Review: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Synopsis:

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. By age twenty, in fact, 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 elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

My Review:

5/5 ⭐️

I know that there are a lot of mixed feelings regarding this book. Especially with the triggers, but Alex would not be Alex (like so many of us with our trauma) without the events that happened to her before getting to Yale. I honestly really enjoyed this book, it was a slow go at the beginning and is a slow build. It peels away like an onion before we get to the ending which felt like a whirlwind of emotions for me. Darlington was both an absent presence while also being a force in the past that helped Alex. I really hope we get to see more of him in the next book! Overall, I think that Leigh’s traverse into adult was successful in my opinion. We got to see a lot of her gothness and love for Yale. The houses were well represented and super cool! I really would love to see more of that next time as well.

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 King of Scars—with more to come. Her short stories can be found in multiple anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy. Her other works include Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Ninth House (Goodreads Choice Winner for Best Fantasy 2019) which is being developed for television by Amazon Studios. Leigh was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Southern California, and graduated from Yale University. These days she lives and writes in Los Angeles. For information on new releases and appearances, sign up for her newsletter.

She would be delighted if you followed her on Twitter, elated if you visited her at LeighBardugo.com, and fairly giddy if you liked her selfies on Instagram.