Ninth House is the first novel of Leigh Bardugo’s that I’ve ever read, and I’m pretty sure it’s the first “dark academia” book I’ve ever read.
Missing persons, death, flashbacks to a horrendous past, and ghosts can all be found within the pages. The synopsis hooked me, the book fulfilled me, and I will indeed be reading the sequel, Hell Bent, soon.
Let’s find out why.
The Blurb
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 bedside, 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 by Leigh Bardugo (New York: Flatiron Books, 2019)
Why I Loved It
Morally Grey Heroine
Maybe it’s partially the nature of it being a “dark academia” novel, but I’ve never read a book with quite so morally grey of a main lead. Personally. I’m sure there are dark grey leads in other books I’ve yet to read.
Alex initially gave me this edgy, don’t approach me, why are you looking at me vibe from the start. And it doesn’t take too long into the novel to realize not only are you going to be unraveling the mystery of Ninth House and this university and their secrets, but also the secret of the MFC.
Because of her past that we as the reader are not privy to at the start, she makes some choices and observations that definitely made me think of a survivor in a post apocalyptic scenario almost. She’s going to save her own skin. But at what lengths? How far will she go? And is anyone safe from a possible betrayal if it needs to come to that?
Because of her “grey-ness” I really wasn’t too sure what some of her moves were going to be in this novel and I appreciated that freshness.
Flashbacks Done Well
Now, this was not my initial feeling when the flashbacks started happening. The book started off on a hot note, and the flashbacks were definitely a cooler temp by comparison, because that’s where we got a lot of our groundwork information for the “society” arc.
However, as the story progressed, and as both the Present chapters and Flashback chapters intensified, I was reading them just as eagerly.
As the past caught up to the present, it was pretty beautiful how the puzzle pieces started falling together. So even though it was an aspect of the book I didn’t like at first, I praise it for going from that to one of my favorite parts.
The author did a fabulous job of building the hype & tension throughout with the flashbacks.
The Grays
Now, as this book was released in 2019 and I’m writing this in 2024, I think I’m safe to say that if you’re here, you’ve read up or heard about some things of this book already. Like the fact that it deals with ghosts as you may have concluded from the Blurb. So I don’t think that’s too major of a spoiler. However, if it is, I’m sorry!
But I loved the ghosts in this book! I enjoyed learning about them and see how they were relevant to the story and our MCs.
If a Gray was in the chapter, I was even more at the edge of my seat than normal. I love fantasy and paranormal books so every time they made an appearance I was eager to see what was going to happen. Especially as this was a darker novel. How far could/would the ghosts go? Were they good at all? Were they bad? Were they mindless or intelligent?
I was not disappointed in what I learned. But I was wanting a lot more! So I’m hoping Hell Bent the sequel will satisfy this craving.
I also loved Alex’s scenes with Grays. Because she definitely has a much different take on them than pretty much any other person, and it only adds to her depth and reveals more of her backstory.
The Ending
Now, this isn’t one I often say under my “Loves” but it certainly was true for Ninth House.
As is typical in most novels with sequels, a lot of stuff goes down at the end. Lot of revelations. Lots and lots of things people! And I was left needing the sequel like a breath of air. It was like the whole novel a storm was brewing and crashed into me at the very end. I was left with my adrenaline and eyes racing. And once it was over, the storm passed, I was left looking out over the carnage.
It riled me up as a reader and ensured I would definitely be grabbing the second novel, Hell Bent.
So that was top notch strategy and writing in my opinion. Because the next Barnes & Noble trip I took with my friend I absolutely picked it up first thing.
In Conclusion
Yeah, I’m not doing a “What I Didn’t Love” this go around. To be honest, I’m thinking of just wrapping up those thoughts here in the conclusion if I have them at all. Because some things, like the Flashbacks, were an initial dislike that I ended up enjoying. And I’ve already covered that so I don’t feel the need to dedicate another section to it.
I greatly enjoyed reading about Galaxy “Alex” Stern and the Grays. She’s verrry morally grey and I loved not having a saintlike character for a change. Or even someone who was striving to be good. Alex is first and foremost a survivor. And I respected the hell out of her for it.
I will admit to skimming over some Yale stuff as I was reading. I applaud the attention to detail, but when we’re in the heart of the story and action, the history (particularly of people) just doesn’t interest me quite as much 😅 I did try to pay attention to the Houses and their histories. But admittedly I did skim some of that information.
All in all I quite enjoyed reading my first “dark academia” novel, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and look forward to hopping into the sequel Hell Bent soon!
I gave Ninth House
Until Next Time,
