Clare L. Deming

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo is the first book in a new series by the author of the Shadow and Bone series. Unlike those books, this one is set in our world, but with occult magic rather than grisha powers. This is book #1 (of a planned 3) in the Alex Stern series (paid links). I read this book last year in an audiobook format, narrated by Lauren Fortgang and Michael David Axtell. Read on below to see what I thought.

I have read and written reviews of several the author’s other books which you can find here:

• Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone #1)
• Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone #2)
• Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone #3)
• Demon in the Wood (graphic novel/prequel)
• Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1)
• Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)
• King of Scars (King of Scars #1)
• Rule of Wolves (King of Scars #2)

Here is 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. 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.

This book was billed as a more adult novel, compared to the author’s previous YA books, and it does feature more mature scenarios, violence, language, and drug use than her earlier novels. It is also told through two different points of view: one being the protagonist, Alex Stern, and the other is her mentor, Darlington, teaching her the ways of Lethe House. His part of the story is set earlier in the time frame of the novel because he has gone missing in Alex’s later viewpoint chapters. This creates an engaging mystery where the reader doesn’t know what happened to him, but Alex does, slowly revealing it as the story proceeds.

The way that the author weaves her sinister version of Yale’s secret societies into our world is seamless. It turns out that she went to Yale and was a member of one of these societies (they’re real, just not the magic). The character of Alex is an outsider to her newfound college life as well as the societies, and her toughness and real-world experience helps her to survive.

There is a hint of romance between Alex and Darlington, but since he has gone missing, any further development in that arena will have to wait. Like the author’s other novels, I expect this to be a very slow burn.

The audiobook edition was great as well. Lauren Fortgang has narrated the author’s other books, but gives an individual voice to Alex in this new series. Look for the review of book 2, Hell Bent, next week (paid link).

Have you read any of Leigh Bardugo’s books? Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.