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Book Review: Ninth House

July 6, 2020 /

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
4 Stars

Summary:

Ninth House is the story of Alex Stern and her introduction to life as the intern of a mysterious secret society on Yale’s campus. As ‘Dante,’ Alex must monitor the rituals of the 8 other secret houses at Yale. These rituals are bizarre, secret, and frequently dangerous. There’s just one problem. Her mentor, the ‘Virgil’ of her order, has gone missing and no one is certain how to get him back. Nor did he have a chance to teach her everything she needed to know to keep these houses in line.

The murder of a girl on campus ends up drawing Alex farther into the mysteries and complexities of these ancient orders as she seeks to understand how and why she died and who was responsible. And as she gets closer to answers, danger stalks closer to her.

The Rest of this Review Contains Spoilers

Controversies

Though this won the Goodreads’ Choice award for 2019, it is a very controversial book in the reading community. The primary reason for the controversy is the content of this book. It is definitely adult fiction, as it deals with very mature themes and honestly should come with a host of trigger warnings. Drug overdose, violence, rape and sexual assault, bullying, date rape drug/magic use, etc.

The primary reason this is a 4 star read for me and not a 5 is because I thought the rape scene from Alex’ memory was gratuitous. Acknowledging the prevalence of sexual assault and the experiences of survivors is key, but the detail to which this one was written made me physically ill and I had to skip ahead in the book. I think there are ways to deal with sexual assault in fiction that don’t involve dealing vicarious trauma to the reader.

Story:

Bardugo tells this story in bits and pieces, weaving in the events in a non-chronological order that can seem disorienting. She drops us near the end, then goes back to the beginning, and trickles in backstory like breadcrumbs through the woods. 

I like that the plot and secrets are revealed slowly because it teased my curiosity which pulled me through some of the slower areas of plot. Some of the revelations were a bit obvious, but it didn’t bother me as a reader when they came up. They were more like, “yes I knew it” moments, rather than eye-rolling moments.

One of my favorite things about listening to Bardugo’s books are the narrators. Lauren Fortgang has a lovely tone and she brings all the characters and emotions to life so well. Because I listened to this on audiobook, I think I missed a lot of the feeling of ‘slowness’ or lack of plot that a lot of readers and reviewers have mentioned. 

The pace seemed fine to me, but I went into it knowing it was a slower paced story and that may have helped. The writing is wonderful, but this type of story will not appeal to those who are used to back to back action and heavy dialogue.

Characters:

The main characters of this story are not your typical protagonists. Alex is not a happy go lucky heroine, whose plucky attitude keeps her rolling through the punches. She’s moody and uncertain, carrying a burden of trauma and isolation because of her differences. Her character development focuses on her morally grey attitude and her struggles to be a normal college girl. 

This is the type of book that might appeal to those who had a tendency to dress like a goth or listen to emo music when they were in high school or college (pointing my finger at myself) or whatever the modern equivalent is. Anyone who has experienced being the outsider, the one out, experienced bullying and its long-term consequences, these types of reader are more likely to find common resonance with Alex.

Darlington appears at first to be the more traditional protagonist. He’s almost too good—the perfect student, the perfect Virgil, with the appearance of wealth and its advantages.  A lot of his depth is hidden until the latter half of the novel when we finally get a glimpse into his back-story, but I can’t talk more about that without spoilers. So! I will just say I am really interested to see where his story goes in the next book!

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed most of this book. I thought the setting and world building were interesting and allowed for Bardugo to explore a lot of issues like wealth, privilege, trauma, class differences, sexual assault, etc. It is a dark novel, dealing with mature themes, and it is set at a slower pace so I would not recommend it for every reader. Also, I would definitely take the trigger warnings seriously. This story is not for everyone, but for those readers who enjoy the niche genres of dark academia it is a wonderfully intricate read.

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