Ninth House

Leigh Bardugo

Oct 2019 · Ninth House Series Book 1 · Sold by Flatiron Books

About this ebook

"The best fantasy novel I’ve read in years, because it’s about real people... Impossible to put down." —Stephen King

The smash New York Times bestseller from Leigh Bardugo, a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege, and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite.

Goodreads Choice Award Winner
Locus Finalist

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 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.

Don't miss the highly-anticipated sequel, Hell Bent.

Ratings and reviews

[edit] A clunky story arc about a troubled girl who can see ghosts - set in the backdrop of Yale (which figures a tad much in this tale - yawn). Laborious to read since the pacing was off, in part due to long-winded and pointless "world-building" narration. This book did not keep me riveted and was surprised a sequel was being attempted. Best brush up on your Latin....

I love Leigh bardugo but this definitely felt like she went in over her head. I saw parts of an amazing book in-between chapters of pure boring content. The story itself was very slow, and I had trouble forcing myself to finish it. The characters were flat and never felt as if they were fleshed out correctly, even if their back-stories were revealed. Leigh Bardugo is an amazing author in my eyes, but I think her first adult novel and it being her first mystery novel really hindered her amazing writing ability from showing.

I actually preferred this book over the Grisha Trilogy, but I didn't read six of crows yet, maybe it's going to be even better. But I really enjoyed reading this book, it's something completely different from what I usually read and I love all of the characters. I love how independent, strong and over all very interesting Alex's character is. It's amazing to see her development through the book and get to know what happened in the past piece by piece. So if you're interested in dark paranormal stories, this is the right book!!

About the author

Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels and the creator of the Grishaverse (coming soon to Netflix) which spans the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, the Six of Crows Duology, The Language of Thorns, and the King of Scars duology. Her short stories can be found in multiple anthologies, including Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy. Leigh was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Southern California, and graduated from Yale University. These days she lives and writes in Los Angeles.