Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House

by Leigh Bardugo

The instant SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestseller, and Goodreads Choice Award winner, that Stephen King calls 'Impossible to put down'

The mesmerising adult debut from Leigh Bardugo. A tale of power, privilege, dark magic and murder set among the Ivy League elite.

Alex Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale's freshman class. A dropout and the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved crime - the last thing she wants is to cause trouble. Not when Yale was supposed to be her fresh start. But a free ride to one of the world's most prestigious universities was bound to come with a catch.

Alex has been tasked with monitoring the mysterious activities of Yale's secret societies - societies that have yielded some of the most famous and influential people in the world. Now there's a dead girl on campus and Alex seems to be the only person who won't accept the neat answer the police and campus administration have come up with for her murder.

Because Alex knows the secret societies are far more sinister and extraordinary than anyone ever imagined.

They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living . . .



'Ninth House is the best fantasy novel I've read in years, because it's about real people. Bardugo's imaginative reach is brilliant, and this story, full of shocks and twists, is impossible to put down' Stephen King

'Ninth House is one of the best fantasy novels I've read in years. This book is brilliant, funny, raw and utterly magnificent - it's a portal to a world you'll never want to leave' Lev Grossman, bestselling author of The Magicians trilogy

'Ninth House rocked my world. I could not get enough of Alex Stern, a heroine for the ages. With a bruised heart and bleeding knuckles, she risks death and damnation - again and again - for the people she cares about. I was cheering her on the whole way: from the first brilliant sentence of this book to the last' Joe Hill, bestselling author of N0S4A2

Reviewed by liz089 on

3 of 5 stars

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I was really curious about this novel, I LOVE Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows series and enjoyed most of the Shadow and Bone series. Of course this is supposed to be completely different; this one is adult whereas the others are YA, but I did expect more of the gripping writing I got used to her other books.
It took me almost 3 weeks to get through this.
It is not a short story, just short of 500 pages, but that should not make a difference if a story is compelling enough. I had to push myself to continue and it only got some real action towards the last couple of chapters.
I did like the setting, the whole creepy haunted feeling that came with it.. But that did not make up for the rest of it.
I would like to give this one 3.5 stars, but since that is not possible I'm going for the 3, can't give this 4 stars, it was not good enough for me for that.
I am planning to read the next one, hope it will get better and like the way the story was going.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 30 October, 2019: Finished reading
  • 30 October, 2019: Reviewed