Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
(Format used for this read: Print–hardback)
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 20, 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.
Ninth House is the long-awaited adult debut by the beloved author of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. Leigh Bardugo will take her place alongside Lev Grossman and Deborah Harkness as one of the finest practitioners of literary fantasy writing today.
Okay yall…I don’t have TONS of words to say about this book…. but it’s not because I didn’t friggin love it and have a blast reading it.
BECAUSE I SURE AF DID.
I just don’t have much to elaborate on (I know…doesn’t happen often! LOL)…I just super liked the dang thing.
Here’s a quick run down of some of the reasons why:
Secret societies, supernatural, magic, interacting with ghosts, humor sprinkled amidst terror and mystery, conflicted and complicated bad ass main female character, stellar descriptive writing, fantastical yet at the same time realistic, loads of symbolism and political statements.
This was a dark and kinda moody book but it wasn’t the type where you feel dragged down and miserable the whole time.
The main character is definitely not an immediately likable gal…she has lots of baggage and struggles. Which of course made her feel more like a real person to me…so I actually DID like her quite a bit.
If you’re looking for a light and breezy summer reading, this AIN’T IT yall.
But if you’re looking for a gritty and intense and gripping dark magical read, go get you this one.
Because books like this should be read ALLLLLL year long in my opinion.
There IS a second book in this series (which I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting for from my library wait list) and while I think this book can stand alone on it’s own, the ending does have a great set up for the next installment and you DEFINTELY wanna know what happens next.
*TRIGGER WARNING: There ARE descriptions of sexual assault, overdose and drug addiction in these pages so please proceed with care.*