Ninth House (Ninth House Series, 1)

NINTH HOUSE is the first book I have read by author Leigh Bardugo, and I have already purchased several other novels by her, based on the writing style alone. She captured my attention from the first page, and managed to give enough "new" information for me to process all throughout this story. The result was a novel that I hated to put down at any place."Rich or poor, all are equal in death . . . "Alex (Galaxy) Stern is a young woman that spent her life trying to hide away from the fact that she was very . . . different. She was able to see ghosts ("Grays") from the day she was born. A curse that kept her from blending in and living a "normal" life, until the day she got an offer from Yale.Alex would get a free ride, contingent upon her joining their secretive Lethe House, where she would help monitor supernatural events and experiments in private societies on campus."The greatest gift Lethe had given Alex . . . was the knowledge, the certainty that the things she saw were real and always had been . . . "Bardugo has constructed a complex and thrilling novel involving dynamic characters, supernatural phenomena, mysterious histories, secret societies, and danger threaded all throughout. The societies and their "origins" were so well detailed that each and every event felt entirely plausible in the setting.". . . This town is a peculiar one. The Veil is thinner here . . . "There wasn't just one main character that stood out here. I found that many of them were so individual in their behaviors and beliefs that they were equally as important to me as Alex was.". . . He didn't know how precious a normal life could be, how easy it was to drift away from average . . . "As the events began, I felt as if I were learning along with Alex--a student, myself--permitted entrance into possibly THE most exclusive and wondrous of societies. The stark change from the world she left behind, to the one she now sought to integrate into, was astronomical. Her character's sarcastic wit and ability to make quick decisions helped blend this transition into something the reader could go along with."Maybe good things were the same as the bad things. Sometimes you just had to let them happen."I really enjoyed how Bardugo painted the demeanor of the privileged college students, verses those that lived in the towns just outside of Yale's domain. The differences were illustrated in casual comments, the clothing worn, professors who had students working as hired help--all to create the sense of inequality better than words alone ever could.". . . there was a big difference between things being fair and things being set right."Then, there was the magical "world" that was Lethe--where they were tasked with overseeing the elaborate rituals involving the supernatural, mixed with the needs and desires of the rich and powerful--all done in secrecy from the main body of the common population. THIS is the area that had me hooked on every sentence penned.". . . That was what magic did. It revealed the heart of who you'd been before life took away your belief in the possible . . . "Overall, I was incredibly impressed with my first novel from Leigh Bardugo. Her writing style kept my attention from first to last page, giving just enough information at a time to keep you begging for more. The world she created was complex, and yet believable--with the elite of Yale in contrast to the world surrounding the University, you could believe that some of these people were able to pierce the "barrier" for their own gain.". . . needed to believe that there was something more to the world than living and dying . . . "Add in some dynamic, three dimensional characters, and you have a book that covers all the major bases. I plan on reading some of the author's earlier novels, and will eagerly be awaiting her next.Highly recommended!

“But would it have mattered if she’d been someone else? If she’d been a social butterfly, they would have said she liked to drink away her pain. If she’d been a straight-A student, they would have said she’d been eaten alive by her perfectionism. There were always excuses for why girls d**d.”Leigh Bardugo’s latest book Ninth House is by every measure a success, and it’s easy to see why.In Ninth House, Alex Stern begins her new life as a student at Yale University. But with her background, and her ability, she’s not like the other students. In Ninth House we explore, through Alex, a blend of the real and the unreal as she learns about Yale’s exclusive clubs and their influence, their dealings with magic and ritual and power.I really wanted to like this book, having loved the first in Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology, but I was aware that a lot of the split reviews hinged on the voice and pacing Bardugo chose for Ninth House. I didn’t know what to expect, and when I first started it I really couldn’t get past the first few pages. However, after walking away for a month, I came back to it and thoroughly enjoyed it in a “cover to cover” kind of way.Overall, I think it’s an excellent example of the kind of skilled writing Bardugo is bringing to the fantasy genre. You see, like Alex from the book Bardugo went to Yale, studying English, and it’s clear that she learned her lessons well. She successfully avoids a lot of the tropes that popular fantasy writers can fall into. In another author this might read (so to speak) as maturity of voice, but in Bardugo it’s something else. I had this feeling when reading Six of Crows, but in Ninth Gate it was never more than a few page turns away from my awareness.Bardugo’s writing is clean. It’s straightforward and poetic together in an excellent balance; it’s clear and evocative and all the things a fantasy writer might aim for (I assume, not being one myself). But Bardugo’s writing is almost clinically clean. Formulaically clean. And I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that I was reading a paint-by-numbers masterpiece. Perhaps, I think, she learned her lessons at Yale too well.“The night of the Manuscript party, Darlington spent the early-evening hours with the windows of Black Elm lit, handing out candy, jack-o’-lanterns lining the driveway. He loved this part of Halloween, the ritual of it, the tide of happy strangers arriving on his shores, hands outstretched. Most times Black Elm felt like a dark island, one that had somehow ceased to appear on any chart. Not on Halloween night.”I did also struggle against the need to roll my eyes, hearing again and again just how pleased Bardugo is with herself for attending Yale. Yes, it’s a great accomplishment. Yes, Yale is the perfect setting for this story, and her experience there makes her uniquely qualified to tell this story well. But there was just a tidbit too much smug self-importance shining through in those early chapters for my taste. Not enough to turn me off by any means. Just enough for me to have left some small snarky comments in the margins.Even so, I did thoroughly enjoy this book. In fact, I’m fairly sure it’ll be my first reread of 2020. I liked it so well I’m so bummed to find that the sequel isn’t expected until 2021 (and is untitled). Because I’m not done with this story. I’m not done with the world, or the characters, or the narratives that we only got a glimpse of during the course of this book. Simply: I’m hooked.Many people (most of them fans of Bardugo’s earlier work) complained that Ninth House had pacing issues, particularly a slow start in the first half. With those folks I strongly disagree. Bardugo chose a different pacing style for this book than I’ve seen from her before and it suited this narrative perfectly, allowing the story to unfold organically as we experience it along a disjointed timeline, and allowing moments in the story to illuminate the characters and setting gracefully.When it comes to the characters, setting, and plot, I have nothing to say but good things. She’s a skilled author who knows her craft, and in Ninth House multiple complex characters play important roles in interwoven plots without pulling the reader’s attention from the whole. And on top of it all is woven an incredibly unique magical system and just tons and tons of ghosts.She did an excellent job introducing and then twisting the familiar concept of secret societies full of students and backed by powerful alums up to no good in the shadows. I’ll admit – that trope’s been my jam since Gilmore Girls was on the air, but Bardugo really accomplished something fascinating with that starting point, creating something exciting and darkly fascinating, horrific and just slightly too believable.I love, too, that she’s not afraid to leave things unanswered. Yes, there will be a second book. But Bardugo didn’t sprinkle a couple of questions near the end to motivate a sequel. She left multiple things unanswered about characters, plot, motivation, and the structure of the world simply because doing so makes the story feel more alive, less contrived than witnessed.All in all, I truly, deeply enjoyed reading Ninth House. It was everything I’d hoped it would be, and I hate that I have to wait at least a baker’s dozen months before I can read the sequel. There’s enough world here to support a lengthy series, it seems to me. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

a. A contemporary Dark Academia set at Yale. Alex Stern is recruited because she can see the dead to join the Lethe Club. Lethe oversees other magic clubs at Yale, each with its own house and property. They work different kinds of magic and have, in the past, been responsible for harming people. So Lethe makes sure the magic is contained, especially when they call on dead spirits. But Alex doesn’t fit in. She was a drug addict and missed a lot of high school. And somehow her mentor disappears one night, eaten by a monster. There is also a murder, and while everyone tells Alex to leave it alone, something about it bothers her. This is the primary plot point, as Alex tries to juggle school, her roommates, a cop that doesn’t like her, and a difficult job monitoring other houses without her mentor. She also sees a ghost and uses him to find information which puts her in danger. And she befriends a grad student associated with Lethe. But the professors and others are not what they seem, and people are trying to stop Alex from learning the truth.b. Really liked this book, I have quibbles. One is that the prologue is unnecessary and adds nothing to the story. In fact, it detracts from it later on. But the writing is generally good, and the characterization is good. It kept me turning pages. Looking forward to the second volume.

Awesome read. I could not put it down until I finished the 1st book. Cannot wait to start on the second book.

I loved it

I didn’t read the book itself yet but I received a ripped dust jacket.

**TW: sexual assault, rape, drug abuse, death, gore.**Alex Stern gets a mysterious scholarship at Yale. The catch? She has to monitor the activities of Yale's secret societies, which aren't what they seem, full of sinister activities of the occult. At first, I wasn't sure about reading this book, most of the reviews said it was a very boring book, and couldn't get through it. I understand where these opinions come from, but this book is perfect for you if you like dark academia and urban fantasy. I personally couldn't put this book down, it was such a rollercoaster of emotions. The last few chapters had so many plot twists you won't ever see coming. Leigh Bardugo did it again and wrote my favorite book of the year, I absolutely cannot wait for Alex Stern #2.

Glad I were finally able to give this book a chance and I enjoyed it a lot.