were several mysteries being solved simultaneously, so that there was never a slog in the pacing. And they were so cleverly woven that I would never have thought there was anything connecting them, but I was proven wrong. The ending was nothing I had imagined. Alex wasn’t an instantly likeable character, but she grew on me. And I want more Darlington!
Ninth House is dark and marvelous. The entire time I was reading, I was in awe of the worldbuilding, the magical theory that went into the world, and especially the characters. Even the buildings are characters! The setting is wonderfully alive. I will be re-reading this book despite its dark tone and gruesome moments, because it was just that good!
At times, it isn’t an easy book to read. While I felt the pacing was the best of any Bardugo book I’ve read, there’s still a lot of detail, and that detail can be gory and might be triggering for some readers. (Sexual assault and abuse, primarily.)
Not everything is resolved. There’s a shameless opening for a second book, and although it isn’t exactly a cliffhanger, I wasn’t exactly satisfied by the ending, either.
Just the same, I recommend this book wholeheartedly to readers who love lush worldbuilding and aren’t afraid of dark magic. Sign me up for Book 2 and for the film, which I hope is already in the works. I’ll be covering my eyes during some of the scenes, but I am so there.
It wasn’t what I was expecting, yet it was at the same time. I couldn’t put it down – I needed…wanted…to know what happened next! Must read at least 1x, will probably read a couple more times too!
Started off a it slowly for me but finished strongly. Packed with interesting, complex characters and great world building, Ninth House has the beginnings of a great series.
I liked Alex, the main character. A figure who could have been tragic but has grit and lots of bravo.
Wow! Leigh blows my mind with every book she writes. I read the entire book (which is really long) in 24 hours! The secret societies and their magic are so well developed, yet have so much mystery and intrigue that I can’t wait for more.
Holy reintroduction to Leigh Bardugo after a long absence! I read Bardugo’s debut novel in 2012 when my love of YA had been burning strong, but quickly moved to contemporary romance and never looked back. That was a mistake, as I missed out on her releases, but I quickly righted it with Ninth House. To say I was blown away is an understatement. I couldn’t put this novel down. I couldn’t stop recommending it and talking about it to anyone who would listen. I was fortunate enough to attend Leigh’s Austin tour stop, listen to her witty Q&A and become even more fascinated with the characters I had yet to meet in her other novels. Ninth House was thrilling, an epic tale that is difficult to do justice with a simple review, and tugs at every emotion as you read. I can’t recommend it enough. Just dive in. It’s worth the plunge.
Just go buy Ninth House. Read it. And thank me later.
Really! You’re still here. Fine, I’ll give you what you came for, but it’s gonna be short and sweet.
If you enjoy occult, magick, or secret society novels, this one is for you.
If you enjoy supernatural fantasy, this one is for you.
If you enjoy mysteries with a supernatural vibe, this one is for you.
If you enjoy The Magicians by Lev Grossman, either the books or the TV series, this one is for you.
If you enjoy the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones, this one is for you.
Now go and read it.
Great book if you like quest stories with a fantasy twist. Loved the use of New Haven, Connecticut as the setting.
4.4- and I need a re-read, well I’m planning on a listening experience for my second read of this one. Twisted, so twisted but not till the the last 30%. I loved the second half of this book, it was unpredictable, dark and twisted. The first 1/4 was S.L.O.W. an info dump that had me skimming along struggling to stay awake with no hope of retaining any of it. I nearly quit the book, a friend talked me into finishing it. The middle section was a step up, my interest started to form I wanted to follow these characters. The end I never saw it coming, not any of it. You see why I need to go back and see if there was something in that dump zone of the first 1/4.
I’m not sure if I liked any of the characters, I wouldn’t want to have any of them over for coffee. There was no romance, they were elitists, rapists, murders, drug addicts, dealers, con artists, or just dead, not great types. It was dark with bits of light speckled in but not enough to make than darkness shine.
Good thing I like the dark 😛
I absolutely loved it! I could not put this book down. It was such a great read. It was dark, mysterious, and dabbled a bit in the occult. Lots of twists and turns in the story that slowly unraveled. Alex Stern is at Yale and she is a part of a secret society at Yale. Her “job” is to keep the secrets secret. She also has a “gift” that she is trying to understand how to handle. As she delves deeper into her role things begin to unravel around her and with a twist I did not see coming it tied up the loose ends well while still leaving an opening for book two, which I cannot wait for!
Top read of 2019. Let Galaxy surprise you.
I wanted to read something a little different and dark this October, and Ninth House fit the bill. It’s a paranormal fantasy/horror story set on the Yale campus in current day. It’s about student and faculty misconduct, the history of magic houses (based on actual societies), drug use, bursts of violent action, and a girl who can see the ghosts of New Haven. I admire any author who can blend genres and subvert my expectations.
Excellent immersive fantasy, made truly compelling by the gritty realism that ran through it. This book is astonishingly well-crafted – not a single character or plot point is superfluous and, in spite of all the twists, everything fits together perfectly by the time you reach the last page.
Leigh Bardugo has done it again. This book gives you all the creepy feels you’d expect in a book about the sordid underworld of the elite and how they abuse magic to stay on top. You can’t help but love Galaxy after all she’s been through. I listened to this book on Audible and enjoyed the narration so much! Leigh, you are so wonderfully bewitching! Leigh Bardugo
What a perfect book to go into Halloween with! This is a brilliant start to what I hope will be a deep and extensive series, with a female lead who does not apologize for her powers or using them. I’ll be back for more.
Ninth House was YA’s powerhouse Leigh Bardugo’s first foray into the adult realm, and while this novel is a hard read and isn’t for everyone, it is a fantastic and unforgettable debut into a new age range. This review is actually my second time reading this novel; I read it upon its original release and really liked it, but didn’t feel the need to talk about it a lot. Yet, I found myself thinking back on it frequently and fondly, now finding myself drawn to it again.
Galaxy “Alex” Stern wakes up in a hospital bed with a best friend dead and overdosed on heroin, her boyfriend with his head bashed in, three more dead bodies, and a full-ride to Yale. Despite the murky circumstances that granted her the unlucky responsibility of being the sole survivor of a massacre, this is her chance to escape not only the horrific incident but her previous life of poverty, addiction, and assault. It does not, however, give her the option to escape the ability that’s haunted her for her entire life: to see ghosts, or Grays. It’s this ability that gets her into Yale and to her new job as a member of Lethe, a secret society dedicated to keeping tabs on the Ancient Eight, Yale’s other secret societies. While each society is dedicated to a branch of magic, they’re also composed of elite rich kids with reality-changing abilities who have never heard no for an answer. Alex and her mentor, Darlington, keep them in check, but when Darlington vanishes and a woman ends up dead, it’s Alex alone who is left to investigate, and Alex alone who becomes tangled in a conspiracy that draws across centuries, all the societies, and the world of the living and the dead.
Ninth House is cold, academic, and dark. Those who liked the more light-hearted tales of The Grisha Trilogy might find it off-putting, but I loved it immensely. Bardugo manages to keep a tone of atmospheric eeriness the entire novel as Alex find her way through the labyrinthine rules and histories of the Ancient Eight. What I appreciated most is that this novel isn’t just a fitting prop for the “dark academia” aesthetic, it’s a thorough critique of the money and legacy of elite academics at Yale, how white, wealthy, patriarchal, and privileged they all are, how the institution is built on the bones of the poor, brown, and black people of New Haven. Bardugo isn’t concerned with keeping the status quo of the university. Alex Stern is Hispanic/Latino, she’s poor, she has a history of addiction, she is Yale’s outsider. In any other novel, the author would be trying to elevate their protagonist, get them to fit into Yale, maybe retain some of their quirky personality. Ninth House wants to destroy the higher institutions that have kept Alex and people like her in shackles. The activism here is truly intersectional but not unwieldy; the concept is baked directly into the narrative.
Not to say anything of the fantasy. I would read a dozen novellas about the history of Ninth House’s Yale and their Ancient Eight. The magic they use is intricate and deeply interesting, each tailored to the specific likes, dislikes, and graduates of the societies. What’s most interesting is that the houses of Yale are actually real; you can Google them! They (probably) aren’t practicing illicit magics in tombs, but just like the novel, graduates of the societies are highly important members of politics, influential academics, writers, judges, and athletes. The explanation to these members launch to power involves series of magical rites, from reading the future in the organs of living humans to ripping open portals in spacetime. The magic system is deep here, but we don’t get too involved that it becomes unwieldy or confusing. Ninth House is the beginning of duology, so I hope we’ll be able to get more of this rich, magical history in the next one.
I desperately want to give this novel five stars, but the plot does get rather tangled. The murder mystery’s web is vast, connected to many of the secret societies of Yale, some people outside of it, and even more. At certain moments it was hard to keep track of exactly how the murder victim connected to all of this; the web was slightly too large. I felt at certain points that I needed a whiteboard to keep track of the immense number of people involved in the case, and this was my second time reading this book. It became clear in the end, and the payoff is great, but at times it did feel a little confusing.
I would be remiss in this review if I didn’t mention how much I loved Alex. She’s deeply unlikable, can be rude to her compatriots, angry, bitter, and willing to sacrifice others for her own gain. She’s the best. So many traits that go loved in men like Kaz Brekker are condemned in women, but Alex was understandable, deeply flawed. Her relationship with Darlington is a thing with teeth, but their care for one another is palpable and I’m desperate to see how it plays out in the next book, romantic or not.
Ninth House was a great triumph. Bardugo has proven that she’s a master of fantasy of both YA and adult, and is fully capable of creating an intricate, magical world and plot that is centered in the real world. I’m probably looking forward to the sequel of Ninth House than I am for Rule of Wolves; it’s that good. For anyone interested in a twisty, dark narrative or looking for more of Bardugo’s deft characterization, I recommend this book. I hope she continues her work in the adult realm, continuing to gift us with more beautifully dark worlds.
TW/CW: sexual assault, consumption of bodily excretions, gore, drug use/addiction, child physical/sexual abuse. (This is what I meant by “a hard read and isn’t for everyone”. If you are easily triggered by anything, proceed with caution.)
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