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Flatiron Books (2019), Edition: First U.S. Edition, 480 pages
Description
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.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member ForeignCircus
I confess I found Ninth House a little hard to get into at first, and sometimes felt the bounce between present and past was a little contrived, but once I got immersed into the story, I found myself letting go of those irritations. Alex is a complicated character- fragile when dealing with
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personal things but strong and resilient when it comes to protecting others. The supernatural/magical elements were really interestingly handled, with most people unaware they exist and some of those in the know seemingly barely so. I found the solution to the mystery well drawn, though perhaps overly complicated as one of the most interesting elements was only fleshed out at the very end; I would have preferred that possibility was raised.explored earlier in the novel with only the identity of the person involved kept from the reader. Nevertheless, an enjoying read that left me hungering for the second installment. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisapeet
I was completely engrossed in this one while it lasted, though it sagged a bit under its own weight in the last quarter or so. There’s a lot of violence and other dark stuff, none of which bothered me—though anyone considering reading it should be forewarned—and I enjoyed all the wacky
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magick. What did annoy me, though, was that this turns out to be the first of a series, and the book ended on a complete cliffhanger of a note. I’m not a huge fan of series in general (Dorothy Dunnett notwithstanding) and would have appreciated an actual resolution to the story, with the next book optional. But this is a bit outside my usual genre so maybe I should be have expected it, or at least be a better sport about it. I did appreciate all Bardugo’s good research—the Yale/New Haven setting was a lot of fun. Some of it was just plain over the top, but mostly it was a good ride. And as browned off as I am about the “to be continued” aspect, I’d pick up the next one. Sucker. Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
Alex is a freshman at Yale, despite never having finished high school. She was recruited because she can see ghosts, which makes her better able to oversee the activities of the eight secret societies at Yale, which have access to various mystical forces. But she has a lot of dark secrets, and when
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her mentor vanishes and then a girl is murdered, possibly with secret society involvement, she has to decide how much of her past she can accept and how much she can run from. It’s quite an adventure, with fascinating worldbuilding (including about how magic can be as unreliable as economic theory); it ends with a new quest that I would very much like to see played out. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jonez
2.25
This had all the elements of something I would love in a story. Dark Academia, rituals, magic, murder, vices, and a host of less than desirable characters. It was also backed with Bardugo's beautiful writting.
Where it failed was its many tiny meandering mysteries colliding and weaving
This read like a love letter to Yale and, oh yeah...oops I'm supposed to remember there is a plot here. Nothing about the characters, thier roles or motives is as grandly fleshed out as the buildings and streets that make up Bardugo's Ivy Alma Mater. Overall it just left me wanting.
This had all the elements of something I would love in a story. Dark Academia, rituals, magic, murder, vices, and a host of less than desirable characters. It was also backed with Bardugo's beautiful writting.
Where it failed was its many tiny meandering mysteries colliding and weaving
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timelines, and ultimately dragging you along until you witnessed a less than stellar resolve. It was a cauldron full of potential that resulted in the weakest potion.This read like a love letter to Yale and, oh yeah...oops I'm supposed to remember there is a plot here. Nothing about the characters, thier roles or motives is as grandly fleshed out as the buildings and streets that make up Bardugo's Ivy Alma Mater. Overall it just left me wanting.
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LibraryThing member ChristopherSwann
4.5 stars. At times a savage portrayal of college life and the boys that women endure (or don’t), at times a story of magic and mystery and death, and always a story about what haunts us in this imperfect world. It’s not in a hurry and takes its time, but the slow unfolding is worth it.
LibraryThing member yvonnekins
I don't even know where to start with this one.
The writing in this book tries very hard to feel pretentious, I think. It feels like Donna Tartt Lite, but I didn't mind the overly-descriptive nature with The Secret History, whereas some of the random details mentioned throughout the prose in this
As for the plot... this is a mystery wrapped up in low fantasy. The mystery has a lot of twists, almost too many, and the ending is a little underwhelming given how many Villain Monologues it contains.I liked what she did with Belbalm; I haven't seen it done a lot before but I wish the information had come in some form besides that monologue. I honestly was a lot more invested in what happened to Darlington and that mystery, and I'm not sure I'm 100% satisfied with how that wrapped up... or I guess didn't wrap up. I think the whole Dante and Virgil thing is a little heavy-handed, now that Dante is literally going to go traipsing through hell.
Darlington is the only character I definitively liked.Though, not enough to care all that much when you find out he was eaten by the Hell Beast. I had 0 emotional reaction to that, so how invested was I in his story, really?
Alex felt a little too 2-dimensional for me to really decide on. She's clearly a self-insert for Leigh Bardugo (from SoCal, went to Yale, supposedly a lot of Alex's background is drawn from Bardugo's own) and I normally dislike when an author has so clearly inserted themself into the story, but I don't think that was really my issue at all with Alex. There were parts of the book where I even liked Alex, but those were simply glimpses and overall she felt very bland to me otherwise, with the exception of her backstory. She has a backstory, but that doesn't really result in her having any depth as a character if that makes sense.So that brings me to wonder why her backstory was what it was. Did we really need a graphic depiction of a ghost raping a 12-year-old? I get Alex is supposed to be a survivor, but I think there's enough in her story without that to show it. And I think she could have empathized with Mercy's instance of sexual assault without having been raped herself. I don't know. That, and a number of the other "dark themes" in this book, just felt gratuitous. Mostly when I got to them I was just thinking "What the fuck?" We could have the same exact story of the societies and Lethe house and magic and nexuses without any of that having happened.
The Bridegroom interested me. Other than him the rest of the background characters were simply background characters. I wish we had gotten more of Dawes, but it looks like we'll be getting that for sure in the next one.
The magic system is another thing I can't decide about. It feels half-baked, and I have a hard time suspending my disbelief enough to really buy into it for the whole book.The thing with human saliva? Was that about all magic or just the ink magic? And that feels so... random? Like, why? I enjoy the general ambiance of the magic system and how it feels like something awe-inducing and wonderful on the surface. I really like the idea of it being drawn from nexuses that require human sacrifice.
What I found hard to buy into was the idea that magic belongs to the Ivy League and only the Ivy League and this how they run the world as if privilege on its own isn't enough to accomplish that (and yet, this book tries so hard to be woke.) It felt like The Magicians type magical privilege, but without any thought at all. For those of you who haven't read the magicians, the magical schools like Brakebills are the only way for magicians to access magic, but there's a whole ecosystem of Hedge Witches who try to access it on their own and fly under the radar of the powers that be. There was no Ninth House version of Hedge Witches, and I think that's a shame.
This book shines in its setting and general aesthetics. The atmosphere is, frankly, masterfully crafted. The essence of dark academia and occult magic lives in this book, and I really appreciated that.
Anyway, this was just an okay read for me. Not sure about continuing the series.
The writing in this book tries very hard to feel pretentious, I think. It feels like Donna Tartt Lite, but I didn't mind the overly-descriptive nature with The Secret History, whereas some of the random details mentioned throughout the prose in this
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book just seem utterly random. It's like Bardugo is trying to draw the story out for as long as possible, but instead of this allowing the characters or setting or plot or anything room to breathe, it just makes parts of this book feel stagnant, especially for the first couple hundred pages. That said, there were places where the writing managed to work very well and the details added to the overall story and immersed me in the world more towards the last third of the book or so. As for the plot... this is a mystery wrapped up in low fantasy. The mystery has a lot of twists, almost too many, and the ending is a little underwhelming given how many Villain Monologues it contains.
Darlington is the only character I definitively liked.
Alex felt a little too 2-dimensional for me to really decide on. She's clearly a self-insert for Leigh Bardugo (from SoCal, went to Yale, supposedly a lot of Alex's background is drawn from Bardugo's own) and I normally dislike when an author has so clearly inserted themself into the story, but I don't think that was really my issue at all with Alex. There were parts of the book where I even liked Alex, but those were simply glimpses and overall she felt very bland to me otherwise, with the exception of her backstory. She has a backstory, but that doesn't really result in her having any depth as a character if that makes sense.
The Bridegroom interested me. Other than him the rest of the background characters were simply background characters. I wish we had gotten more of Dawes, but it looks like we'll be getting that for sure in the next one.
The magic system is another thing I can't decide about. It feels half-baked, and I have a hard time suspending my disbelief enough to really buy into it for the whole book.
What I found hard to buy into was the idea that magic belongs to the Ivy League and only the Ivy League and this how they run the world as if privilege on its own isn't enough to accomplish that (and yet, this book tries so hard to be woke.) It felt like The Magicians type magical privilege, but without any thought at all. For those of you who haven't read the magicians, the magical schools like Brakebills are the only way for magicians to access magic, but there's a whole ecosystem of Hedge Witches who try to access it on their own and fly under the radar of the powers that be. There was no Ninth House version of Hedge Witches, and I think that's a shame.
This book shines in its setting and general aesthetics. The atmosphere is, frankly, masterfully crafted. The essence of dark academia and occult magic lives in this book, and I really appreciated that.
Anyway, this was just an okay read for me. Not sure about continuing the series.
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LibraryThing member Hccpsk
Fantasy and magic readers rejoice--Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo delivers on every promise written and spoken about this incredibly popular book. Galaxy “Alex” Stern finds herself at Yale after living through a horrible event because of her mysterious ability that the secret societies there want
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to exploit. Readers quickly enter a world of ghosts, magic, secrets and power told through various perspectives and events that eventually converge on the present day. A lot of the fun involves Bardugo’s intimate knowledge of Yale; in fact, so much of the New Haven setting is real, sometimes it’s hard to tell where fact ends and fiction begins. The action is non-stop, the characters are smart and funny, the plot convoluted but not oppressive and the writing is spot on. It’s Harry Potter for grown-ups--or at least teenagers as there are sexual situations, violence, and other mature themes. Ninth House is so good that I almost wish I had waited for Bardugo to finish the series so I could binge them all in a row...needless to say, I can’t recommend this book enough and I can’t wait for the next one. Show Less
LibraryThing member jfe16
Galaxy “Alex” Stern, who dropped out of school and now subsists on dead-end jobs and relationships with bad-news boyfriends, accepts an opportunity to attend one of the most elite schools in the nation. She soon discovers the catch: her benefactors want her to monitor the haunts of the
A double mystery, one surrounding a young woman’s death [and purportedly involving magic], the other a mysterious disappearance, lies at the heart of this slowly unfolding story that alternates between past and present. The setting is spot-on; the narrative is perfectly atmospheric and completely unnerving. The line between reality and magic is truly fluid, so much so that, at times, fact and fantasy truly seem to overlap.
But the huge information dump that begins this convoluted narrative presages what is to come. And it isn’t pretty. There are no particularly likable characters; the story turns on privileged entitlement, abuse, drugs, violence, rapes, murder, and more. Extensive overuse of a detestable expletive adds to the growing list of repugnant events spinning out in the pages of this dark and heavy tale that’s definitely not for the faint of heart.
There’s a cliffhanger ending, no doubt hoping to entice readers to read the next book in the series, but after this book’s assault on readers’ sensibilities, many are not likely to be looking to enter this dark world again.
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already-powerful and the eventual-rich. What goes on in their secret societies? Will Alex discover the unimaginable, sinister magical rituals that take place there? And will she reveal the activities of Yale’s secret societies to the world?A double mystery, one surrounding a young woman’s death [and purportedly involving magic], the other a mysterious disappearance, lies at the heart of this slowly unfolding story that alternates between past and present. The setting is spot-on; the narrative is perfectly atmospheric and completely unnerving. The line between reality and magic is truly fluid, so much so that, at times, fact and fantasy truly seem to overlap.
But the huge information dump that begins this convoluted narrative presages what is to come. And it isn’t pretty. There are no particularly likable characters; the story turns on privileged entitlement, abuse, drugs, violence, rapes, murder, and more. Extensive overuse of a detestable expletive adds to the growing list of repugnant events spinning out in the pages of this dark and heavy tale that’s definitely not for the faint of heart.
There’s a cliffhanger ending, no doubt hoping to entice readers to read the next book in the series, but after this book’s assault on readers’ sensibilities, many are not likely to be looking to enter this dark world again.
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LibraryThing member breic
I can enjoy YA literature, but in this case I didn't expect it to be YA. The book's PR misled me. It turns out that it's YA with rape scenes, a weird matchup that doesn't work for me.
> The air felt slightly balmy and she could smell orange blossoms on the air.
> The air felt slightly balmy and she could smell orange blossoms on the air.
LibraryThing member bookappeal
Bardugo's new series has all the character, humor, magic and world building you'd expect. The romantic element is on the slow burner, appropriately for these characters. I probably need to read it again to commit all the secret societies to memory since I'm sure to forget before the sequel is
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published but I'm completely on board for this series. Her writing is so easy to read, without being simplistic, and her plotting is so hard to put down. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sheila1957
Alex (Galaxy) can see ghosts. Lethe House at Yale wants her to help monitor the other Houses at Yale so that their "work" does not harm the reputation of Yale. Alex is mentored by Darlington who disappears before showing her all the ropes. A townie is murdered and Alex is sent to see if any of the
I love a kick-ass broad and that is what Alex is. She came up the hard way, got involved in drugs and other things. She figures maybe her life is starting to look up with a fresh start on the other side of the country at Yale. She has no idea of what she faces. She is smart and learns as she goes especially with Darlington gone. She follows her instincts. She is not above putting a little hurting on someone if need be. Dawes is interesting. Alex and she do not get along at first but eventually Dawes sees what Alex is. They have each other's back which is good because what is on the surface is not what is reality.
The story is fast paced when Alex begins to check out the murder. There is a lot of action. There is a lot of otherworldly aspects to the Houses as well as history of the town and the Houses. It kept my interest and I cannot wait for the next book.
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Houses are responsible for the death. Everyone is telling her to step down but something is off for Alex and so she investigates on her own with the help of Dawes, another member of the Lethe team. What she finds is unexpected and unwelcome.I love a kick-ass broad and that is what Alex is. She came up the hard way, got involved in drugs and other things. She figures maybe her life is starting to look up with a fresh start on the other side of the country at Yale. She has no idea of what she faces. She is smart and learns as she goes especially with Darlington gone. She follows her instincts. She is not above putting a little hurting on someone if need be. Dawes is interesting. Alex and she do not get along at first but eventually Dawes sees what Alex is. They have each other's back which is good because what is on the surface is not what is reality.
The story is fast paced when Alex begins to check out the murder. There is a lot of action. There is a lot of otherworldly aspects to the Houses as well as history of the town and the Houses. It kept my interest and I cannot wait for the next book.
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LibraryThing member KatyBee
Very, very good - definitely as good as 'Six of Crows'. Absolutely perfect for fans of fantasy/magic novels in academic settings.
LibraryThing member LibrarianRyan
While I may own many of Leigh’s books, this is the first I have actually read, and I quite enjoyed it. I love the mix of magic, the arcane, Yale secret societies, and action.adventure. It just all worked together quite nice. I didn’t think the end was a super big surprise, but it was not fully
I went to the BN Book club to discuss this book before I had finished it. I was surprised how many people didn’t like it. But then again it was an odd choice for BN Book Club that normally does mysteries and thrillers with a woman’s spin. If your normal meat and potatoes is general fiction, I can see how you might be turned off by this occult fascination. One woman only gave it 4 pages. I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved the discussions that we did have. This was right in my wheelhouse of things I love, and I eagerly await book 2. If only the wait wasn’t so long.
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expected either which was nice.I went to the BN Book club to discuss this book before I had finished it. I was surprised how many people didn’t like it. But then again it was an odd choice for BN Book Club that normally does mysteries and thrillers with a woman’s spin. If your normal meat and potatoes is general fiction, I can see how you might be turned off by this occult fascination. One woman only gave it 4 pages. I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved the discussions that we did have. This was right in my wheelhouse of things I love, and I eagerly await book 2. If only the wait wasn’t so long.
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LibraryThing member drmaf
Clever cerebral horror that takes Yale's real secret societies and turns them into covens where dark magic is practiced. Alex Stern is a street-wise girl from the wrong side of the tracks with a dark secret in her past who happens to possess a highly sought after ability. She can see Grays -
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earthbound spirits who cluster around people and places that remind them of life, who can only be seen by the non-gifted through the aid of dangerous drugs. She is recruited by Lethe, Yale's Ninth House, tasked with watching over the magical practices of the other Yale "tombs", and comes under the wing of the charismatic Darlington, who schools her in the thrills and dangers of the occult rites practiced by the Ancient Eight Houses. Then Darlington disappears, and Alex is left to inquire into the deepening mystery of the death of a young woman, assisted by the nerdish Dawes, cynical cop Turner and a helpful Gray known as The Bridegroom. The denouement is somewhat disappointing after a stellar build-up, nevertheless the promise of a sequel certainly whets the appetite for more. Alex is undoubtedly the highlight of the story, she is an appealing character, wisecracking, vulnerable but also extremely badass when she needs to be, the brutal vengeance which she metes out on a serial sex predator is truly epic. Loved this book, one of the best horror tales I've read in a long time, I cant wait for the next instalment. Show Less
LibraryThing member KateReads13
I ended up DNFing this one at halfway. The scene where someone was eating crap out of toilet did it in for me. I felt the details in the story didn’t add to plot at all. The plot was slow moving, never came to a conclusion and didn’t make any forward progress even halfway through. The book is
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extremely dark so if you have triggers please be warned. Overall, I didn’t like it. Show Less
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
Alex Stern is a member of Leafy House, chosen for her ability to see ghosts. The job of Leafy House is to support Yale's other secret societies in their paranormal activities, attempting to prevent harm. Sequel to come
LibraryThing member MrNattania72
Beyond Fantastic, the pages turn themselves, the layers of twisted storylines , and gruesome revenge, sex, violence; makes this definitnely one for the Top 10 for years to come.
PS- Alex is my bad ass b!t@h, that's here to right all wrongs!!!
PS- Alex is my bad ass b!t@h, that's here to right all wrongs!!!
LibraryThing member stephanie_M
TRIGGER WARNING: explicit rape scene of a minor, also rape of a young adult woman hinted at.
This was a pretty good novel. Not having read any other of this author’s novels, I had no idea what this author would produce.
I have to say it was pretty good, for the most part. There were some parts that
The supernatural parts of the novel were pretty good. But the characters (and a type) had me perplexed in these ways:
-Alex was embarrassed of her tattoos near the beginning of the novel, and it seems everyone and their mother has them now. I’m sure the author thought that this character would believe Alex didn’t think students at a major college like Yale should have tattoos, but I bet even some of the teachers at this esteemed school has one or two, these days. Isn’t this novel set in today’s time...?
-Darlington seemed and acted like a 30 year old man, and I had a difficult time trying to think of him as yet another college student, as he was supposed to be.
-Alex’s mom is portrayed by a hippie type. WHY ARE ALL THE MOTHERS IN BOOKS THESE DAYS HIPPIE TYPES? It’s SO annoying to have this happen time and again. Stop it.
-Alex didn’t act like a former drug addict. She didn’t go through rehab. She didn’t have any cravings.
-Alex didn’t act like she had “a little viper lurking in there, ready to strike” at all. If she had, she would have acted differently to everyone around her. I’ve known people like this. No one is safe, not even friends.
Anyway, I made it through this novel. I don’t think it deserves quite all the accolades it’s gotten, and now that I’ve listened to the audiobook, I’m surprised that it’s in Gr’s choice for the finals in Best Fantasy. I didn’t think it was *that* good, but maybe I’m one of the few around here who does. Whatever.
Oh yeah, Lauren Fortgang is one of the narrators of the audiobook. She is pretty great with accents and making everyone sound different. Michael David Axtell is another narrator in this novel, and he was pretty good also.
I’m just sad that I’d bought this novel, as I’m disappointed in myself for spending the money on it. It’s a good novel to lose yourself in when you need something to read, but I’ve no desire to own it, or reread it. I’m not even sure if I’m going to read the sequel that’s due out in 2021.
3 stars, and recommended to people who need something to do....?
This was a pretty good novel. Not having read any other of this author’s novels, I had no idea what this author would produce.
I have to say it was pretty good, for the most part. There were some parts that
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dragged a bit and I would find my attention wandering, and I’d have to drag it back and make it work right again. But for the most part this is an interesting novel.The supernatural parts of the novel were pretty good. But the characters (and a type) had me perplexed in these ways:
-Alex was embarrassed of her tattoos near the beginning of the novel, and it seems everyone and their mother has them now. I’m sure the author thought that this character would believe Alex didn’t think students at a major college like Yale should have tattoos, but I bet even some of the teachers at this esteemed school has one or two, these days. Isn’t this novel set in today’s time...?
-Darlington seemed and acted like a 30 year old man, and I had a difficult time trying to think of him as yet another college student, as he was supposed to be.
-Alex’s mom is portrayed by a hippie type. WHY ARE ALL THE MOTHERS IN BOOKS THESE DAYS HIPPIE TYPES? It’s SO annoying to have this happen time and again. Stop it.
-Alex didn’t act like a former drug addict. She didn’t go through rehab. She didn’t have any cravings.
-Alex didn’t act like she had “a little viper lurking in there, ready to strike” at all. If she had, she would have acted differently to everyone around her. I’ve known people like this. No one is safe, not even friends.
Anyway, I made it through this novel. I don’t think it deserves quite all the accolades it’s gotten, and now that I’ve listened to the audiobook, I’m surprised that it’s in Gr’s choice for the finals in Best Fantasy. I didn’t think it was *that* good, but maybe I’m one of the few around here who does. Whatever.
Oh yeah, Lauren Fortgang is one of the narrators of the audiobook. She is pretty great with accents and making everyone sound different. Michael David Axtell is another narrator in this novel, and he was pretty good also.
I’m just sad that I’d bought this novel, as I’m disappointed in myself for spending the money on it. It’s a good novel to lose yourself in when you need something to read, but I’ve no desire to own it, or reread it. I’m not even sure if I’m going to read the sequel that’s due out in 2021.
3 stars, and recommended to people who need something to do....?
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LibraryThing member forsanolim
Galaxy "Alex" Stern was brought from a troubled background in Los Angeles--drugs, murder, the whole nine yards--to attend Yale on scholarship. Also, she can see ghosts, which is fun. She becomes the newest member of the house of Lethe, charged with monitoring the activities of Yale's infamous
Honestly, this book didn't really do quite as much for me as I was hoping. I am emphatically not a big reader of darker fantasy/horror/whatever this was, even if I was hoping a bit that I'd find this book wonderful, so I don't know to what extent my lukewarm-ness pertains specifically to this book or to the genre more generally. I will say that I liked the idea of the Yale setting (though sometimes it felt a little like ~*Dark Academia*~ to the extreme/some of the characters were awfully full of themselves), and by far my favorite part was the creativity of the various different secret societies' rituals and of the different magical potions. At the same time, though, I often felt as the book progressed that I wished that the magic system (if you will) were more fleshed-out from the outset. It felt sometimes that a number of the major plot points involved the sudden revelation of various new forms of magic--while I know that Alex is new to the whole world of the Yale societies and the related magic, I found it a bit frustrating that a number of major plot points seemed to hinge on totally unforeseeable uses of magic. Relatedly, though in a huge way the basic plot is the untangling of a mystery, looking back I don't see any possible way to untangle even a shred of the plot in advance.
With all that being said, I did like Darlington quite a bit (honestly, in a lot of ways more than Alex), so maybe I'll take a chance on the next book at some point once it comes out. We'll see. And though I've been fairly critical in this review, I can totally imagine people liking this book a lot--those people just weren't me.
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secret societies, which in this world do various kinds of nefarious magic. Mentored by an older student, Darlington, she begins to learn about the societies and her role as a member of Lethe; but as her first year progresses, she rapidly begins to realize that the layers of magic practiced by the societies and the plots in which they are entangled extend much deeper than she could have imagined.Honestly, this book didn't really do quite as much for me as I was hoping. I am emphatically not a big reader of darker fantasy/horror/whatever this was, even if I was hoping a bit that I'd find this book wonderful, so I don't know to what extent my lukewarm-ness pertains specifically to this book or to the genre more generally. I will say that I liked the idea of the Yale setting (though sometimes it felt a little like ~*Dark Academia*~ to the extreme/some of the characters were awfully full of themselves), and by far my favorite part was the creativity of the various different secret societies' rituals and of the different magical potions. At the same time, though, I often felt as the book progressed that I wished that the magic system (if you will) were more fleshed-out from the outset. It felt sometimes that a number of the major plot points involved the sudden revelation of various new forms of magic--while I know that Alex is new to the whole world of the Yale societies and the related magic, I found it a bit frustrating that a number of major plot points seemed to hinge on totally unforeseeable uses of magic. Relatedly, though in a huge way the basic plot is the untangling of a mystery, looking back I don't see any possible way to untangle even a shred of the plot in advance.
With all that being said, I did like Darlington quite a bit (honestly, in a lot of ways more than Alex), so maybe I'll take a chance on the next book at some point once it comes out. We'll see. And though I've been fairly critical in this review, I can totally imagine people liking this book a lot--those people just weren't me.
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LibraryThing member Andy_DiMartino
Very enjoyable, glad I listened to my Authors picks page and picked this one up. Stephen King was right in recommending this one. Be interested in seeing the next installment fer sure!!!
LibraryThing member ablachly
Magic secret societies at Yale. Need I say more?
LibraryThing member CJ82487
Thanks to pandemic brain (yes that's what I'm calling it), it took me far too long to pick this book up and read. I just didnt feel motivated and it was no fault of the book itself, just my mindset. Well, I finally finished and I gotta say, it was really enjoyable. When I was able to sit down and
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focus, the world around me fell away and I was brought to New Haven where magic is real and societies run the world... literally. And the ending, did not see that coming at all and now I'm left here twiddling my thumbs waiting for another installment (please let it happen soon). I'm not always big on fantasy reads, but this was a hit in my book. I just wish it wouldnt have taken me so long to get my head straight and finish reading it. Show Less
LibraryThing member deslivres5
Ah, I was expecting this novel to be really good per the buzz I was hearing... and then it just got better and better. Some of the beginning premise reminded me a bit of another standalone novel I read several years ago and enjoyed, Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst which focused on a magical bent
But the main protagonist of Ninth House, Alex Stern, her back story and the overall tone of the novel and its magical world building layered over the secret societies of Yale was just so gritty, empowering and cool! So excited that this is just #1 in the Alex Stern series.
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to dear old Princeton.But the main protagonist of Ninth House, Alex Stern, her back story and the overall tone of the novel and its magical world building layered over the secret societies of Yale was just so gritty, empowering and cool! So excited that this is just #1 in the Alex Stern series.
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LibraryThing member lflareads
Ninth House has an interesting description and I looked for connections that would pull me into the book. I did not love the book, BUT I am also not a huge fan of fantasy novels. I do believe readers who love fantasy YA novels will find this intriguing.
So, although not my cup of tea, give it a
So, although not my cup of tea, give it a
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read if you enjoy fantasy. Young Adult read Show Less
LibraryThing member bookczuk
Read about this in the NYT and thought I'd check it out. When we went to visit Yale on the great college tour, it creeped our college bound child out so much they didn't even want to get out of the car. Given that experience, the book might not be far-fetched.
Awards
Shirley Jackson Award (Nominee — Novel — 2019)
Audie Award (Finalist — Fantasy — 2020)
Locus Award (Finalist — Fantasy Novel — 2020)
RUSA CODES Reading List (Shortlist — Fantasy — 2020)
Chesley Award (Nominee — 2020)
Ladies of Horror Fiction Award (Nominee — Novel — 2019)
Dragon Award (Finalist — Fantasy Novel — 2020)
NPR: Books We Love (2019)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Fiction — 2019)
LibraryReads (Monthly Pick — October 2019)
Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List (Selection — 2020)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019-10-08
Physical description
480 p.; 9.5 inches
ISBN
1250313074 / 9781250313072
Local notes
Alex Stern, Book 1